Kalynda Davis' friends shocked at ice arrest in China

[poledriver]

Kalynda Davis' friends shocked at ice arrest in China

Friends of the young woman charged with smuggling methamphetamine and potentially facing the death penalty in China are shocked at her arrest and say it's out of character.

Blake Tatafu has been friends with Kalynda Davis for ten years and says he remains sceptical of her involvement as he believes she is "definitely incapable of doing something like this".

"It's a complete shame that Australians who've seen the article about Peter, Kalynda and 'ICE', do not know the person Kalynda REALLY is,"Mr Tatagu posted on Twitter.

A friend who played netball with Ms Davis said it was "devastating" and "so very out of character".

Another friend, Cassandra Hoegal, posted online that she "got caught up with the wrong guy".

New Zealand-born Mr Gardner has joint citizenship and prior to the arrest, lived in Richmond in Sydney's west.

A family member reported Ms Davis missing from their two-storey Glenmore Park home on November 5, only to find out several days later that she was in custody in China.

She reportedly attended a Christian school and was raised in a well-off family in Sydney's west.

Her father Larry, an ANZ mobile lender and former police officer, did not return calls on Friday and a spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it would not be commenting.

Her Instagram and Facebook profiles, which she used prolifically to share photos from music festivals and basketball games, have been shut down.

A NSW police spokesman said Ms Davis was reported missing to them on November 5 and when she was arrested in China the matter was referred to DFAT.

Ms Davis and Mr Gardner are the latest in a spate of arrests of Australians on drug-related charges, some whom are potentially facing the death penalty.

China's drug laws state that people found guilty of possessing more than 50 grams of meth or heroin, or other narcotic drugs of "large quantities", could be subject to the death penalty.

DFAT is currently extending consular assistance to nine Australians who are detained on serious drug charges.

The flurry of arrests prompted DFAT to issue an updated travel advisory in September warning travellers of China's severe drug laws, and the "substantial risks involved in carrying parcels for others which may conceal narcotics".

"We have some concerns that there may be a pattern in the cases of some of the individuals being arrested," a spokesman said at the time.

The arrests have been centred on the southern province of Guangdong, a notorious hub for methamphetamine production and home to an anti-drug sweep codenamed

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/kalynda-davis-friends-shocked-at-ice-arrest-in-china-20141206-121loi.html

 

[poledriver]

China: Australian alleged drug importer Kalynda Davis is top police officer’s daughter

AUSTRALIAN alleged drug importer Kalynda Davis, currently holed up in a Chinese prison, is the daughter of a decorated senior cop who nearly died in an infamous car crash that killed Inspector Noel Thompson nearly 20 years ago.
Ms Davis, 22, was arrested in China after allegedly trying to import 75kg of methamphetamine to Australia with partner Peter Gardner.
She and Mr Gardner, 25, could be executed by a firing squad if they are found guilty.

Cont -

http://www.news.com.au/national/nsw...fficers-daughter/story-fnj3rq0y-1227146680035

 

[Mysterie]

they say when you're in love, details about everything else fall to the wayside. i guess this is proof. pretty weird though, i mean you would have to have a death wish to attempt something like that, or very addicted to meth, or not very well endowed in the brains department.

 

[poledriver]

Australian couple face death penalty in China over alleged smuggling of ice

More details are emerging in the case of two young people who have been arrested in China accused of trying to import the drug crystal methamphetamine, or ice, into Australia.

The couple – an Australian woman and New Zealand man who also has Australian citizenship – potentially face the death penalty for the crime.

Australian Kalynda Davis and New Zealander Peter Gardiner are not likely to appear in court in China for some months but, if recent similar cases are anything to go by, the prospects of them getting off would seem to be very slim.

The pair might have seemed like two young travellers when they were trying to board a flight for Australia out of Guangzhou International airport, but Chinese customs officials told the ABC that ice appeared on a scan of their luggage.


