The Australian/NZ Drug Busts Mega-Thread Part Triforce

[poledriver]

Miners 'stoned on synthetic cannabis' that cannot be detected by on-site tests

THE mining industry has been rocked by revelations that workers are reportedly buying synthetic cannabis over the counter.
The substance can impair performance but is undetectable through on-site drug tests,The Australian said.

Known as Kronic, the newly-available fake cannabis from New Zealand can be purchased legally despite health officials confirming that it mimics the affects of regular cannabis.

As well as producing a "high", the West Australian Drug and Alcohol Authority said it could cause fatigue, headaches, disorientation or hallucinations in some people, which could be devastating at work.
BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto both expressed concern at the revelation, saying workplace safety was crucial for the booming industry.

The West Australian Chamber of Minerals and Energy called for an investigation.
"It's vital that authorities examine the legality of this substance," said the chamber's chief executive, Reg Howard-Smith. "If the reportedly adverse effects on the user are correct, the industry is concerned about its over-the-counter availability."

Health officials said Kronic could alter "mood and perception" and should be avoided. But Gary Kirby from the West Australian Drug and Alcohol Authority said it was too early to say how widespread the practice was in the wider community and whether it should be banned.

He acknowledged it was already illegal in some countries, including parts of the US and Europe, but said more information was needed.
Read more on the cannabis miners story at The Australian.


Read more: http://www.news.com.au/national/min...ts/story-e6frfkvr-1226039010141#ixzz1JX8ADPCH

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Police bust alleged heroin syndicates

Police in two states allege they have smashed four international drug syndicates that were trafficking heroin into Australia from Vietnam.

Eight people have been arrested and a substantial amount of cash, jewellery and other property has been seized in a joint operation by Victorian, New South Wales and Australian Federal Police.

The eight month investigation also involved Customs and Border Protection officers, the Australian Crime Commission and Vietnamese authorities.

Five Victorians and three people from New South Wales are in custody.

In Melbourne, a man and a woman from Thomastown, a Wantirna woman, and a man and a woman from Nunawading have been arrested.

In Sydney, two Cabramatta men and a Mount Pritchard woman are in custody.

Police allege drug couriers were internally concealing heroin and smuggling the drug into Victoria and New South Wales.

Victoria Police Drug Task Force Officer-in-Charge Detective Inspector David Jones said more than 150 police were involved.

"This operation effectively demonstrates the major impact that Australian authorities have on dismantling organised criminal activities and networks when they collaborate and tackle the issue of illicit drugs together," he said.

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Drug labs creating toxic suburban hazard

New South Wales Police say illicit drug laboratories found in homes are are posing a risk to the community, even when they are closed down.

The rising number of illicit drug laboratories being found in Australian homes has prompted warnings about the dangers of chemicals to future residents.

The New South Wales drug squad says chemical used to make ice or speed are toxic in themselves.

Detective Superintendent Nicholas Bingham says in combination, they leach into walls, carpets and ceilings.

In southern Sydney, police took four days to dismantle a large ice lab. Drug squad commander Detective Superintendent Nicholas Bingham says the small Hurstville unit is now a toxic site.

"It took a long time to clear because it had mountains and mountains of toxic chemicals, solvents reagents, precursor chemicals," he said.

"It becomes a toxic site basically and so we slap a remediation notice on the premises."

Jenny Boymal directs Jena Dyco, a company which trains people to make properties safe.

"The part that petrifies me is people moving into these properties with little kids crawling around the floor and it's just infested with toxic chemicals," she said.

Scientist Craig Simpson from SLR consulting says future tenants have to be protected from chemical residues.

"I'd be looking for surfaces with an acid on them or iodine on them and depending on what catalyst is used there, [there] might even be mercury and chemicals like that involved," he said.

The Federal Government has just issued guidelines for cleaning up almost 400 clandestine labs which are expected to be found around Australia this year, 60 per cent of which will be found in homes.

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[poledriver]

[NZ] P lab discovered

Invercargill police yesterday uncovered a P lab at Taramoa, 15km northwest of the southern city.

