HK police claim record drug bust - CNN.com

HK police claim record drug bust - CNN.com: "record seizure of cocaine worth about HK$337 million (US$43.4 million).
The seizure stemmed from a missing person's report that led to the discovery of the cocaine in a home, police said Monday.
Authorities got the missing person's report on Friday. The investigation led police to the home in the village of Tai Po Tin, police said.
Investigators searched the home and found 372 kilograms of cocaine inside. Hong Kong police said that amount of cocaine could garner HK $337 million if sold on the street, making the seizure a police record."

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The Hindu : News / International : Four tonnes of cocaine seized in Peru

The Hindu : News / International : Four tonnes of cocaine seized in Peru: "Peruvian authorities seized four tonens of cocaine hidden in a shipment of powdered sulfur that was due to be loaded on a ship bound for Europe, authorities said Friday.
Interior Minister Octavio Salazar told RPP radio that several people were detained in Thursday’s operation, though he withheld further information so as not to prejudice the investigation.
He only added that the drug was found inside containers belonging to the port operating company Tramarsa."

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News Talk 1240 WRTA

News Talk 1240 WRTA: "32-year-old Dwayne Anthony Fabian over the past week. Investigators learned that Fabian had been staying in a home at 1409 3rd Street and had plans to bring more heroin back to Altoona from New Jersey.
Fabian was taken into custody Wednesday night in the parking lot of a Chestnut Avenue grocery store following a short foot pursuit. Troopers learned that he’s wanted in New Jersey on drug charges and was awaiting sentencing on an armed robbery conviction. Fabian is lodged in the Blair County Prison on $1.25-million bail."

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VHeadline.com - GN anti-drugs agent attempted to load cocaine on Air France flight to Paris

VHeadline.com - GN anti-drugs agent attempted to load cocaine on Air France flight to Paris: "slab of cocaine was discovered in a suitcase on which a ID slip belonging to another suitcase was stuck. Aldemaro Carrero, who works for Air France was responsible for changing the stickers. The suitcase with the cocaine had arrived at (Caracas) Simon Bolivar international airport from Bogota (Colombia). The suitcase then passed controls where the three crooked security agents were working and transferred to the flight to Paris.
The press note from the attorney general's office did not specify the role of arrested National Guardsman Ricardo Sanchez. Prosecutors are asking the courts to remand the accused in custody until they are brought to trial."

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Alleged Mexican drug dealer captured

Alleged Mexican drug dealer captured: "capture of top drug trafficker Jose Gerardo Alvarez Vazquez on the outskirts of Mexico City. Vazquez is suspected by the authorities of being responsible for the recent spike in violence in states near the capital. The drug dealer, known as 'El Indio' or 'El Chayan,' and 14 other suspected dealers were arrested in Huixquilucan, the Associated Press reported."

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Stabroek News - Venezuela raids cocaine labs on Colombia border

Stabroek News - Venezuela raids cocaine labs on Colombia border: "Venezuelan authorities raided eight drug laboratories near the Colombian border yesterday, seizing 4.5 tonnes of cocaine in one of the largest hauls in recent times, the interior minister said.
Two Colombian traffickers escaped across the border when Venezuelan helicopters swooped on the site in the state of Zulia, officials said.
“This is one of the most important and biggest operations against illegal trafficking gangs in our nation,” Interior Minister Tareck El Aissami told state television.
Venezuela is a major transit route to Europe and the United States for Colombian-produced cocaine."

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Cocaine hidden in in-flight meals | The Australian

Cocaine hidden in in-flight meals | The Australian: "DUTCH police have detained 20 people for smuggling cocaine in containers for in-flight meals and waste on planes flying between the Dutch Antilles and the Netherlands, police said. 'Twenty suspects have been arrested over the last four months in the Netherlands and Bonaire,' an island territory of the Netherlands Antilles, Schiphol airport spokesman Robert van Kapel said."

