Mega Merged Drug Bust Thread v2.0

[poledriver]

Damn. They never seem to be in the news here, it's always the 'AFP' and 'customs' etc... I wonder if they actually do anything.

 

[casual1]

Some agents are based in Pine Gap, Alice Springs - intercepting all the global communications. Not necessarily chasing just Australian based drug crime.

 

[bit_pattern]

Fuck me - that MDMA look like the bizzo

the drug concealment was particularly elaborate and showed the lengths people go to in order to smuggle drugs into Australia.

Doesn't look particularly elaborate to me. In fact it looks incredibly stupid. Who's going to be bringing in kgs of "bath salts" in their luggage?

 

[poledriver]

Yeah, 2 kg's I wonder how much that'd be worth in real terms, not some jacked up end user price per gram.

 

[poledriver]

Woman carries cannabis chocs for kids in Coffs rave sting

A WOMAN allegedly detected carrying chocolates laced with cannabis was among those detained by police in a major drug operation carried out west of Coffs Harbour on Saturday.

When questioned by drug squad officers stopping traffic on Friday Creek Road, the woman said she was delivering the items to her children who were attending an unauthorised rave party.

Operation Borasca was delivered as a surprise but has been planned for some time after intelligence revealed tickets were being sold to the rave party over the internet.

It's believed at least 1000 people had purchased tickets with organisers expecting to reap at least $50,000.

Coffs-Clarence Local Area Command crime manager, Detective Inspector Darren Jameson, said the operation began at 1pm after a morning briefing and two arrests were made almost immediately.

"Officers were set up with a breath testing station and drug detection dogs," he said.

"They quickly detected two 19-year-old males who it will be alleged were found carrying a large amount of drugs they intended to supply.

"Police have also seized many other small quantities of drugs.

"What is quite concerning is the level and amount of drugs detected and all of them of the hardcore or most illicit variety."

Among items seized were more than 100 deals of LSD soaked in sugar cubes.

A group of foreign backpackers when questioned said they had no illicit substances in their possession but when their vehicle was searched, police allegedly discovered drugs hidden in a teapot.

More than 1000 tests were carried out in the first four hours of the operation and police are expected to remain at the scene for most of the night.

http://www.coffscoastadvocate.com.a...cannabis-chocs-kids-coffs-rave-sting/2303291/

 

[Masshole]

Yeah, 2 kg's I wonder how much that'd be worth in real terms, not some jacked up end user price per gram.

Between 40-60 grand.

 

[S.J.B.]

Damn, they just went to the rave and searched whoever they wanted? Does that happen often in Australia?

 

[poledriver]

^ The cops set up in a road way that leads to the rave which was on private property, I havent heard if the party was allowed to go on, it just happened last night and its now 6 am. I didnt go.

But yeah they do stings like that sadly, not all the time, I went to one up around the same area a few yrs ago and the cops did the same thing but only in the morning when everyone was leaving. Took us ages to get out as cars were banked up for miles trying to get past.

 

[poledriver]

NT Police make $100,000 meth, ecstasy bust after drugs allegedly fall out of woman's purse

Police have made a $100,000 bust after drugs allegedly fell out of a woman's purse as she showed officers her licence.

Police say the woman was driving erratically when she was pulled over at Berrimah in Darwin on Saturday night.

When she showed officers her licence, a bag of drugs allegedly fell out of her purse.

Police say a search of the woman's car turned up more than $100,000 worth of methamphetamine and ecstasy, and more than $20,000 in cash.

The 33-year-old was arrested at the roadside and will face court on Tuesday.

The allegations against her include possession and supply of drugs, and driving under the influence of a dangerous drug.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-06-30/meth-ecstasy-bust-darwin-purse/5560330

 

[S.J.B.]

I really like the look of that Australian money!

 

[poledriver]

Police seize millions of dollars worth of 'Ice' and MDMA following clan lab closure - SCC Drug Squad

Friday, 04 July 2014 04:43:19 AM

Detectives from the Drug Squad have seized more than $15 million worth of illicit drugs, arrested two men and shut down a large clandestine laboratory following an operation in Sydney on Wednesday and Thursday (2 and 3 July 2014).

Earlier this year Drug Squad detectives formed Strike Force Finney to investigate the large scale manufacture and supply of prohibited drugs.

Shortly before 6pm on Wednesday (2 July 2014), detectives stopped a car in the north-western Sydney suburb of Box Hill. The two occupants of the car – a 35-year-old man from Bondi Beach and a 24-year-old Cranebrook man – were arrested, before police executed a warrant at a nearby property.

