The Mega Merged Drug Busts Thread

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Adelaide, Australia

More than 500 cannabis plants seized
SAM RICHES, POLICE REPORTER
November 02, 2006 09:06am

MORE than 500 cannabis plants were seized during a police raid on a north-eastern suburbs house last night.

About 8.30pm, Holden Hill police raided the house at Treweck Ave, Hillcrest, and a shed allegedly containing four separate grow rooms.

About 510 cannabis plants of varying maturity were seized. Police also allegedly found an esky containing about 15kg of dried cannabis and cash.

A 40-year-old man was arrested and charged with producing and possessing cannabis for sale and unlawful possession.

He also faces charges of theft of electricity, with police alleging the man bypassed an electricity meter to steal power for the grow rooms.

Police Confiscations Branch have also launched an investigation into the man's assets.

He was bailed to appear in the Holden Hill Magistrates Court at a later date.

The Advertiser
 
Sydney, Australia

Three charged after drug raid
November 04, 2006 08:35am

TWO Sydney men and a woman have been charged after a drug raid on a house in the city's west.

Police raided the St Johns Road home in Canley Vale about Around 3.15pm (AEDT) yesterday and arrested a 20-year-old man, a 31-year-old man and a 28-year-old woman.

They seized an amount of white powder, believed to be heroin, drug paraphernalia, electronic equipment and mobile phones.

The 20-year-old man, from Auburn in Sydney's west, has been charged with being found in a drug premises and with possessing stolen goods.

He has been refused bail and will appear in Parramatta Bail Court later today.

The other man, from Casula in Sydney's south-west, and the woman, from the western suburb of Cabramatta, were also charged with being in a drug premises.

The man was refused bail and will appear in Parramatta Bail Court today while the woman was bailed to appear in Liverpool Local Court on November 24.

News.com.au
 
Alice Springs, Australia

Ecstasy, firearms seized at Alice Springs property
November 03, 2006 12:00am
Article from: Northern Territory News

A 22-YEAR-OLD man has been taken into police custody after a drug bust at an Alice Springs property yesterday.

Police seized almost $10,000 in cash, 1.6 kg of cannabis and five ecstasy tablets from the house.

They also seized several firearms and weapons, including a 9mm pistol, a .303 rifle, a double-barrel shotgun and a .22 rifle.

The man is expected to be charged.

News.com.au
 
Power Drain leads Police To Pot Bust

04 Nov 2006

New Hampshire
-------
Nearly 1,400 Marijuana Plants Found

In the biggest marijuana bust in the state's history, the police found nearly 1,400 marijuana plants worth up to $7 million inside a vacant Epsom house Thursday.

The police brought 1,396 plants out of the basement at 35 Woodcote Drive, the state police said. They also seized grow lights, tools, industrial fans and transformer boxes used to divert electricity to the house, the police said. Aside from the basement and closets full of equipment, the rest of the house was empty, said Sgt. Ellen Arcieri of the New Hampshire State Police.

Investigators have made no arrests and have no suspects, Arcieri said.

Neighbors said that the ranch-style house was recently sold by David and Tracy Menard. Sheets had been placed over the windows on the inside, said Jessica Towne, who also lives on Woodcote Drive. Towne said she hadn't met or seen much of the new owner, who occasionally stopped by the house in a sedan, she said.

Andy and Lisa Fries, who live across from Woodcote Drive on Center Hill Road, said the Menards had closed the sale on Oct. 23 and planned to move to Pittsfield. The house was sold for about $450,000, the Fries said.

The police discovered the plants because of a blackout at Towne's house. Towne said she lost power Wednesday and called the power company, Unitil. The company then discovered that 35 Woodcote Drive was using an inordinate amount of electricity, Towne said.

"They were sucking so much electricity, they were using more electricity than Wal-mart," she said, repeating what a Unitil official told her.

The power company reported to the police that the house was draining electricity, Arcieri said. The police searched the house Thursday evening, around 6 p.m., and found the marijuana plants, Arcieri said.

Members of the New Hampshire State Police, the Epsom police and the New Hampshire National Guard spent about eight hours gathering evidence at the house Thursday night. The Epsom Fire Department set up floodlights and generators at the scene, since Unitil had shut off the electricity, Fire Chief Stewart Yeaton said. The police and guardsmen filled a box truck and two Humvees with the evidence and didn't leave until after midnight, Arcieri said.