AUDIO: Listen to Stephen McDonell's report (AM)

A customs officer the ABC spoke to wanted to be known only as Mr Wang.

"When they tried to leave the country, we found the ice inside their checked-in luggage," he said.

He said authorities weighed the luggage at 36 kilograms and that a proportion of this was the drugs.

As for earlier reports that they had been caught with 75 kilograms of ice, Mr Wang said it was possible that there were others involved carrying more drugs.

Mr Wang also told the ABC customs officers apprehended the couple and handed them over to the anti-smuggling bureau within customs. It is this organisation that will investigate their case before they are, in all likelihood, handed over to Chinese prosecutors.

Apart from the death penalty, drug smuggling in China can potentially lead to a lengthy jail term and, in cases like this, defendants rarely get off.

Most China law experts say that a defendants' best strategy is to draw as much publicity as they can to the case in order to embarrass officials in China's notoriously rigged criminal justice system into treating them as best as possible.

But the families have refused to speak about the matter and so has the Australian Government.

The New Zealand Consul General has visited Gardiner inside a detention centre to check on his wellbeing and confirmed that he has legal representation.

Any consular assistance for Davis would come from Australian diplomats in Guangzhou.

There is a flourishing drug trade between southern China and Australia and in recent times increased cooperation between the Australian Federal Police and their Chinese counterparts has seen a series of major busts.

Under the Chinese system Davis and Gardiner are not likely to appear in court for some months, but by then their fate will almost certainly have been sealed.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-12-...penalty-china-alleged-ice-trafficking/5948766

 

[cj]

Yeah fuck that noise. Plenty of money to be made in 1st world countries selling drugs if you are so inclined.

 

[poledriver]

Australian cop’s daughter Kalynda Davis and Peter Gardner may face firing squad in China for alleged crime

UP to nine Australians now face the prospect of being executed by firing squads in China prisons for drug offences, following the arrests of Sydneysiders Kalynda Davis, 22, and Peter Gardner, 25 in the southern metropolis of Guangzhou.
The pair were the latest to be busted trying to smuggle methamphetamine, also known as “ice” and “crystal”, into Australia from China’s drugs hub as part an intensifying national anti-narcotics sweep by the administration of Chinese president Xi Jinping.

The couple, from the western Sydney suburbs of Penrith and Richmond, were allegedly attempting to smuggle 75kg of the drug; now they face a minimum of life imprisonment and probably death, according to Chinese lawyers who spoke to News Corp Australia.

Wang Jinhe, a lawyer in Guangzhou who has represented several cases involved with drug trafficking, said: “76kg of drugs, in my legal career of 15 years, is an extremely high amount, record breaking to my knowledge. I’m representing a case with an African accused of drug trafficking for of 60kg and I am afraid none of them can escape death penalty.”

Methamphetamine has emerged in recent years as the region’s No. 1 drug scourge and its tentacles are fast spreading into Australia.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is offering consular assistance to Davis, Gardner and seven other Australians accused of drug smuggling, all of whom are now languishing in harsh Chinese detention centres. But DFAT would offer no further comment nor would the Guangzhou police.

WORRIED FRIENDS: Claim Kalynda Davis was used by her boyfriend
It remains unclear whether the pair have been charged yet, but the process to a trial can take as long as a year in system that has a conviction rate of over 99 per cent, according to Chinese government statistics. Detainees are effectively guilty until proven innocent.

In September, the Federal government warned about the possibility of a death sentence for drug trafficking after a string of Australian arrests. In the past 12 months the Chinese government has mounted a major anti-drugs program across the country known as Operation Thunder.

“Keeping high pressure on drug traffic is a long-term policy in China, it is not a temporary campaign,” Mr Wang said.
“With more foreigners in China, there is an increase in foreigners found drug trafficking too.”

But even a far smaller amount could see offenders face bullets to the head, Xie Yanyi, a lawyer in Beijing told News Corp Australia.
“Trafficking of drugs (including meth and heroin) of more than fifty grams could lead to (a) death sentence.”