On the property, officers located a set-up consistent with a large scale clandestine laboratory. Of note, police located and seized one kilogram of crystal methylamphetamine (‘Ice), three litres of methylamphetamine oil, and in excess of 200 items that can be used in the manufacture of methylamphetamine and MDMA.

A short time later, detectives executed a second search warrant at an apartment in Bondi Beach, where they located 17 kilograms of what are believed to be MDMA tablets (approximately 70,000 tablets), 4 kilograms of what is believed MDMA powder, more than 4 kilograms of crystal methylamphetamine and a ballistics vest.

The total potential street value of the drugs seized – total 21 kilograms of MDMA (tablets and powder), five kilograms of crystal methylamphetamine and three litres of methylamphetamine oil – is approximately $15 million.

Both men were taken to Quakers Hill Police Station, where the Bondi Beach man was charged with:

- Two counts of manufacturing a large commercial quantity of a prohibited drug;

- Three counts of supplying a large commercial quantity of a prohibited drug;

- One count of supply commercial quantity of a prohibited drug; and,

- One count of supply indictable quantity of a prohibited drug.

The Cranebrook man was charged with:

- Two counts of manufacturing a large commercial quantity of a prohibited drug.

Both men were refused police bail and appeared in Parramatta Local Court yesterday (Thursday 3 July 2014), where they were again refused bail to next appear in Central Local Court on 28 August 2014.

Police are today (Friday 4 July 2014) continuing to process the site of the clandestine laboratory in Box Hill.

The number of clan labs shut down by police in NSW during 2014 now totals 44.

The Commander of the SCC Drug Squad, Detective Superintendent Tony Cooke, commended Strike Force Finney detectives for their outstanding work.

“The police managing this investigation have been working around the clock,” Detective Superintendent Cook said.

“That hard work has now been rewarded with a significant quantity of drugs not making it to the street.

“We will continue to do everything we can to stop illicit drug syndicates profiting at the community's loss but members of the public need to continue playing their part too.

“If you know or suspect a property is being used to manufacture or distribute illicit drugs, please do the right thing and contact Crime Stoppers.

“You may not know it at the time, but that one call could result in the seizure of kilograms of drugs, and end up saving many lives.”

http://www.police.nsw.gov.au/news/l...vdi5hdSUyRm1lZGlhJTJGMzkwMDQuaHRtbCZhbGw9MQ==

 

[neversickanymore]

Australian polices sieze $160 million worth of meth

NSFW:

Australian Meth Bust
Australian Federal Police and Customs officers (L) speak at a press conference after Australian authorities found Aus$180 million (US$162 million) of methamphetamine (R) stashed in a consignment of kayaks from China, in Sydney on February 12, 2014. Four Taiwanese nationals were arrested afte the 183-kilogramme (402-pound) haul was discovered during a joint Australian Federal Police and Customs and Border Protection Service operation at Sydney's container port. AFP PHOTO / William WEST (Photo credit should read WILLIAM WEST/AFP/Getty Images)


SYDNEY (AP) - Australian police seized about 180 million Australian dollars ($162 million) worth of methamphetamine hidden inside kayaks shipped from China, officials said Wednesday.

Five people were arrested in Sydney on Tuesday after customs officials discovered 183 kilograms (403 pounds) of meth last week while inspecting a shipment of kayaks from China, the Australian Federal Police said. Nineteen of 27 kayaks in the shipment had bags of meth stuffed inside the watertight areas of the boats, said Tim Fitzgerald, regional director for the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service.

Four of the five people arrested are from Taiwan, and one is from Sydney. Two were charged with attempting to import drugs, and the others were charged with possessing a commercial quantity of drugs. They each face a maximum of life in prison if convicted.

Australian officials have made a series of major drug busts in recent months. In October, police seized about AU$200 million worth of meth hidden in the tires of a truck shipped from China.

http://www.aol.com/article/2014/02/...illion-worth-of-meth/20828292/#!slide=2203122

Taiwanese face lengthy jail time for Australian drugs charges
Sydney (AFP) - Six Taiwanese men are facing life sentences after being charged with importing Aus$42 million ($39 million) worth of methamphetamine into Australia, authorities said Sunday.

The men were due to face a Sydney court on Sunday and could also receive fines of more than Aus$1 million if convicted of importing 50 kilogrammes (110 pounds) of the illegal drug, Australian Federal Police said in a statement.

Customs officials said they started their investigations when they inspected a consignment from China labelled as a "boiler" last month and found a "white crystalline substance" in it.