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Gazette Live - News - Local News - Ex-club owner Gary Robb finally admits guilt

Gazette Live - News - Local News - Ex-club owner Gary Robb finally admits guilt: "Teesside nightclub owner and fugitive Gary Robb has finally admitted drugs charges after over a decade on the run in Europe.
The 47-year-old nightspot owner turned property developer pleaded guilty to allowing his venue to be used for drug dealing in the mid-90s.
His elderly mother Mavis walked free from court with Gary’s brother James, who has served a 12-year prison sentence for a drug offence.
The brothers’ club, the Colosseum in Norton, was raided by 200 police officers in riot gear and shut down in 1996.
Officers found Ecstasy, amphetamines and cannabis in the club, said to have been used as a rave venue.
Gary Robb skipped bail and fled to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in 1997 while James was jailed for 12 years. The dad-of-three lived on the island, a notorious fugitives’ bolthole which is not internationally recognised and has no extradition treaty with the UK, for more than 10 years.
He protested his innocence and claimed he sought refuge because he would not get a fair trial in this country. He built up a construction business - Aga Development Construction - and worked on a high-profile project to build 500 luxury villas."

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The Associated Press: Alleged top drug dealer caught near Mexico City

The Associated Press: Alleged top drug dealer caught near Mexico City: "Jose Gerardo Alvarez Vazquez — known as 'El Indio' or 'El Chayan' — is suspected of being responsible for a spike in violence in states near the capital as part of a struggle for control of the Beltran Leyva drug cartel, the military and the federal Attorney General's Office said.
Authorities said Alvarez Vazquez, 45, was arrested along with 14 other suspected drug traffickers during a Wednesday night shootout in Huixquilucan, just west of the capital.
Three died in the shooting and two alleged traffickers were wounded. Investigators did not say whether the dead were soldiers or suspected drug dealers. The military said it seized more than a dozen guns and a grenade.
'Cases such as this show the Mexican government's firm decision to continue fighting narcotraffickers,' the Attorney General's Office said in a written statement. Among those arrested was Ascencion Sepulveda Salto, also known as 'El Gato,' believed to be a powerful cartel lieutenant in Guerrero state."

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CBP seizes 700,000 in cocaine | arrested, cbp, immigration - Local - Brownsville Herald

CBP seizes 700,000 in cocaine | arrested, cbp, immigration - Local - Brownsville Herald: "Gilberto Rivera Razo, 25, was arrested Wednesday afternoon at Gateway International bridge and after an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, court records show."

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Heroin haul trio appear in court - Derry Today

Heroin haul trio appear in court - Derry Today: "Three people have been returned for trial at Derry Crown Court charged in connection with the discovery of £3 million of heroin and ecstasy tablets in the city last year.
A Derry man and two Dubliners appeared at the city Magistrate's Court on charges of possession of heroin and ecstasy and possession with intent to supply heroin"

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Penticton Western News - Cocaine smuggling brings four-year jail sentence

Penticton Western News - Cocaine smuggling brings four-year jail sentence: "Lee Myers was sentenced by Judge Anne Wallace to four years for his “lower rung” role as a drug mule importing a controlled substance.
On May 5, 2009 Myers was driving a Dodge Caravan at the Chopaka border crossing near Keremeos. Asked by his cousin, Debra Lynch, to drive the van across the border, the pair were stopped by a U.S. Border Patrol agent on Nighthawk Road. They were told to use the Osoyoos border crossing to re-enter Canada as the Chopaka one was closed. Agents then decided to follow the van after noticing Lynch was nervous and realizing they had stopped the very same vehicle a month earlier. Canadian officials searched the vehicle as it attempted to make its way over the border crossing in Osoyoos, discovering hidden floor compartments containing 31 kilograms of cocaine with several pairs of children’s shoes scattered over the 28 wrapped packages of drugs."