Unlike other charges relating to business deals, which have proven controversial for some Australians sentenced to prison on China, drug cases are relatively cut and dried Mr Xie said.
“And China is taking tougher stance against drug trafficking, since it is a universal crime in any legal system, facts are relatively easy to confirm, and there is less possibility of political or ideological interpretations to such cases,” he added.

Until they are officially charged, the families of Davis and Gardner must apply for special permission to see them, Mr Xie said. And even after charges are laid and sentences handed down, they will only receive one visit from family each month. That will remain the same if they escape death, for the rest of their lives, he added.

Guangzhou’s position in the far south of China means it is the biggest city on the Chinese coast close Southeast Asia’s Golden Triangle, with major air and sealinks via the nearby ports of Hong Kong and Shenzhen. Chinese gangs also manufacture huge quantities of the drug as well as having connections to notorious Mexican drug cartels.

Chinese authorities have few qualms about executing foreigners for drug offences. In July two Ugandans were executed. A number of Africans, who are prominent in on-the-street drug dealing in big Chinese cities are understood to be on death row. In 2010 four Japanese were shot after being found guilty of drug offences.

http://www.news.com.au/national/aus...or-alleged-crime/story-fncynjr2-1227147063966

 

[S.J.B.]

Man oh man... you Australians need to start making your own dope, because the closest major source country is not one to fuck around with...

 

[poledriver]

There seems to be some inconsistencies or incorrect info about the weights they were caught with, with one source saying it was in their luggage which weighed 36 kilos and a proportion of that weight was the drugs, other sources say 75 kg's and one said 76 kg's.

I guess it might mean the difference between death and life in jail, two very horrible outcomes. This would be the worst situation to be in, I can't imagine how that chick has got herself involved with this, only 22 and loads of her friends saying it's so out of character and she is an ex cops daughter, jesus...

More info will be forthcoming soon hopefully to let us know how it actually went down and what they are both saying etc. So far the reports are not too clear.

 

[S.J.B.]

There seems to be some inconsistencies or incorrect info about the weights they were caught with, with one source saying it was in their luggage which weighed 36 kilos and a proportion of that weight was the drugs, other sources say 75 kg's and one said 76 kg's.

I guess it might mean the difference between death and life in jail, two very horrible outcomes.

Given that the threshold for a death sentence is 50 grams, I doubt it will make much of a difference.

 

[poledriver]

Yeah I guess we wont know till they get sentenced.

 

[slimvictor]

Wang Jinhe, a lawyer in Guangzhou who has represented several cases involved with drug trafficking, said: “76kg of drugs, in my legal career of 15 years, is an extremely high amount, record breaking to my knowledge. I’m representing a case with an African accused of drug trafficking for of 60kg and I am afraid none of them can escape death penalty.”

But these people have the best legal defense, even in China: they are white.
It may save their lives.

 

[poledriver]

I can't fathom how the 22 yr old chick who by friends accounts is not a party girl or addict would get caught up in doing this. I also do not understand why anyone would do such large amounts on them selves or in their luggage, it shows up on scans, pretty big chance of being caught when you have to go through two high security airports.

With large amounts like this you'd think most higher up players wouldnt send so much on people or in their luggage, I would have thought a better way would be to try and get it through the ports, and then if Australians took consignment on the other end they would not get in NEARLY as much trouble. If theses two had of been in Australia and accepted a parcel or stuff from a shipping container or whatever and it was discovered by customs and they did a replacement of the drugs and then let them take delivery of it here they would have got a much lesser penalty, maybe life in jail but that ends up being 25-30 years possibly.

I have no idea how the guy was so hooked up with such large amounts, I'll be interested to hear more as they release more details over time.

Imagine being the chicks friends or family they must be so shattered, and the guys, but the chick especially, 22 and from a well off ex cops family. Shit I bet they are all scared shitless she might be executed. I cant imagine.