Detective Sergeant Mark McCloy said the property was searched yesterday and testing by Environmental and Scientific Research scientists today confirmed the property was being used to manufacture methamphetamine, also known as P.

"Also located was a large amount of stolen property, firearms, methamphetamine and a cannabis cultivation in progress," he said.

A 36-year-old Southland man has been charged with theft and drug offences, while a 33-year-old Christchurch man who was wanted for breaching his parole conditions has been recalled to prison.

Further charges would be laid against both men, Mr McCloy said.

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[poledriver]

Samba drugs link, police probe ties to crop, murder

POLICE are looking at links betwen slain racehorse trainer Les Samba and a drugs haul in the Riverland.

The Sunday Mail can detail several explosive revelations in the Samba case - including a possible link to the 2009 murder of shadowy Sydney businessman Michael McGurk, as well as surveillance of Samba for years based on FBI suspicions that he regularly flew to the US to do "jobs" for the Mafia.

Victorian Police have been in Sydney for the week investigating the links.

Victorian Homicide Chief Detective Inspector John Potter said police were "looking at a number of possibilities in terms of motive".

"If you ask me whether one of those is the McGurk case, I would say we can't discount that motive,'' he said.

As further details of Samba's colourful past emerge, the Sunday Mail has learned four days before he was gunned down execution-style on a Melbourne street in February, one of his long-time criminal associates was arrested in SA after police discovered a massive cannabis crop on a Riverland farm.

The former associate, who is not a suspect in the murder, was arrested on February 23 in connection with more than 3000 cannabis plants uncovered on "private land" near the tiny, rural town of Peebinga, near the Victorian border.

The man and Samba -- who met through the horse racing industry -- were both charged in 1994 with cultivating 900 cannabis plants on Samba's farming property at Nangkita, near Mount Compass, south of Adelaide.

A hung jury allowed Samba to walk free, and in September 1995 prosecutors dropped the charges against him. His accomplice was jailed.

The jury wasn't told during Samba's trial that three years earlier police found a cannabis crop on another Samba-owned property at Peebinga -- the same location where the man was re-arrested this year.

A South Australian investigator who worked on the original case against Samba is sure Samba was a major marijuana grower. "I've got no doubt it was right that there were other crops he was involved with," the investigator said.

As police examine Samba's criminal past, the Sunday Mail has been told by highly reputable sources that intelligence from US law enforcement agencies was passed in the 1980s to WA's chief racing investigator, the now-deceased Ron Goddard, about Samba's suspected links to organised crime families. Samba was racing horses in Perth at the time.

"We understood he had links to the Mafia and flew frequently to America," the source said. "We're not certain what he did over there -- but he wasn't buying milk and bread for them."

Former WA chairman of stewards Fin Powrie confirmed having extensive discussions with investigators about Samba's shady connections, but denied knowledge of a Mafia link.

"There could be certain things that Goddard and I discussed that we didn't go further with, and if we didn't it's because they were issues that couldn't be proven or otherwise," Mr Powrie said.

The brazen suburban Melbourne murder of Samba, who was executed at point-blank range, shocked the racing world.

His estate still owns several thoroughbreds, including Sea Lord, which won at Rosehill three weeks ago. His lawyer-daughter Victoria -- the official face of the Melbourne Cup carnival in 2005 -- was the former head of marketing for NSW Racing and was married to jockey Danny Nicolic.

Victoria delivered a tearful plea last Monday for help in solving her father's murder.

Samba -- who owned several thoroughbreds with Ron Medich, the Sydney property developer charged with the murder of McGurk -- was also the subject of a National Crime Authority probe and a Tax Office investigation in which he admitted stashing up to $850,000 in cash in secret locations.

Victoria Samba was at Randwick yesterday to see her late father's horse Cocky Raider finish second in the opening race. Sea Lord ran out of a place in race four.

A handful of witnesses involved in the McGurk matter and others who had dealings with Samba were interviewed last week -- none of them are considered "targets" of the case.