The substance was revealed after tests to be methamphetamine, police said.

The men, aged between 27 and 46, were arrested Saturday after they allegedly picked up the consignment in western Sydney and took its contents to a hotel.

They were charged with the importation and the attempted possession of a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug.

The federal police's crime operations manager Jennifer Hurst said the arrests should send a "strong signal to those wishing to import and distribute illicit drugs that it is not worth it".

Four Taiwanese nationals and one Australian were charged in February after police seized Aus$180 million worth of methamphetamine stashed in a consignment of kayaks from China.

http://news.yahoo.com/taiwanese-face-lengthy-jail-time-australian-drugs-charges-045348965.html

 

[poledriver]

50kg of methamphetamine (with a street value of approximately $42 million)

Meth is worth nearly 1 mill a kg?

Still, 50 kg is alot of meth, but they wont do 'life', maybe 20 odd years, but chances to appeal and stuff.

AFP Manager Crime Operations, Commander Jennifer Hurst said that these arrests should send a strong signal to those wishing to import and distribute illicit drugs that it is not worth it.

But it seems it kind of is worth it for people who wish to try or are in that business, as meth is expensive here and there are lots of users and the sentences are alot less than alot of other places, especially asian countries.

http://www.afp.gov.au/media-centre/...amphetamine intercepted six men arrested.aspx

 

[oldirtybizza]

Meth is worth nearly 1 mill a kg?

It would be if every single point was sold individually at the most expensive street price, for once an article actually has a $ figure that is at least somewhat based on reality.
Aus should be a poster child for Drug reform since despite strict customs and RIDICULOUS prices for illicit drugs it apparently has the highest per capita % of drug users .

 

[neversickanymore]

Aus should be a poster child for Drug reform since despite strict customs and RIDICULOUS prices for illicit drugs it apparently has the highest per capita % of drug users .

qft.. very wise you are bizza.

 

[poledriver]

It would be if every single point was sold individually at the most expensive street price, for once an article actually has a $ figure that is at least somewhat based on reality.
Aus should be a poster child for Drug reform since despite strict customs and RIDICULOUS prices for illicit drugs it apparently has the highest per capita % of drug users .

Yeah, but then you get amounts like this from a few years ago -

Federal police have shattered the Australian arm of an international crime network, seizing nearly a quarter of a tonne of the drug ice in a record bust.
In a string of raids carried out by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) in Sydney and Perth, 239kg of methamphetamine - or ice - worth $50 million was seized in the biggest bust of its kind the nation has seen.


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/ice-drug-bust-worth-50m-police-20110505-1e9hp.html#ixzz36lOolLdp

 

[mattnotrik]

Following up from the 220kg Ketamine bust in Manchester, England Officers swooped to seize the players behind the operations in what thought was to also include a "£300m drugs import conspiracy into the Uk" Arrested on Class A, B and C charges.

225kg Ketamine

http://www.merseyside.police.uk/new...d-by-titan-following-m6-motorway-seizure.aspx

Follow up Raids.

Seven people have been charged following an investigation into a £300m conspiracy to supply drugs across the north west.

The five men and two women are due to appear before Manchester magistrates tomorrow (Friday) charged with conspiracy to import or supply drugs.

It follows police raids across Greater Manchester on Wednesday.

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co...s/trafford-salford-300m-drugs-arrests-7369050


------------------------

Cannabis Hauls this week in Manchester also.

"£400,000" grow house raided

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co...s/worsley-cannabis-farm-huge-cannabis-7405538

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Another "£500,000k" cannabis farm in a disused mill raid, Manchester.

Police have uncovered a massive cannabis farm containing plants worth half a million pounds.

Four men were arrested when officers swooped on the marijuana factory in York Street Mill in Bury.

More than 2,500 cannabis plants with an estimated street value of £500,000 were recovered from the building, police said.

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co...ws/bury-cannabis-farm-police-discover-7396952

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"£150,000" cannabis seized in bakery, actually 15.5 Kilos in Manchester.

Police have discovered cannabis worth £150,000 in a disused bakery.

Officers swooped on the former Croda Food Services in Oldham and found 15.5 kilos of the drug in vacuum-packed bags.

They seized 31 packets during the raid, at 5pm on Thursday evening.

The closed bakery, on Falcon Street south of Oldham town centre, was ‘a storage and distribution centre’ for cannabis dealers in the area, police said.