 

[Crankinit]

There seems to be some inconsistencies or incorrect info about the weights they were caught with, with one source saying it was in their luggage which weighed 36 kilos and a proportion of that weight was the drugs, other sources say 75 kg's and one said 76 kg's.

I guess it might mean the difference between death and life in jail, two very horrible outcomes. This would be the worst situation to be in, I can't imagine how that chick has got herself involved with this, only 22 and loads of her friends saying it's so out of character and she is an ex cops daughter, jesus...

More info will be forthcoming soon hopefully to let us know how it actually went down and what they are both saying etc. So far the reports are not too clear.

People always say "oh something must be off, this isn't at all like her" when an attractive and wealthy young woman is arrested for drug related crimes or found OD'd. It's nonsense, wealth and attractiveness aren't somehow a protection from drugs (and with drug prices in Australia, they're often a contributing factor), the only reason this is in the news is because she's young/hot/well off/the daughter of an ex-cop. If it happened to a guy raised in some craphole suburb out West, it wouldn't even be in the news, or would receive only a passing mention as part of the media's current meth scare campaign.

If I had to take a guess, it would be that she took pills at music festivals a couple times a year, this either directly leads to ice offered by a friend or leads her into contact with an ice dealer, she gets together with him or through him with someone else well connected (maybe because she's convinced she's in love with the guy, more likely she's looking for a thrill or just wants free drugs), and next thing you know she's manipulated into somehow ending up in China with a few dozen kg of shard in her bag. Not an unknown scenario, but it makes good news because of who she is, not what she's done.

 

[BZboo]

People always say "oh something must be off, this isn't at all like her" when an attractive and wealthy young woman is arrested for drug related crimes or found OD'd...

yup yup yup. Like to me it shows the stereotype most people have that drugs addiction or drug related crimes are "those people", despite a lot of evidence that supports drug addiction and association to drug related crimes can not be related specifically to any one race, gender, socioeconomic group, etc. Why is it so shocking that a white woman who seems perfectly normal would be smuggling drugs? haha its almost like drug dealers recognize that a woman that looks like her is less likely to raise suspicion based on our stereotypes of some strung out tweaker? I also agree that she was probably doing this for a man or was encouraged by one.

 

[Crankinit]

haha its almost like drug dealers recognize that a woman that looks like her is less likely to raise suspicion based on our stereotypes of some strung out tweaker?

This is actually a regular tactic - it's why they target elderly people when they sneak drugs into other people's luggage, or pay young, pretty and/or professional looking women to do it, stuff like that.

But yeah, addiction definitely isn't limited to our stereotypes - one of the first true meth addicts I met was a stunningly attractive girl of 19, always well dressed, incredibly outgoing and friendly and from a very nice part of town. Last person you'd pick as a meth addict, but she blew thousands smoking the stuff on top of what her dealer boyfriend gave her - luckily she ended up in rehab instead of jail like the boyfriend.

 

[poledriver]

Did the Australian Federal Police help Chinese authorities nab Kalynda Davis on drugs charges?

THE Australian Federal Police may have been involved in the arrest of Penrith woman Kalynda Davis, 22, in the Chinese city of Guangzhou last month.
Davis faces a lengthy jail sentence and possible execution after being accused of smuggling methamphetamine, or “ice”.
The AFP has a number of officers based permanently in the Australian consulate in Guangzhou and has been working closely with Chinese authorities on drug smuggling for several years, News Corp Australia has learned.
Joint operations are understood to have stepped up in the past few years as methamphetamine smuggling has become the main focus of Guangzhou based AFP, sources in the city said.

Reports have indicated that Ms David and Peter Gardiner, 25, a New Zealand citizen and Sydney resident who was arrested with her, are accused of trying to smuggle 75kg of the drug out of Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport.
The potential involvement of the AFP has echoes of the Bali Nine, when the father of Scott Rush, one of the nine, tipped off the AFP expecting them to intercept his son before he left Australia for Bali.
Instead, the AFP told their counterparts in Bali, and Rush was arrested, convicted and is now serving a life sentence.