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4-18-10: WoW Coast guards seize cocaine worth US$5m - Over The Limit Entertainment

4-18-10: WoW Coast guards seize cocaine worth US$5m - Over The Limit Entertainment: "US drug enforcement agents aided by the Caribbean authorities have seized a large haul of cocaine from a sailboat off the British Virgin Islands with an estimated value of US$5million.The US Justice Department said Coast Guard officials were deployed after a tip-off about the 50 foot vessel which was making its way past the British Virgin Islands, headed north from Grenada.Officials intercepted the vessel and escorted it to the US Virgin Island of St. Thomas where two people were arrested."

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LEAD: China to execute Japan drug smuggling convict Tuesday+

LEAD: China to execute Japan drug smuggling convict Tuesday+: "China would execute Mitsunobu Akano, 65, who was convicted of attempting to smuggle 2.5 kilograms of stimulant drugs from China to Japan in 2006, on Monday.
His death sentence was finalized in April 2009.
Earlier Monday, Akano's family members apparently met him at a detention facility in the northeastern city of Dalian. A Japanese diplomatic vehicle believed to be carrying them was seen leaving the facility.
If Akano is executed, it will be the first execution by China of a Japanese national since the two countries normalized diplomatic relations in 1972.
China has also told Japan it will execute three more Japanese convicts, as early as Thursday"

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NST Online Iranian policeman, two sportsmen detained for drug smuggling

NST Online Iranian policeman, two sportsmen detained for drug smuggling: "Police foiled an attempt to smuggle drugs into the country with the detention of an Iranian police officer and two sportsmen at the KL International Airport (KLIA) this morning.Selangor Narcotics CID deputy head, Supt Abdul Razak Md Zin said the three men were detained at 8.45 this morning at the international arrival terminal by a police team from the Kuala Lumpur Narcotics CID. He said all the three suspects were behaving suspiciously during inspection on passengers and their baggage. 'Preliminary investigation revealed that they were still using the usual modus operandi which was to hide the drugs in the metal handle of the trolley bag. 'The inspection showed that the metal handle of each of the five bags brought by the suspects contained 0.8 kilograms of the syabu drugs,' he said at a media conference at the Sepang District Police Headquarters, here today.
Abdul Razak said the drugs seized were estimated to be worth almost RM1 million"

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Lancashire drugs gang jailed for almost 20 years - The Asian News

Lancashire drugs gang jailed for almost 20 years - The Asian News: "Shahid Mushtaq, 40, of Clarendon Road, Manchester, was jailed for nine years after being convicted of conspiracy to supply cocaine."

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TheSpec.com - Local - Drug kingpin jailed 5 years for high-seas smuggling role

TheSpec.com - Local - Drug kingpin jailed 5 years for high-seas smuggling role: "drug kingpin Andre Gravelle has been sentenced to nearly five years in prison for his part in a $15-million high-seas drug smuggling ring police and the Canadian Navy broke up off Nova Scotia in September 2008.
Gravelle was sentenced Wednesday in a Dartmouth court to 4.8 years after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import and conspiracy to possess for the purpose of trafficking.
In total, seven men have pleaded guilty to the same conspiracy charges and received sentences ranging from three years to almost seven years.
Relatives of Andre Gravelle were sentenced earlier in connection with the same bust."

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Omaha Attorney Charged with Smuggling Pot into Jail - KPTM FOX 42: Omaha News, Sports and Weather; Nebraska News, Sports; kptm.com |

Omaha Attorney Charged with Smuggling Pot into Jail - KPTM FOX 42: Omaha News, Sports and Weather; Nebraska News, Sports; kptm.com |: "Omaha attorney accused of smuggling marijuana into the county jail turns himself in.
Shortly after turning himself into the Douglas County Corrections Center, Tom Walsh waived his preliminary hearing and was released.
During a December visit to the jail, deputies found 43 grams of pot on Walsh.
They say he visited the jail frequently.
Meanwhile, Walsh's attorney claims his client didn't know he had the pot on him.
He says Walsh was visiting a client in jail about a civil matter.
Walsh is expected to file a not guilty plea in district court."