The business relationship between Medich and Samba, who owned more than a dozen racehorses together, is being closely scrutinised by detectives.

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[poledriver]

Woman arrested for drugs

A 48 year old Menindee woman has been granted bail accused of trying to smuggle drugs into the Broken Hill Detention Centre.

Police say the woman was searched before entering the jail on Saturday afternoon.

Corrective officers allege they found almost three grams of cannabis during the search and alerted Police.

The woman is due in court next month.

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[poledriver]

560 cannabis plants found at Mt Glorious State Forest

POLICE have seized 560 cannabis plants worth about $1.68 million, following a raid in a state forest northwest of Brisbane.
Police say they discovered numerous crop sites within Mt Glorious State Forest, about 40km northwest of the CBD, following a six-month operation targeting commercial cannabis production.
Two men have been charged over the find.
A 47-year-old Blackall man has been charged with producing a dangerous drug and possession of anything used in the commission of a crime.
He is due to appear in the Pine Rivers Magistrates Court on May 3.
A 59-year-old Blackall man faces the same charges and is due to appear in the same court on May 12.
Detective Sergeant Michael Manago, from Ferny Grove CIB, said the successful operation should send a clear message to anyone involved in the commercial selling or production of illicit drugs.

"This result should serve as a warning to criminals that police will not tolerate the manufacture, supply or use of illicit drugs," he said.

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[poledriver]

Man pleads not guilty to drugs charges

A 26 year old man has pleaded not guilty, in the Broken Hill Local Court to several charges relating to the cultivation and manufacture of prohibited drugs.

In February police executed a search warrant at the home of Jason Leigh Rowbotham.

During the search, police allegedly found six cannabis plants, with an estimated value of $35,000 and two small containers containing methylamphetamine.

Police also found liquid fertiliser and three 1500 watt mounted Mercury light globes, which were illegally connected to the house's main switchboard.

Books about growing marijuana and amphetamine synthesis were also seized during the search.

Rowbotham denied owning the drugs and equipment, claiming they belonged to friends and family.

The matter has been adjourned until June for mention.

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[JoshE]

Tony Mokbel pleads guilty to three drug charges

GANGLAND tsar Tony Mokbel has admitted to running a multi-million dollar drug empire after a decade-long legal marathon.

It can also finally be revealed the underworld kingpin, who was famously caught in Greece after fleeing Australia to beat jail, has escaped conviction over two gangland murders.

The revelations can be published after the Supreme Court today lifted an extraordinary blackout on reporting of Mokbel's criminal history.

The Herald Sun can reveal:

A JURY found Mokbel not guilty of ordering the execution of crime family patriarch Lewis Moran

A CHARGE of organising the hit on hot dog vendor Michael Marshall was dropped by prosecutors before reaching trial; and

MOKBEL has this week pleaded guilty to three drug-related charges

Mokbel, 46, yesterday pleaded guilty to trafficking large commercial quantities of methamphetamine and 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) - better known as ecstasy - between 2005 and 2007.

Wearing a dark suit and appearing jovial and healthy in court, in a Commonwealth matter the one-time-fugitive also pleaded guilty to urging an undercover operative to import ecstasy into Australia between June 29 and July 13, 2005.

Mokbel appeared in court via videolink for today's proceedings.

Moran, the father of slain drug boss Jason Moran who separated from killer wife Judy, was on bail on charges relating to a $2 billion drug ring when he was shot dead on March 31, 2004.

Marshall was gunned down outside his South Yarra home as his five-year-old son waited in his father's car in October, 2003.

Mokbel fled to Greece in 2006, just before he was convicted in the Supreme Court of smuggling 1.93kg of pure cocaine into Victoria from Mexico.

Victorian detectives helped Greek authorities track down the drug trafficker, who was arrested wearing a lop-sided wig after 15 months on the run.

