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600 cannabis plants with a street value upwards of £500,000 were discovered after police raided the property on Yarm Lane.Officers from Stockton Drugs Unit and Stockton Neighbourhood Support Team swooped on the premises as part of an intelligence-led operation.Landlord Shakil Hussain, 32, said he had been renting out the flat - which is above a separate shop unit - to a tenant he believed was from the Far East.He said: “I was shocked to find this going on after police told me about the raid. I had no idea.“The flat was seriously damaged, I don’t know the full extent because at the moment it is still a crime scene and I haven’t been in yet.“But it will need completely refurbishing. It had been nicely done out, I don’t know how much it will cost me.”Mr Hussain said the shop below was entirely separate from the first and second floor flat rented out above, and was due to reopen as a clothes shop.A Cleveland Police spokesperson said today: “Enquiries are ongoing at the moment to trace the persons responsible who rented these premises. Mr Hussain is not a suspect in the case.”As well as 304 mature cannabis plants and 320 young cannabis seedlings, police discovered a large amount of cannabis bush drying out in the loft area of the building. Together these drugs are estimated to have a potential street value of more than £500,000.They also found “professional” equipment used for cultivating the plants - hydroponics, sophisticated lighting, fans and ventilation
Five men were charged in Malmö on Friday for transporting 19 kilogrammes of heroin, half of which was confiscated in Serbia.The heroin taken in Serbia was being transported to Sweden by automobile. The rest was found by police during a raid at a bus garage in Norrköping in central Sweden.According to prosecutor Kristina Ehrenborg Staffas, most of the drug was headed for the Nordic market.
Canadian authorities seized over 9 million contraband cigarettes and arrested 46 people, including some North Country residents during a smuggling crackdown in the Cornwall area.According to officials, over 5,000 pounds of tobacco, 9.7 million cigarettes, and 50 cartons of flavored cigars were confiscated, along with 43 vehicles seized.Of the 46 people arrested, 8 were listed as Americans. According to the Watertown Daily Times, the as-yet unidentified people include residents of Hogansburg, Akwesasne and Rooseveltown.The 12-day enforcement blitz was coordinated by Royal Canadian Mounted Police with help from Canada Border Services Agency, Cornwall Community Police, Ontario Provincial Police, Quebec Provincial Police and Ontario Ministry of Revenue Special Investigations branch.Authorities said the tobacco was believed to have been manufactured in the United States and then smuggled into Canada.
Bond has been set at $500,000 for a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper charged with possession of 26 kilograms of a controlled substance (cocaine) with intent to distribute.During a Wednesday morning hearing, U.S. Magistrate Felix Recio set bond on 35-year-old Jesus Rafael Larrazolo.Larrazolo was arrested 10 a.m. Saturday in the parking lot of Best Buy as he was loading his car with cocaine, Brownsville police said, adding he had just received the cocaine from another man, who fled the scene.Brownsville police were in the area conducting unrelated surveillance when they observed Larrazolo with suspicious suitcases that carried the cocaine, according to police.During the hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney James Lancaster asked the court to refuse bond because of reports that Larrazolo's family was raising money to make bond and fears that he would flee and use a new identity in Mexico.Larrazolo worked with the DPS for four years.FBI Agent Melanie Davis took the stand and responded to questions from defense attorney Noe Garza.Davis said that she learned through conversations with the district attorney's office and agents with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration that Larrazolo was a flight risk.
"The DA's office has provided information that the defendant's family has money set up for bond," Davis said. "We have been led to believe that if he were to make bond he would travel into Mexico to get his ID changed."The FBI agent stated that Larrazolo's family ties in Mexico are powerful and wealthy enough that they would allow him to disappear."The DEA told us that his uncle has ties to the federal police in Mexico," Davis said. "We were told that the defendant has bragged to a colleague at the DPS that he has credentials to carry a weapon in Mexico."Garza called to the stand FBI Agent Damon Flores, and questioned him about the credibility of intelligence reports that Larrazolo is a flight risk. Flores said the information came from secret informants, but he did not speak directly to them. "I was told they were trustworthy," Flores said.