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27-year-old Andrea Jenkins, a mother of four who tried to smuggle 94 grams of cannabis into prison in her underwear

27-year-old Andrea Jenkins, a mother of four who tried to smuggle 94 grams of cannabis into prison in her underwear, joined her baby’s father in prison today when she appeared in court and pleaded guilty to drug trafficking. Magistrate Sharon Frazer remanded Jenkins into custody until Tuesday, April 13 when she will decide what sentence she should impose. Jenkins was busted around 1:00 pm yesterday when she went to Central Prison in Hattieville to visit her baby’s father. Prison Officer Meisha Mendez searched Jenkins and found the cannabis in a black plastic bag hidden in her underwear. Jenkins was taken into custody by the police and she was charged. The cannabis when weighed amounted to 94 grams. She admitted that she was taking the cannabis to prison to give to her baby’s father. For the offence Jenkins can be fined and confined or only fined. The maximum fine is $10 thousand.

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Malaysians nabbed for drug smuggling | The Jakarta Post

Malaysians nabbed for drug smuggling | The Jakarta Post: "Oen B. Giap, who works as a welder, and Wong CH, an air conditioner technician.
The suspects arrived on a Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong on Thursday.
“The suspects confessed to investigators that they were promised MYR 16,000 [Rp 45 million] if they handed the drugs to a connection in Jakarta,” Bahaduri said.
“They were apparently part of an international drug-smuggling syndicate,” he said.
He said his office received a tip-off on the two suspects before they arrived in Jakarta.
He said officers spotted them easily as both looked suspicious with bulky waistlines due to the drug packets.
He said the suspects would be charged with violating the 2009 Narcotics Law. If found guilty, they face the death sentence.
Frans Rupang, airport customs director of prosecution, said airport customs officers had busted 20 drug smuggling attempts since January this year.
“This is the eighth crystal meth smuggling attempt we have foiled in the last four months,” he said.
He said that in the airport busts, officers seized a total of 70.8 kilograms of crystal meth, 668 grams of heroin, 163 grams of cocaine, 37 kilograms of ketamine and 14.4 kilograms of marijuana. The total value of the seized contraband is Rp 183 billion.
“The total value of drugs seized by customs officers nationwide is Rp 483 billion. Soekarno-Hatta International Airport accounts for 42 percent of the haul,” he added."

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Is Knoxville on the human smuggling superhighway

Is Knoxville on the human smuggling superhighway: "traffic stop on I-40 in Roane County Wednesday led lawmen to a human smuggling operation.
The practice is so common on East Tennessee interstates, the area has become known as the human smuggling superhighway.
'This is the main travel corridor for those two sections of the country and it comes right through Knoxville,' said Lt. Don Baird of the Tennessee Highway Patrol.
Federal agents arrested the driver of a stolen passenger van, Juan Hernandez. But inside the van, 18 illegal aliens, including a juvenile, bound for New York.
'All over the country we're having instances like this that pop up from time to time,' said I.C.E. spokesman Temple Black.
11 of the illegals are being held in Alabama, five agreed to leave the country, and the juvenile was taken to Chicago. Hernandez remains locked up in Roane County.
'Ice is one of the primary federal agencies responsible for combatting human trafficking,' according to Black.
I-75 runs from South Florida to the Canadian border, while I-40 runs from North Carolina's coast to California.
Given the high volume of human smuggling, cops in East Tennessee now have red flags to look for.
'If you've got a 15 passenger van and you've got 25 people in it you might want to look a little further,' said Baird.
As for the 18 arrested Wednesday, I.C.E. says they're backgrounds were thoroughly checked.
'All the records were checked, they were photographed, they were fingerprinted, all the databases were searched and there were no warrants outstanding,' said Black"

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BBC News - Death sentence in China for South Africa drug smuggler

BBC News - Death sentence in China for South Africa drug smuggler: "Chinese court has confirmed the death sentence of a 35-year-old South African woman convicted of drug smuggling, reports the Xinhua news agency.
In July 2009, Janice Bronwyn Linden was found guilty of trying to smuggle 3kg of methamphetamine through Guangzhou airport in November 2008.
In denying her appeal, the Higher Court in Guangdong province said Linden would not be allowed leniency.
The Supreme Court must now approve the ruling before Linden is put to death.
In China, people convicted of smuggling, selling, transporting or producing more than 50g of methamphetamine or heroine can be sentenced to death, Xinhua says."