Mokbel will face court again on June 16 for a plea hearing.

http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/ton...-related-charges/story-e6frg12c-1226041624546

 

[JoshE]

Premier's stolen items found at drug lab

ITEMS stolen from the Premier's electorate office have been recovered at an alleged drug lab found at a home in Bateman this morning.

Colin Barnett's electorate office in Cottesloe was burgled on April 5.

A spokesman for the Premier said he has thanked police for returning a number of items of stolen memorabilia.

Police, searching the house in Amur Place at about 9am in relation to burglaries, allegedly came across a methamphetamine laboratory in the kitchen.

Two men, aged 40 and 42, are assisting police with their inquiries and are expected to be charged.

Detective Sergeant Jason Blaine of Western Suburbs Detectives said the clandestine lab had been found in the kitchen area of the home.

“We had been making inquires in relation to some burglaries in the area which led us to come to this house for those inquiries,” Det Sgt Blaine said.

“We had information that the people here (at the house) may have been manufacturing methamphetamine…we obviously came prepared for that whether it was or was not the case and when we got here it was the case.”

Det Sgt Blaine said the lab was quite small but that it was still giving off very strong fumes.

More than 50 clan labs have been found in WA already this year.

http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/new-drug-lab-uncoverd/story-e6frg143-1226041661796

 

[poledriver]

Mokbel guilty on drug trafficking charges

Gangland boss Tony Mokbel laughed and joked in the dock as he pleaded guilty to drug offences after protracted legal cases that have dogged the Victorian Supreme Court.

With the lifting of suppression orders today, it can be revealed Mokbel admitted continuing to operate a drug network to traffic large amounts of methylamphetamines while in hiding overseas between 2006 and 2007.

He has also pleaded guilty to trafficking MDMA between February and August 2005 and urging an undercover operative to traffic drugs in the same year.

Mokbel, 46, was extradited from Greece in 2008 after fleeing Australia in 2006 during a trial for importing cocaine from Mexico.

He was sentenced in his absence to nine years' jail.

As authorities tried to bring Mokbel home, he was also facing murder charges over gangland hits on Lewis Moran in 2004 and hotdog vendor Michael Marshall in 2003, along with numerous drug offences.

His lawyers fought against his extradition for seven months, even making an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.

At the time the Federal Government claimed his extradition as a victory for international cooperation against serious crime.

It was estimated his return to Melbourne on a private jet, surrounded by security guards and detectives, cost nearly $500,000.

His flight plan was shrouded in secrecy because of fears there could be a contract out on his life.

The arrival of his plane prompted a media frenzy and he was flown by helicopter to Barwon prison to start serving his minimum nine-year sentence.

The other gangland kingpin, Carl Williams, was already there, serving 35 years for three murders.

Wide-ranging suppression orders have meant the public has not been privy to the legal proceedings Mokbel has been facing since his return to Melbourne.

But now it can be reported that Mokbel was found not guilty of the murder of Moran after a trial by jury in 2008.

Mokbel and Williams had been accused of financing Moran's murder.

Williams had pleaded guilty. As a footnote, it is a year to the day since Williams was bashed to death in prison.

When Mokbel was captured in Athens, Lewis Moran's widow, Judy Moran, was eager to see him in court for the murder.

"I have a new name for him, cockroach. That's my new name for Tony Mokbel and I wait for the day that I can eye him in the court. I really do. I've made myself a special hat for that occasion," she said at the time.

A murder charge over the killing of underworld figure Marshall was dropped a year after Mokbel's return to Australian soil.

Before pleading today Mokbel was to face seven separate trials.

Instead he pleaded guilty to only three crimes.

He will return to court for a plea hearing in June.

Under Operation Kayak, Mokbel was charged with trafficking ecstasy, methylamphetamines and cocaine in 2000.

Operation Landslip resulted in charges of conspiring to traffic methylamphetamines at Pascoe Vale in Melbourne's northern suburbs in 2000; Operation Matchless ended in charges for trafficking the same drug in Rye in 2002 and 2003.

Mokbel was also accused of trafficking methylamphetamines and ecstasy and dealing with $67,000 in proceeds of crime as a result of Operation Spake.