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co...ews/croda-food-services-oldham-police-7407351

 

[poledriver]

Drug-dealing great-grandparents narrowly avoid jail sentences

TWO drug-dealing great-grandparents caught with more than one kilogram of cannabis have avoided jail because of their age and previously clean criminal record, a court has heard.

Denise and Alex Laczko were given community corrections orders in Bendigo Magistrates Court on Friday after pleading guilty to trafficking and possessing a drug of dependence.

The husband and wife duo, aged 74 and 62, would purchase two to three pounds of cannabis each fortnight and had been selling the drug to a small group of customers since for about nine months for $250 per ounce.

The pair was arrested in November last year after police found cannabis plants, a set of scales, and more than $27,000 in cash at their California Gully home.

Officers found 600 grams of cannabis in a cooler box, as well as numerous deal bags, foils and cigarettes containing the illicit drug in a rear bungalow.

Several days after their arrest, police also seized a car which had been used for completing drug deals.

Defence lawyer Serge Petrovich told the court his clients came before the court with no prior convictions, and were embarrassed and ashamed by their behaviour.

He said Mr Laczko began smoking cannabis to help deal with back pain sustained during a workplace injury in about 2003-4.

When the couple ran into financial difficulties, their drug dealer suggested they buy more cannabis and sell it to friends and colleagues to cover their costs, the court heard.

Mr Petrovich said what started as a modest endeavour soon escalated.

The court also heard the pair sold the drugs to earn enough money to renovate their dilapidated bathroom and sell the house.

In addition to the trafficking and possession charges, Mr Laczko pleaded guilty to cultivating and using a drug of dependence and dealing in suspected proceeds of crime.

Mrs Laczko also pleaded guilty to two counts of dealing in suspected proceeds of crime.

Magistrate David Faram said the offending was serious, significant and clearly motivated out of greed.

"This couple are absolutely the architects of their own circumstances," Mr Faram said.

As part of the two-year community corrections orders, he ordered the pair each complete 150 hours of unpaid work.

In sentencing, Mr Faram made it clear they had come very close to going to jail.

"I accept that your offending was naive and at best stupid, at worst it was criminal, and is criminal. There was a real commerciality about your offending," he said.

"There are thousands of people in our community who do it tough, there are thousands of people who wear the consequences of back injury and suffer pain, and live on pensions...most do not resort to criminal endeavours to supplement their income.

"Were you much younger than you both are today you would be going to jail."

Mr Faram also approved police applications to have the seized cash and car forfeited.

http://www.theherald.com.au/story/2...arents-narrowly-avoid-jail-sentences/?cs=2452

 

[my3rdeye]

This is very surprising to me as Craigslist here is always full of ads by people looking for drugs. I always assumed most if not all of these ads were cops looking for an easy bust. I never thought they were all legit ads from people actually looking for stuff. Like I can walk into a bar in this town where I know no one and get drugs in 10 minutes, who are all these people who have to resort to Craigslist? But since you don't see a story like this every other day, and they said it came from a tip not a random investigation, I have to assume the police are totally behind the game when it comes to finding people who sell drugs online. Actually everything I have ever read about them and drugs online seems they have been very slow to adapt.


Edmonton man busted after selling drugs on Craigslist.

CBC News Posted: Jul 11, 2014 11:21 AM MT Last Updated: Jul 11, 2014 1:50 PM MT

Police have arrested an Edmonton man who was selling drugs online.

Police say the 33-year-old was using Craigslist to find buyers and manage transactions.

On July 9, officers from an Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team (ALERT) visited the man’s home in southeast Edmonton after receiving a tip.

When they searched the residence, they say they found $16,000 worth of hashish, marijuana, MDMA, cocaine and prescription pills.

Mike Tucker with ALERT said more people may still be charged in relation to the case.

"Any time we do an investigation related to drug activity there is going to be spin-off investigations, we're going to look at different angles," he said.

Tucker said the man did not appear to be affiliated with any organized crime group or any kind of drug trafficking ring, however.

He is now facing 17 drug-related charges, and has been released on bail. He will be back in court on July 25.

This is the first time ALERT has conducted an investigation based upon online drug sales.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmon...d-after-selling-drugs-on-craigslist-1.2704249

 

[neversickanymore]

Magistrate David Faram said the offending was serious, significant and clearly motivated out of greed.

Not sure If greed is the right word, selling dangerous research chemical molly or truck loads of meth yeah, swinging a few zips of grass to fund some home improvements, no

Mr Faram also approved police applications to have the seized cash and car forfeited.

Which is a worse "crime".. stealing someones car and money or selling a few bags of grass. Who are the real criminals and once again the people who create the black market end up making money from it.