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Ecstasy haul is Australian record

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4010573.stm

Police in Australia have made a record seizure of the drug ecstasy, finding three million tablets in a bakery oven.
The pills were hidden within the metal shell of the oven, which police say was imported from Poland, via Germany.

Customs officers X-rayed the equipment and spotted suspicious packages in the wall and base cavities.

Two men - both Australians - were arrested after taking delivery of the oven and allegedly removing its contents in a factory in Sydney.
 
1,540 Pounds of Cocaine Hidden in Squid

1,540 Pounds of Cocaine Hidden in Squid


Associated Press
11-15-04
LIMA - Peruvian anti-drug agents seized almost 1,540 pounds of cocaine destined for the Mexico that was hidden inside of a shipment of squid, police said Monday.

The shipment, with an estimated street value of $17.5 million dollars, was seized at the port of Paita approximately 550 miles northwest of Lima on Friday.

Seven Peruvians were arrested in connection with the smuggling operation.

National police officials said the drugs were wrapped in plastic, coated with pepper and packed in 25 tons of squid fillets to mask the smell.

Peruvian authorities had been working since August with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and local prosecutors on the case.

Peru was once the world's leading producer of coca. But it reduced its production by 70 percent between 1995 and 2001, thanks to low coca prices, the interception of smugglers, forced eradication of coca fields and programs to help farmers grow alternative crops.

More than 7 tons of cocaine has been seized by Peruvian authorities this year.


link
 
Man Wanted In OxyContin Ring Arrested In Massachusetts

Man Wanted In OxyContin Ring Arrested In Massachusetts

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- A man wanted in New Jersey for his alleged role in a massive OxyContin distribution ring was arrested early Monday morning.

James Fitzgerald, 27, was arrested at about 4 a.m. after breaking into his own home in Bridgewater, which had been sealed by police following a search last week, police said.

Fitzgerald was ordered held on $100,000 cash bail at his arraignment in Brockton District Court later Monday. An extradition hearing was scheduled for Dec. 19.

Police searched Fitzgerald's home last Wednesday and said they found drugs as well as documents and customer lists that tie Fitzgerald to the OxyContin ring. But Fitzgerald was nowhere to be found.

Police were called to Fitzgerald's home Monday morning with a 911 call reporting a possible break-in. They found Fitzgerald in the basement and another man on the second floor, West Bridgewater police Lt. Raymund Rogers said.

Fitzgerald is charged with being a fugitive from justice and various drug trafficking charges. The other man, Michael Irving, 28, of Weymouth, is charged with harboring an interstate felon and accessory after the fact of a felony.

New Jersey authorities last week arrested 17 people as part of what they call "Operation Dr. Feelgood." Fitzgerald was allegedly a courier who brought the OxyContin from Connecticut and New Jersey to Massachusetts, where it was distributed in the Brockton area, police said.

The ring moved tens of thousands of pills, which sold on the streets for $80 to $100 apiece, local authorities in New Jersey said. It took in about $150,000 per week, and had been operating for more than a year, they said.

The conspiracy allegedly involved organized crime figures, street gangs, pharmacists and college students.

OxyContin is a prescription painkiller that can provide a potentially fatal high similar to heroin. (AP)

Link
 
Cocaine haul hidden in giant squid.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/americas/11/16/peru.cocaine.reut/index.html
Cocaine haul hidden in giant squid
Tuesday, November 16, 2004 Posted: 7:44 AM EST (1244 GMT)


--

LIMA, Peru (Reuters) -- Peruvian police say they have seized nearly 1,540 pounds (700 kilograms) of cocaine hidden in frozen giant squid bound for Mexico and the United States.

The drugs were covered in pepper to divert sniffer dogs and sealed in several layers of plastic and other wrappers, Peruvian police said on Monday.

Police had been on the trail since August.

Seven people were arrested in the drug seizure.

Police said the haul would have a street value of about $17.5 million (euro13.5 million).

Peru is the world's second largest cocaine producer after Colombia, and many of its drugs end up on streets in America after being sent via Mexico.
 