None of those charges will now proceed.

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[poledriver]

Car boot abductee to face court

An Adelaide business man abducted from his home in the boot of his own car is due to appear in court tomorrow on drug trafficking charges.

Phung Can So, 35, was taken by two men armed with a baseball bat and a gun just after 4.00am on Wednesday.

The men forced their way inside his house while his wife and three children were at home.

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[poledriver]

Pursuing Mokbel drug charges a waste: lawyer

A lawyer representing gangland boss Tony Mokbel says it would have been pointless for prosecutors to pursue charges dropped as part of a plea deal.

Mokbel is facing a lengthy prison term, after admitting to trafficking commercial quantities of ecstasy and methamphetamine.

Before pleading, Mokbel was to face seven separate trials.

Instead, he pleaded guilty to only three crimes. Prosecutors abandoned four other drugs investigations.

Mokbel's lawyer, Peter Faris QC, says his client has saved taxpayers a lot of money.

"This could have taken another five or six years in the courts in the Supreme Court of Victoria and that wastes a huge amount of public money," he said.

"So he's saved the Victorian public a lot of money by pleading."

Mokbel, 46, was extradited from Greece in 2008 after fleeing Australia during a trial for importing cocaine from Mexico.

It was revealed yesterday that he continued to operate a drug network to traffic large amounts of drugs while hiding overseas between 2006 and 2007.

Legal flaws

A former Purana Taskforce detective says the Mokbel case has highlighted flaws in Victoria's legal system.

Retired detective inspector Jim O'Brien has told ABC Local Radio people like Mokbel use money to play the system.

He says the average criminal wouldn't be able to afford the top QCs to get out on bail.

"Where does Tony Mokbel go? He gets his freedom to continue his criminal activity," he said.

"He gets is a whole lot smarter, because due to full disclosure, he learns about police methodology and next time around he doesn't make the same mistakes."

But Tony Mokbel's lawyer, Rob Stary, says organised crime figures should have the same legal rights as anyone else.

"I don't subscribe to a view that there should be separate rules because a person fits into a particular category," he said.

Mokbel will return to court in June.

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[poledriver]

Man charged after police discover hydroponic cannabis plantation – St Marys

A man has been charged after police discovered a hydroponic cannabis plantation at St Marys yesterday afternoon.

About 2.10pm (19 April), police executed a search warrant at a unit in an industrial complex on Links Road, St Marys.

Inside the unit, police allegedly located a sophisticated indoor hydroponic cannabis plantation. They seized 218 cannabis plants with an estimated street value of $484,000.

Police later attended an address in Parker Street, Kingswood, where they arrested a 23-year-old man.

The man was charged with cultivating a large commercial quantity of cannabis by enhanced indoor means, and possess prohibited drug.

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[poledriver]

Man charged over alleged hydroponic cannabis cultivation : Chester Hill

Crime Squad detectives, with assistance from the Bass Hill Region Enforcement Squad, have charged a man over alleged hydroponic cannabis cultivation.
About 6.20am yesterday (Wednesday 20 April, 2011), police executed a search warrant at a home in Chester Hill where they located and seized 165 hydroponic cannabis plants.

The estimated potential street value of the plants is $330,000.
A 44-year-old man was arrested at the scene and charged with cultivate commercial quantity of cannabis pants, and stealing electricity.
He was bail refused to appear at Bankstown Local Court today.
Strike Force Thoroughfare comprises detectives from the State Crime Command's Asian Crime Squad and was established to investigate the alleged hydroponic cultivation of cannabis

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[poledriver]

Police net 14 kg drug haul in Scarborough

Police have seized more than 14 kg of the drug methamphetamine from a camper van parked at a house in the Perth suburb of Scarborough.

Western Australian police and Australian federal police officers swooped on the property last night as part of a long-running surveillance operation.

Police say the drugs had a street value of up to $10 million.

Two Dutch nationals, aged 41 and 42, have been arrested in Perth and Sydney over the haul.