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Man caught smuggling illegal immigrants in van last month pleads guilty - Local News

Man caught smuggling illegal immigrants in van last month pleads guilty - Local News: "Pablo Eliosa Lara, alias Hector Morales, 23, entered into a plea agreement Monday, pleading guilty to a single count of illegal transportation of an alien, according to online court records. The charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, the agreement says.
A statement of facts filed with the court details Eliosa's March 2 traffic stop on I-81 north near Edinburg.
Eliosa was hauling 12 other people in a Chevrolet Ventura minivan, it says.
The middle seat had been removed so six people could lie on the floor of the van, with five people in and around the rear seat.
The statement says Eliosa was paid $1,000 to drive the immigrants from Phoenix to New Jersey.
It says that Eliosa had been 'voluntarily returned' to Mexico six times -- four times in February 2008, once in August 2008 and again last July.
In interviews with agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, some of the van's passengers said they weren't allowed to be out of the van before getting to New Jersey, according to an affidavit filed in the case.
'The occupants had to use
plastic bags to relieve themselves instead of being allowed to leave the van to use the restroom,' the affidavit says."

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Mayport ship's unmanned Fire Scout initiates cocaine seizure | jacksonville.com

Mayport ship's unmanned Fire Scout initiates cocaine seizure | jacksonville.com: "unmanned MQ-8B Fire Scout was flying over the Eastern Pacific Ocean, the small craft locked onto a suspected drug smuggler, which it then followed for three hours.
When the small “go-fast” craft met up with a fishing vessel to refuel, the embarked Coast Guard team on the McInerney moved in.
As well as the seized drugs, the Navy said, the smugglers were carrying another 440 pounds of narcotics, which they dumped."

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Pot-packed lawnmowers trendy among smugglers - SignOnSanDiego.com

Pot-packed lawnmowers trendy among smugglers - SignOnSanDiego.com: "latest trend in smuggling pot across the border appears to be stuffing it inside lawnmowers. For the second time in recent weeks, inspectors have discovered marijuana packed into lawmowers from which the blades have been removed.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Otay Mesa border station found Thursday’s load inside two lawnmowers in the bed of a 1996 Dodge Dakota pickup driven by a Riverside resident who attempted to drive across the border about 5:30 a.m.
Drug-sniffing dogs alerted officers to the truck as the driver, a 48-year-old man who is a Mexican citizen, waited in line. Inside the lawnmowers were 21 packages of pot weighing 53 pounds. The driver was arrested and taken to County Jail.
On March 30, officers at the San Ysidro port of entry arrested a 21-year-old man in an almost identical incident, with 91 pounds of marijuana stuffed into two bladeless lawnmowers in the back of a 1995 Dodge Dakota."

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Pregnant woman arrested with cocaine at airport - Naijafeed -

Pregnant woman arrested with cocaine at airport - Naijafeed -: "apprehended a pregnant woman and four other suspects for ingesting 6.265 kg of narcotic drugs at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) Lagos.
The pregnant suspect Osatohanwen Esohe, 29, was detected to have ingested illicit drug with the aid of scanning machine during the screening of passengers on Alitalia flight to Rome. After observation, she expelled 27 wraps of substances that tested positive to cocaine weighing 350 grammes. Apart from one Chukwuma Kingsley Uchemadu that ingested 1.430 kg of heroin, Esohe and three others were smuggling 4.835 kg of cocaine when they were caught.
The NDLEA Airport Commander, Alhaji Hamza Umar who confirmed the arrest of Esohe described her action as weird and unbecoming. He expressed shock at the strange act, stressing that drug suspects have no respect for human lives. 'They do not have respect for their own lives, neither do they respect the dignity of their children. This is the height of desperation by drug barons and their associates,' Hamza said."