Oops, I accidentally posted in wrong forum .. Could a mod move to Drugs and Media?

:\
 
1,900 Pounds Of Pot Seized
B.C. Bud Bound For California

BLAINE, Wash. -- Customs agents have seized nearly 1,900 pounds of marijuana at the Washington-Canada border in Blaine.

The B.C. Bud was discovered over the weekend during a cargo search. It was concealed in a shipment of shrink-wrapped wood shavings.

Its street value is estimated at more than $5.5 million.

The California-bound truck, trailer and cargo were also seized.

Code:
http://koin.com/news.asp?ID=40
 
Boy, 16, held in $6m drug bust

Boy, 16, held in $6m drug bust

A SIXTEEN-YEAR-OLD student, charged along with his uncle and his uncle's wife with possession of $6 million worth of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking, walked out of court yesterday after the court granted him bail.

The two adults were not so fortunate.

The teenager, his uncle, Ronald Singh, 38, and his wife, Correen, 41, were before Senior Magistrate Lianne Lee-Kim in the Port of Spain Magistrate's Fourth (A) Court.

When they were arrested and charged on Saturday a Justice of the Peace had granted each accused $150,000 bail.

The boy's mother had stood as bailor for all three accused then.

However, when the matter was called and the trio went before Lee Kim, she was refused as bailor for Ronald and his wife.

Lee Kim said she was not interfering with the bail of the teenager but she revoked the bail of Ronald and his wife and re-set it at $250,000 each.

She also ordered that someone else stand as their bailor.

No one secured bail for Ronald, a proprietor from xx xxxx xxxxxx xxxxx, Belmont, nor his wife.

Consequently, being remanded into police custody, they were trucked away by the prisoners' vans yesterday.

The family was represented by attorney Maillard Howell.

Acting Insp Roodal Harilal was police prosecutor.

It is alleged that on Saturday at Ronald's home the accused were in possession of 14.62 kilogrammes of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.

The charge was laid indictably by the Organised Crime and Narcotics Unit and they were not called upon to plead.

A description of 14 blocks of cocaine, with a street value of $5,848,000 contained in an Air Express travel bag along with money and a cheque totalling close to $100,000, allegedly seized from a black brief case and a maroon handbag were given to the court.

The court was shown a cheque for $27,877.50, $68,920 Trinidad and Tobago currency, $1,384 United States currency and currency notes from the United Kingdom, Venezuela, Canada and the Eastern Caribbean.

Howell told the court that the teenaged boy lived in Bon Air Gardens, Arouca, and was visiting his grandmother (Ronald's mother), who lived next door to Ronald.

He said the trio got bail at the police station but wanted it endorsed by the court since "it seemed reasonable".

He also noted that after the accused had been granted bail, they did not abscond and appeared before Lee Kim, after resetting bail also ordered, at Harilal's request, that the accused's passports be surrendered to the court.

The matter has been adjourned to December 2.

Link

[edit: removed address]
 
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500 kg cocaine seized in Brazil drug raid

500 kg cocaine seized in Brazil drug raid

Wednesday, November 24, 2004
NDTV.COm

Police raided a drug lab in Sao Paulo that packaged and processed cocaine headed for the streets of Rio de Janeiro's shantytowns, officials said.

The Police stormed a small farm in Embu Guacu, 30 km west of Sao Paulo, seizing 500 kg of cocaine hidden in the walls of a house. Two people were arrested, said police spokesman Antonio Carlos Silveira.

The raid also revealed a cache of heavy guns, including machine guns that "could be used to shoot down small airplanes and helicopters," said Ivaney Cayres de Souza, head of the police narcotics unit.

The bust was the result of an eight-month investigation into one of Rio's most-dangerous drug gangs, the 'Commando Vermelho' or 'Red Command', Silveira said on Tuesday.