In March Guangzhou police had handed over a parcel of methamphetamine to the AFP as evidence in an Australian drug smuggling trial, part of their growing co-operation, the first time China had ever handed over such evidence to a foreign country, Chinese media reported.
And in the past two years a number of large shipments of the drug have been found coming into Australia in from China in shipping containers.
On November 6, the day after the arrest of Davis and Gardiner, AFP officers in Sydney charged a Chinese national, 55, with allegedly attempting to import about 65kg of methamphetamine, with a street value of more than $43 million, concealed within five flatpack timber packages.

CONCERNED FRIENDS: Search for missing Penrith girl ends with Chinese drug allegations
“Every day of every week we are building our intelligence picture on methodologies, schemes and more importantly the organised crime syndicates involved in this type of activity,” AFP Commander Ray Johnson said.
The New Zealand Consul-General in Guangzhou, who has visited Gardiner at a detention centre in the city, said he had legal representation, so it is likely that Davis is being represented as she has been visited by Australian consular officials.

But Chinese lawyers who had previously spoken to News Corp Australia confirmed that they would be facing a minimum of life in prison and potentially death by firing squad if found guilty.
China has executed a number of foreign nationals in recent years for drug offences.

The Australian Federal Police established a liaison office in the People’s Republic of China in April 1999 under funding from the National Illicit Drugs Strategy.
SPEAKING OUT: Kalynda Davis’ friend says co-accused Peter Gardner ‘used’ her to try and smuggle drugs into Australia
The office was originally set up to focus on the heroin trade transiting from Southeast Asia’s notorious Golden Triangle.

China’s anti-drugs sweep has caught up several tonnes of methamphetamine, resulting in hundreds of arrests and caught up at least one criminal mastermind Professor Xu, a man dubbed the Chinese Walter White after the high school teacher turned drug kingpin in the hit TV series Breaking Bad.

An increasing number of foreigners including the nine Australians and more than 100 African nationals have also been caught in range of major busts and airports stings.
If anyone has any information concerning the identities of other Australians arrested in China please contact the author on [email protected]

http://www.news.com.au/national/did...on-drugs-charges/story-fncynjr2-1227147819891

 

[poledriver]

Police suspect Australians caught up in international drug networks

Kalynda Davis, the young Sydney woman potentially facing the death penalty in China after being accused of smuggling large quantities of methamphetamine, could have become embroiled in what police suspect is the work of sophisticated international drug trafficking syndicates.

Ms Davis is among at least nine Australians detained on serious drug charges in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, an area that has been the subject of recent warnings to travellers about not carrying drugs.

The spate of arrests of Australians – coinciding with a large-scale anti-drug sweep in China – prompted the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to issue a travel advisory in September warning travellers of the severe drug laws in China, while emphasising the "substantial risks involved in carrying parcels for others which may conceal narcotics".

Ms Davis and Peter Gardiner, a 25-year-old New Zealand national who also holds Australian citizenship, were attempting to board a flight for Australia from Guangzhou International Airport last month when customs staff detected the drugs – better known as ice – in a luggage scan.

The southern Chinese province has emerged as a notorious hub for methamphetamine production and transportation, and the Australian Federal Police have been working closely and exchanging information with their Chinese counterparts in an attempt to stem the tide of illicit drugs into Australia.

"The Australian link is that the drugs are coming out of [Guangzhou] down into Australia," one senior source said, adding it was likely there was more than one drug syndicate involved.

"We are a very big receiver of drugs across the whole spectrum, whether it's ecstasy, cocaine, methamphetamine … we are a very wealthy country and willing to pay higher prices for our drugs.

"So unfortunately we have become very much a sought-after country for drugs to go. It's just supply and demand, bottom line."