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Police identify man charged with throwing suspected cocaine on the bypass | delmarvanow.com | The Daily Times

Police identify man charged with throwing suspected cocaine on the bypass | delmarvanow.com | The Daily Times: "Police have identified the driver accused of tossing small bags of suspected cocaine on the bypass Thursday afternoon.

After a short chase, Wicomico County Sheriff's deputies took 31-year-old Lee Roger Bradley into custody and plan to charge him with cocaine possession, cocaine possession with intent to distribute and attempt to flee and elude police, according to the Sheriff's Office.Around 2:45 p.m., a sheriff's deputy in an unmarked vehicle was traveling behind Bradley on Route 50 west near White Lowe Road, according to police.
Bradley allegedly threw the small bags of suspected cocaine out the window before turning around and heading east on Route 50.
When the deputy turned on his emergency lights, Bradley allegedly accelerated the vehicle he was driving, a Ford sedan, up to 80 miles per hour, according to police.
He eventually stopped the car near the Naylor Mill Road exit.
Earlier today, the sheriff's office reported it had recovered most of the suspected cocaine thrown on the bypass"

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$1M heroin bust in the Bronx - NYPOST.com

$1M heroin bust in the Bronx - NYPOST.com: "Four men were busted in the Bronx today for running a heroin mill out of a Sterling Avenue apartment that housed $1 million worth of drugs, authorities said.
The NYPD and the Drug Enforcement Agency said they seized seven kilos of heroin that had been packaged into 50,000 ready-to-use envelopes, or “glassines.”
The arrests were made in conjunction with an extensive investigation into a heroin trafficking ring operating in the Bronx.
Luis Lara, 28, who is believed by authorities to be the organization's ringleader, was arrested as he was getting into a livery car with two other mill workers. Another man, Jose Polo, 28, was stopped with a backpack that contained approximately 3,000 glassines of heroin, officials said.
The four defendants are expected to be arraigned on criminal complaints later today. The top charge, criminal possession of a controlled substance in the first degree, carries a maximum 20-year sentence."

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Mexican federal cop among cartel members sentenced in San Diego, two will forfeit $1 million each

Mexican federal cop among cartel members sentenced in San Diego, two will forfeit $1 million each: "Jesus “Chuy” Labra-Aviles received a 40-year sentence on Monday, while Armando Martinez-Duarte, a Mexican federal police officer, drew a sentence of 18 years and 4 months in federal prison.
A third member of the cartel, Jorge Aureliano Felix was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison on March 29. All were extradited from Mexico to the U.S. in December 2008.
In a stark reminder of the corrupting influence of illegal drugs, the defendants also admitted bribing law enforcement, government, and military officials with millions of dollars to evade capture and prosecution.
They were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Larry A. Burns, who also ordered Labra and Felix to forfeit $1 million each.
The lengthy sentences were a reflection of the 'scope and seriousness of the defendants’ crimes,' U.S. Attorney Karen Hewitt said in a statement.
The men admitted October 2009 to charges involving their leadership of the Arellano-Felix drug trafficking organization, federal prosecutors said."

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News Tribune - News - NCI - Marseilles man sentenced on cocaine charge

News Tribune - News - NCI - Marseilles man sentenced on cocaine charge: "William K. Dean, 49, of 1392 Washington St. pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful possession of a controlled substance (cocaine) with intent to deliver, a Super Class X felony carrying 9-40 years with no possibility of probation.
Dean was charged July 16 at an unspecified location in Marseilles by agents of the Tri-County Drug Enforcement Narcotics Team. A second count was dismissed as part of Wednesday’s plea.
Under a recently changed Illinois law, Dean must serve 75 percent of his sentence and won’t be eligible for release until about 2020 or 2021."

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