Four men have been ordered held without bond on charges they distributed heroin to dozens of young people in the Centreville area.The men are among ten people charged last week in a heroin distribution ring in northern Virginia that police say was responsible for at least three deaths.According to court records, many of the deaths involved current and former students of Westfield High School. Nine people identified in a federal complaint charging them with conspiracy to distribute heroin are all aged 19 to 22.None of the defendants spoke during Tuesday's hearing, and their lawyers declined to comment after the hearing.
Kevin Hiebert serving a life sentence in a Greek prison for drug smuggling is now considered an international fugitive after he vanished last week after nine years in custody, the Winnipeg Free Press has learned.Kevin Hiebert, 35, had been pleading with the Canadian government to intervene in his case and arrange a prison transfer that would allow him to return to home soil. He doesn't deny criminal responsibility, but says he has served enough time for the crime.Hiebert had reportedly grown more desperate in recent weeks after conditions inside the prison deteriorated to the point where inmates began a hunger strike.Kevin Hiebert received a life sentence for smuggling 2 kg of cocaine into Greece.
Handout Hiebert's father signed him out of prison for an approved "vacation," which allows well-behaved inmates a temporary supervised release. He didn't return.
Hiebert's father, Dick, returned to his home in Texas over the weekend and has told friends he doesn't know where Kevin is."He has been ignored for a very long time," longtime friend and supporter Cam Patterson said Monday."What exactly brought this on, I can't say. Something has obviously pushed him to decide to do this. But I think we've left him there too long. It's a question of how much longer can he stay there until you lose the person completely?"Hiebert was one of seven Winnipeggers arrested for drug smuggling in late 1999 and early 2000, allegedly tied to the same smuggling operation. The RCMP said at the time that all were likely recruited on behalf of a Nigerian drug-trafficking ring operating out of Greece. The first four people arrested in September 1999 in Amsterdam led authorities to Hiebert. Police were waiting for him at the Athens airport as he tried to smuggle two kilograms of cocaine in the heels of three pairs of shoes.At Hiebert's trial the following September, his Greek lawyer told Hiebert he could expect a sentence of three to five years, but the judges shocked the courtroom when they imposed a life sentence, with no eligibility of parole for 10 to 15 years, and a $150,000 US fine.Hiebert - who had no prior criminal record - immediately wanted to appeal the sentence, but was told that hearing couldn't be held until 2005 at the earliest. He was told that his best bet would be to apply for a transfer to Canada, where he could serve his sentence in a Canadian prison. To do that, he would have to sign away his right to appeal.Hiebert's lawyer, Michael Mercury, said Canada has a prison-transfer treaty with Greece and Hiebert has applied three times - only to be rejected each time. Mercury said Greek officials told him the opposition came from Ottawa.
Police have seized 4 kg (9 lbs) of cocaine near Moscow's Domodedovo Airport, the largest local cocaine haul so far this year, a police spokesman said on Monday.
Police found the drugs in a Lexus-330 car in which a Chechen man and woman were travelling, along with a Latvian man. The car was stopped for a check on the Domodedovo highway, 43 km south of Moscow"During the search, police found a bag in the trunk containing white powder. Tests identified the powder as cocaine. The total weight of the drugs was 3.7 kg,"
Police capture key drug suspect
Eduardo Arellano Felix, an original member of a notorious cartel, is nabbed after a shootout in Tijuana.