Another police source said there was no shortage in supply of drug mules – unwitting or otherwise – to make the high-risk journey.

Friends of Ms Davis expressed shocked at her arrest and said it was out of character. Long-time friend Blake Tatafu said Ms Davis was "definitely incapable of doing something like this", while a friend who played netball with her said it was "devastating" and "so very out of character".

A family member reported Ms Davis missing from their two-storey Glenmore Park home on November 5, only to find out that she was in custody in China.

It is understood there is no court date set for Ms Davis or Mr Gardiner, and that none of the Australians has yet been sentenced for their alleged crimes.

Davis reportedly attended a Christian school and was raised in a well-off family in Sydney's west.

Her Instagram and Facebook profiles, which she used prolifically to share photos from music festivals and basketball games, have been shut down.

A NSW police spokesman said Ms Davis was reported missing to them on November 5 and when she was arrested in China the matter was referred to DFAT.

Her father, Larry, is an ANZ mobile lender and former police office. Her grandfather, Noel Thompson, was also a police officer, and was serving as Penrith police commander when he died in a car accident in 1994. Mr Davis was also in the car and sustained serious injuries, including 17 fractured ribs and a broken jaw.

Former Penrith Panthers and State of Origin player Brad Izzard, a long-time friend of Mr Thompson, was driving the vehicle while drunk and was sentenced to a minimum of nine months jail.

Guangdong authorities launched a spectacular drug raid last December as part of the broader anti-drug sweep codenamed "Operation Thunder". More than 3000 paramilitary and police swooped in helicopters and speedboats in 109 separate raids which culminated in the confiscation of more than 3 tonnes of methamphetamine, also known as "ice", and 23 tonnes of raw materials. Almost a hundred foreigners, mostly of African background, were arrested in one raid alone, according to state media.

http://www.smh.com.au/national/poli.../02/2014-edtrs_socialshare-all-nnn-nnn-vars-o

 

[poledriver]

Friend of Kalynda Davis, who faces possible execution in China, says co-accused Peter Gardner ‘used’ her to try and smuggle drugs into Australia

A FRIEND of the Sydney girl facing a possible death sentence in China says she was forced into smuggling drugs by the Richmond man who has also been arrested.
Kalynda Davis, 22, of Penrith and Peter Gardner, 25, have been accused of trying to smuggle 75kg of methamphetamine or ice from China to Australia.
The pair arrived in Guangzhou from Sydney on November 5 and were scheduled to return three days later but were intercepted by Chinese authorities, Nine News reported.

But a friend has taken to Facebook to accuse Gardner of forcing Davis into the smuggling operation.
“He took her from us! He deserves nothing! He took our kalynda and used her,” the message read.
“She would be so scared now. I just want to hug her!”

Davis, a talented junior basketballer on the verge of selection for NSW, and Gardner are expected to face court this week.
A spokesman for Ms Davis’ former basketball club Penrith Panthers said the club was rallying around her parents who have flown to China to support their daughter.
“We are speaking about it at board level about how can we offer support for the family.“
“She was a very good basketball player and they are a wonderful family.”

Cont -

http://www.news.com.au/national/nsw...s-into-australia/story-fnii5s3x-1227145567198

 

[neversickanymore]

Chinese government has mounted a major anti-drugs program across the country known as Operation Thunder

Good name for an drug operation as they usually just create a whole bunch of noise and excitement, but never do any real damage to the drug trade.

If the Chinese government wants to look good, like they are no longer in the stone age, they should let this innocent women go. They probably respect this smuggler for useing this poor woman.

China the King of untested synthetic drugs. Coming to a middle school near you.

Don't worry, they are on this. They are going to execute a foreign girl who was played out by a smuggler.

 

[Crankinit]

Good name for an drug operation as they usually just create a whole bunch of noise and excitement, but never do any real damage to the drug trade.

Heh, it is pretty suitable.