According to police, cocaine from Colombia was smuggled into Brazil by truck and plane. The cocaine was processed and packaged at the lab, then transported for distribution in Rio's shantytowns. (AP)

Link
 
Bail denied for 15 million drug hall - Australia

news.com.au

Bail denied over $15m drug haul
November 25, 2004

A FATHER of two accused of being a key figure in the importation of more than $15 million worth of ecstasy tablets was denied bail today in a Gold Coast court.

Jason Edward Brophy, 38, was charged with trafficking a dangerous drug, conspiracy to import a prohibited import and conspiracy to possess a prohibited import relating to two large seizures of ecstasy in New South Wales in the past week.

The trafficking and conspiracy charges follow the interception of a car carrying 91,800 MDMA pills near Gosford on the NSW central coast last Thursday.

Police claimed the operation prevented the ecstasy from reaching the Gold Coast a day before the start of Schoolies.

Police alleged Mr Brophy also was involved in a conspiracy to import a further 298,272 pills found in a Sydney house on Monday.

http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news/?p=ecstasy&ei=UTF-8&c=news_photos


a week earlier there was a 3 million pill bust in Australia too, no wonder why your prices are cheap with people bringing in so much

[edit: fixed format]
 
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Man Found Driving With Heroine, $2.7 Million In Cocaine

Man Found Driving With Heroine, $2.7 Million In Cocaine

The Associated Press
11-27-04

CHICAGO -- A Burbank man who was pulled over for driving erratically was found with brown heroine, cocaine and crystal methamphetamines in his van, police said.

Authorities announced Friday that, Joel Hermosillo, 34, had $400,000 worth of brown heroine and $2.7 million worth of cocaine in his van.

According to the Cook County Sheriff's Police, when Hermosillo was pulled over, he was holding a half-empty bottle of cognac.

Sheriff's deputies also found about $162,000 in cash in the bust on Thanksgiving Day.

Hermosillo was charged with three counts of unlawful possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, driving under the influence, speeding and driving without a license.

link
 
This guy deserves to get caught. Why the hell would you drink and drive with all those drugs in the car. 8(
 
^ Yeah, a half-empty bottle of cognac in your hand isn't exactly what you want to get caught with when smuggling millions of dollars in drugs. LOL
 
Teacher produced drugs in college lab
Radio Australia
11/29/04

A Taiwanese college chemistry teacher has been arrested for illegally producing amphetamines in the college's laboratory.

Police arrested Fang Teh-ming, 42, an instructor from MingChi University of Technology, and 32-year-old drug dealer Chien Chih-chung at the college's laboratory after a three-month investigation.

The police also seized 14.4 kilograms of amphetamines and 134 kilograms of materials.

Fang, who has has Masters' degrees in chemistry and mechanical engineering from a US university, was sacked during a meeting of the college.

He is the second teacher, since May, arrested for using his professional skills to illegally produce amphetamines.

Link
 
Pizza baker admits dealing drugs
By LAURIE MASON, Bucks County Courier Times
December 7, 2004

A Richboro pizzeria owner on Monday was sentenced to six to 23 months in Bucks County prison plus three years of probation for dealing drugs and owning an illegal gun.

Charles Schell IV, 26, operated Munchies Pizza near Richboro Elementary and Richboro Middle schools before he was arrested. During a hearing in Bucks County court in Doylestown, Schell pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance, delivery of marijuana and possessing a firearm with altered serial numbers.

County Judge Kenneth Biehn ordered Schell to take part in a drug-treatment program as part of his sentence, and banned him from owning any guns. Schell's attorney, Ray McHugh, told the judge that his client's drug problems stemmed from a foot injury that left him addicted to prescription painkillers.

During a so-called "reverse sting," Schell sold nearly a pound of marijuana to officers and a large quantity of Percocet, a painkiller.

Police searched Schell's apartment above the restaurant and found PVC tubing and magazines on bomb making, as well as a .380-caliber handgun with the serial numbers filed off. Schell told the judge Monday that he kept the gun for protection.

In 1996, Schell was sentenced to 18 months of probation for shooting a rifle into the air. He was also found in contempt of court in March for violating a protection-from-abuse order that forbade him from having weapons.