Thai woman was sentenced to 14 years in prison Wednesday for trying to smuggle 500 grams of cocaine into the country early this year, media reports said. The West Java Banten's Tanggerang district court found Thitirat Charoensuk, 24, guilty for violating the country's tough anti-narcotic laws. In addition to handing down a 14-year jail sentence, the court also ordered the defendant to pay a fine of 60 million rupiah (5,330 dollars), chief judge Haryono said in the court ruling, the state-run Antara news agency reported. In previous court hearings, government prosecutors had sought the death penalty for Thitirat. Thitirat was arrested in late February with British national Michael Anthony Guevera, Antara said, adding that the cocaine was divided into three packages, wrapped in condoms and carried in her vagina. Indonesia defends the death penalty as a necessary deterrent in a country with a growing drug problem. In July, the country executed two Nigerians found guilty of heroin offences - the first drug offenders to be put to death in four years. Indonesian authorities recently vowed to speed up the executions of nearly 70 other drug traffickers on death row despite international calls for the country to halt capital punishment. Nearly half of those on death row are foreigners, including three Australians involved in the failed "Bali Nine" plot to smuggle more than 8 kilograms of heroin to Australia in 2005.
Eight people were arrested in south London and two women and 10 men were arrested in Teesside on suspicion of conspiracy to supply controlled drugs.The raids follow a two-and-a-half-year investigation into members of alleged crime gangs based in north Kent and Billingham in Teesside, who are believed to have smuggled drugs into the UK from Spain and other European countries via France.The operation was co-ordinated by Kent Police, which mobilised about 90 officers across three police forces.
One of those arrested in south London is being questioned by the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca).Det Insp Thomas Richards of Kent Police's serious and organised crime unit said: "This is a very complex operation involving multiple law enforcement agencies and what we believe is a web of sophisticated criminal activity across the UK, Spain, France and other European countries."Every arrest had to happen at the same time to ensure no one was tipped off and the quality and integrity of evidence seized was preserved.The operation, which also involved officers from Cleveland Police and Soca, is believed to be the largest and most complex for Kent Police in the past five years.Some of the arrests were also in relation to money laundering and mortgage fraud, police said.
Philip Doo (52), Christopher Wiggins (42) and David Mufford (44) were brought before a special sitting of Clonakilty District Court on Saturday night amid tight security. A force of up to 30 gardaÃ, including detectives armed with Uzi submachine guns, surrounded the courthouse.The three men, all from Britain, were charged that on November 5th, 2008, on the vessel Dances with Waves , a ship not registered in any country or territory, they had possession of cocaine knowing it was intended to be imported illegally.The offence, which is contrary to Section 34 (2) (4) of the Criminal Justice Drugs Trafficking Act 1994, carries a maximum penalty upon conviction at Circuit Court level of a a fine or seven years in jail or both.
Det Garda Ronan Cowley of the Garda National Drugs Unit gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution in relation to Mr Doo, of Rocklands House, Higher Manor Road, Brixham, Devon, and told the court that Mr Doo did not wish to reply to the charge after caution.Det Garda David Kennedy of the Garda National Drugs Unit gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution in relation to Mr Wiggins, of Apartment Six, Block 10, Mirador de Costalita, Cancelada, Estepona, Malaga.He said Mr Wiggins made no reply to the charge.
The 60-foot sloop 'Dances With Waves', detained off the coast of Ireland last Friday with over 1,800kg of cocaine on board, was apparently doomed to arrest from almost the minute it left the Caribbean.Suspicions over 'Dances With Waves' mounted when she was detected in waters off Trinidad & Tobago. Just 17 months ago, the catamaran 'Lucky Day', whose 1,554kg cocaine shipment was seized in Dunlough Bay in west Cork, began her transatlantic journey from precisely these same waters.
As the sloop battled gales and mountainous seas to cross the Atlantic with her cargo of 1,875kg of cocaine, her every movement was watched by the US Drug Enforcement Agency, the Portugal-based Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre; the UK's elite Serious Organised Crime Agency and Ireland's Joint Drugs Taskforce.Experts suggest that the yacht was tracked on radar in the Caribbean by a long range P-3 Orion surveillance aircraft, before being tracked by US satellites and 'black', or virtually undetectable radar, before its position was relayed ashore by Irish aircraft.