Last month the AFP arrested two men in Sydney after seizing about 50 kg of the drug, as part of the same investigation.

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[poledriver]

Newcastle judge rejects claims man sold drugs to feed habit

The brother of former Newcastle Knights player Danny Wicks has failed to convince a District Court judge that he was only dealing drugs to feed his own habit.

24-year-old Brett Wicks and his wife, 26-year-old Tristen Davenport pleaded guilty to two counts of supplying methylamephetamine in Charlestown and Grafton in 2009.

During sentencing on Thursday, the pair wore crosses around their necks and held hands in the dock.

Judge Ralph Coolahan said they had "trafficked hard drugs to a substantial degree".

He rejected claims by Wicks that he was a drug addict and was only dealing to satisfy his habit.

Wicks was sentenced to a maximum three years jail with 18 months non parole.

He will be eligible for release in December next year.

Judge Coolahan told the court both should be given a custodial sentence, but gave Davenport a suspended two year jail term.

Judge Coolahan said he could not be confident she would be safe in prison given her health.

The court heard since going into custody three weeks ago Corrective Services officers had failed to given Davenport her blood pressure medication.

She told the court she had been taking medication for the past six years for the condition.

Davenport said she had felt dizzy, suffered headaches and low vision since being in custody and off her medication.

The court was told three requests where made to Corrective Services to supply Davenport with medication.

Judge Coolahan said the requests had "fallen on deaf ears".

He said it was Correctives Services' job to look after inmates and they had "failed to do so", and it "wasn't the first time".

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[poledriver]

Police charge two over drug detection – Hurstville

Police from Hurstville have charged two men after discovering cannabis in a home at Penshurst yesterday.

Shortly before 9pm yesterday police stopped a Toyota Hiace van in Forest Road at Hurstville.

The 19-year-old driver and his 21-year-old passenger both from Campsie were arrested after police searched the vehicle.

The officers from Hurstville Local Area Command will allege that they located 58 partial cannabis plants inside the vehicle.

The roots and stems of the plants were still embedded in soil in the shape of plant pots.

Officers also seized two exhaust fans and several drums of hydroponic fertilizer, a small quantity of cannabis leaf and cash.

This morning police executed a search warrant at a home in McRaes Avenue, Penshurst.

More than 140 cannabis plants were located inside the premises which had been entirely converted with an enhanced cultivation system.

The two men were taken to Hurstville Police Station.

Both men were charged with cultivate prohibited plant, commercial quantity. The 19-year-old man was also charged with deal with proceeds of crime.

The 21-year-old man was found to be an illegal immigrant.

Both men were refused bail and appeared at Bankstown Local Court today. They remain in custody and will reappear at Central Local Court on 23 June.

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[poledriver]

Man charged over heroin - Taree

A MAN has been charged after being caught with heroin on the NSW north coast.

Officers on patrol stopped a Holden Astra in Taree at about 10.25am (AEST) yesterday after noticing the occupants acting suspiciously.

The 42-year-old male driver was found to be disqualified and police allegedly found 16 grams of heroin and numerous pills during a search of the vehicle.
He and his female passenger were arrested and questioned.

The man was charged with possessing a prohibited drug and driving while disqualified.

He was refused bail and ordered to appear in Forster Bail Court on Saturday.
The woman was released without charge.


Read more: http://www.news.com.au/breaking-new...in/story-e6frfku0-1226043581626#ixzz1KHItoEKQ

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[poledriver]

Drug charges, Yeppoon

Police have charged a local woman with drug related offences after allegedly locating a clandestine laboratory at a residence in Yeppoon last night.

Police executed a search warrant at a house in Power Street around 9pm where they allegedly located a clandestine laboratory in a small room. Police also allegedly seized drugs and drug related property.

A 53-year-old woman was later charged with ten drug offences, including three counts of possession of dangerous drug, produce dangerous drug, two charges of supply dangerous drug and four charges relating to possession of drug related property.

She is due to appear in the Yeppoon Magistrates Court on May 6.

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