Schell did not testify Monday. He smiled and waved at his parents and grandparents in the courtroom audience and thanked them for coming to the hearing.

Link
 
fruitfly said:
Pizza baker admits dealing drugs
By LAURIE MASON, Bucks County Courier Times
December 7, 2004

A Richboro pizzeria owner on Monday was sentenced to six to 23 months in Bucks County prison plus three years of probation for dealing drugs and owning an illegal gun.

Charles Schell IV, 26, operated Munchies Pizza near Richboro Elementary and Richboro Middle schools before he was arrested. During a hearing in Bucks County court in Doylestown, Schell pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance, delivery of marijuana and possessing a firearm with altered serial numbers.

County Judge Kenneth Biehn ordered Schell to take part in a drug-treatment program as part of his sentence, and banned him from owning any guns. Schell's attorney, Ray McHugh, told the judge that his client's drug problems stemmed from a foot injury that left him addicted to prescription painkillers.

During a so-called "reverse sting," Schell sold nearly a pound of marijuana to officers and a large quantity of Percocet, a painkiller.

Police searched Schell's apartment above the restaurant and found PVC tubing and magazines on bomb making, as well as a .380-caliber handgun with the serial numbers filed off. Schell told the judge Monday that he kept the gun for protection.

In 1996, Schell was sentenced to 18 months of probation for shooting a rifle into the air. He was also found in contempt of court in March for violating a protection-from-abuse order that forbade him from having weapons.

Schell did not testify Monday. He smiled and waved at his parents and grandparents in the courtroom audience and thanked them for coming to the hearing.

Link



What is it with pizzeria workers and drugs? ;) I myself work at a pizzeria and know many other drug users that also work in the pizza field.
 
Miami Beach doctor accused of illegally distributing OxyContin

Miami Beach doctor accused of illegally distributing OxyContin

Associated Press
12-7-04

MIAMI - A federal grand jury has indicted a physician and his assistant on charges they illegally distributed OxyContin and other controlled substances to Medicaid patients.

Armando J. Solis was arrested Monday after the grand jury unsealed a 15-count indictment. He was charged with one count of conspiring to defraud the federal government in its administration of Medicaid, one count of conspiring to distribute controlled substances and 13 counts of distributing controlled substances.

Solis' medical assistant, Harold Fox, was charged in both conspiracies and in 11 of the 13 distribution counts.

Solis was being held in federal detention until a Friday bond hearing. The government has recommended a $250,000 corporate surety bond for Solis and a $100,000, 10 percent bond for Fox. Fox's next hearing is Dec. 15.

Attorney General Charlie Crist said Solis was the largest prescriber of OxyContin to Medicaid patients in Florida. He said that evidence will show that "Dr. Solis was nothing more than a drug dealer in a white coat."

In the past two years, more than $9.8 million in Medicaid drug costs have been subscribed using Solis' license number, with more than $925,000 of that for OxyContin prescriptions, according to investigators.

A message left at Solis' office was not returned Tuesday. Fox's home line was continuously busy.

According to the indictment, from 2003 to present, Solis and Fox gave prescriptions to Medicaid patients without properly determining whether they actually needed them.

Solis allegedly signed prescriptions for OxyContin and other controlled substances for several patients without examining the individuals.

One patient was told to deny having accepted controlled substances for other patients if questioned by investigators, according to the indictment.

"Prescription drug abuse takes more lives in our state than heroin and cocaine combined," Gov. Jeb Bush said in a written statement.

Bush said the arrests send a strong message to medical professionals who illegally distribute prescription drugs.

"They will not be tolerated in Florida," he said.

Solis and Fox each face up to 20 years on the drug distribution conspiracy charge; each drug distribution charge carries a maximum punishment of either three or 20 years in prison, depending on the controlled substance that was distributed. If convicted of the fraud conspiracy charge, each faces five years in prison.

The recently formed joint state and federal Diversion Response Teams were responsible for the indictment and arrest. The teams provide increased surveillance over large quantities of prescription drugs in the marketplace.

Link
 
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