Nigerian visitor stood trial on Sunday in the Criminal Court of First Instance for possessing drugs for trafficking.The 37-year-old defendant, in detention now, was caught at the Dubai International Airport on September 3 with 96 capsules of cocaine in his possession. A customs inspector stated in the interrogations that while on duty at the airport, they suspected the accused so they referred him to the inspection room.“The scan on his stomach showed strange particles inside, which turned out to be capsules containing drugs,” the witness said. There were 55 capsules in his stomach. Drugs were also found hidden inside a hat that was put in a plastic bag and tied to his waist.The suspect admitted to the police inspectors that he was trying to smuggle the drugs into the UAE.
The drugs seized from him weighed 1,385 grams.
Police say they seized more than half a ton of cocaine hidden in the hold of a river barge near Brazil's Amazon jungle city of Manaus.Police say the 528 kilograms (1,200 pounds) of cocaine was produced in Peru and that its final destination was Europe. It was the biggest drug seizure so far this year in the region.Police say drug traffickers from Peru and Colombia are increasingly using the tributaries of the Amazon river to transport the drug to Manaus, and from there to Europe or the United States.Also on Friday, federal police seized 11 tons of marijuana hidden in a truck in the southwestern state of Mato Grosso do Sul.
Tests are to begin on cocaine worth an estimated £406m seized off the south-west coast of Ireland. They are expected to confirm the haul as the country's biggest ever drugs seizure. Over one-and-a-half tonnes of cocaine were found on a 60ft yacht stormed by Irish authorities 200 miles at sea on Wednesday night.
The yacht, which had been tracked from the Caribbean, arrived at Castletownbere, County Cork, on Friday. The haul is expected to eclipse a seizure made last year in Dunlough Bay, west Cork, as the biggest ever in Irish territories. The drugs are to be weighed and analysed for purity. Two British men and a man from Dublin, all aged between 44 and 52, have been arrested in connection with the find.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7715905.stm
Judiciary Police arrested seven men, from Argentina, Brazil and Guinea, at Lisbon Airport last week after authorities found over 60,000 individual doses of cocaine in their possession.The men were being used as drug ‘mules’ and hid the drugs in their clothes and in secret compartments of their suitcases. Four of them hid the cocaine in their bodies and spent several days in hospital under medical supervision. They were all aged between 26 and 56 years of age and their purpose was to transport cocaine and sell it in Spain, Portugal and Italy.The men had been targeted beforehand in investigations carried out by the Portuguese Drug Enforcement Agency (DCITE), in conjunction with similar foreign agencies and Interpol, and with the cooperation of Immigration Control (SEF) and Customs officials.
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Border officers discovered the drugs on Oct. 22 while searching a marine container bound for Ontario from Pakistan. The container was identified by the targeting unit that examines the manifests of all containers arriving in the Port of Halifax and identifies those requiring full physical inspection.Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) announced today that its officers at the Port of Halifax have seized over 27 kilos of heroin with an estimated street value of over $11 million. Officers searched 430 boxes and suspected heroin was found in 81 cardboard boxes. Officers used x-ray technology to confirm dark images inside the boxes. The boxes were opened and searched revealing 161 packages totalling 27.8 kilograms.“Our officers are the first line of defence in protecting Canadians from the devastating social impact and criminal activity associated with the smuggling of illegal drugs,” says Andrew LeFrank, director Nova Scotia District CBSA. “Seizing illegal drugs at our borders ensures that those drugs are kept off our streets.”Once the drugs were identified, the CBSA with the assistance of the RCMP's National Ports Enforcement Team (NPET) in Halifax began a joint operation / investigation in order to apprehend the persons responsible for the importation of the drugs. This operation includes the RCMP Drug Section in Toronto who coordinated the controlled delivery of the container destined for Toronto.On October 30th, this investigation led to the seizure of the drugs and the successful arrest of five individuals in the Toronto area.