The basement would have been able to support 4,000 plants, Arcieri said. Closets held unused transformers, light bulbs, power cords, sump pumps, and hundreds of empty plant buckets, she said. The plants had yet to mature, but each would have been worth between $3,000 and $5,000, she said. The equipment was worth about $200,000.

http://www.mapinc.org/norml/v06/n1494/a12.htm
 
Afghanistan drug problem not that easy to solve

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia A Pakistani man convicted of drug smuggling has been executed in Saudi Arabia by beheading.

The beheading took place yesterday in the capital Riyadh. Saudi Arabia follows a strict interpretation of Islam under which people convicted of murder, drug trafficking, rape and armed robbery can be executed.

Last week, two people from Nigeria and Afghanistan were beheaded for smuggling heroin and cocaine into the country.

Yesterday's execution brings to 20 the number of people beheaded in the kingdom this year. Saudi executions are performed with a sword and in public as a deterrent.

The kingdom beheaded 83 people in 2005 and 35 in 2004.

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Opinion/538817.html
 
Bahrain, Saudi make big drug busts

BAHRAINI authorities have seized about 300kg of hashish smuggled from Pakistan via Iran and destined for trafficking in Gulf Arab states, a police official said today.

The drugs, worth $US730,000 ($950,000), were seized after police, acting on a tipoff from Kuwaiti authorities, arrested two young Bahraini men and a 19-year-old Bahraini woman north of Manama on Friday night, Faruq al-Maawda of the criminal investigation department said.

The Kuwaiti interior ministry had been alerted to the haul by a citizen who was contacted by the Bahraini trio as a potential buyer, he said.

Mr Maawda said the drugs, “which were smuggled from Pakistan to Bahrain via Iran, were destined to be peddled” in the Gulf Arab states.

Border police in Saudi Arabia meanwhile aborted an attempt to traffic 143kg of hashish in the kingdom, the official SPA news agency reported today.

Police spotted the smugglers in the southern province of Najran and “confronted them”, it quoted the local chief of the border police as saying.

The smugglers fled back to where they came from, leaving behind the drugs, he said.

SPA did not specify the timing of the incident or the source of the hashish, but Najran lies along the border with Yemen, and Saudi authorities often report catching arms and drug smugglers in the area.

Saudi Arabia and Yemen agreed in 2004 to implement joint security arrangements to block infiltration and smuggling across their common border.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20707620-1702,00.html
 
Nimbin, Australia

Charges over cannabis cookies
November 06, 2006 06:29am
Article from: AAP

POLICE have charged a woman on the far north coast over the possession of cookies and chocolates made with cannabis.

Police were attending the break-in of several shops in Nimbin's Cullen Street yesterday about 1pm (AEDT) when they witnessed an alleged drug transaction in one of the shops.

While searching the premises, they seized bags of cannabis leaf, nearly 2kg of cannabis cookies and 89 chocolates wrapped in foil and made from cannabis butter weighing more than 1.3 kg, police said.

They also seized a sum of cash.

A 51-year-old woman from Jiggi was arrested at the scene and charged with three counts of supply a prohibited drug, two counts of possess a prohibited drug and one count of goods in custody.

She was granted conditional bail and will appear in Lismore Local Court on December 4, police have said.

News.com.au
 
World's 3rd largest ecstasy factory busted, 2 Indonesians sentenced to death

Two Indonesians given death for huge drug operation
332 words
6 November 2006
02:49
Reuters News
English
(c) 2006 Reuters Limited

TANGERANG, Indonesia, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Two Indonesians were sentenced to death on Monday for masterminding one of the world's biggest drug operations, while a Dutchman and Frenchman who helped make the ecstasy and methamphetamine were jailed for life.

Police uncovered the operation last year in Banten province, just west of Jakarta. Officials said it was the largest in Southeast Asia and the third biggest in the world of its type, capable of producing one million ecstasy pills a week and various drugs with a potential street value of $600 million a year.

In the November bust, police seized 150 kg (330 pounds) of crystal methamphetamines and more than 60 tonnes of raw materials for making illegal drugs.

On Monday, nine defendants, seven of them foreigners, were found guilty of involvement in the operation, run from several factories and warehouses.

Prosecutors had sought death sentences for all nine, but the Tangerang court only handed down that penalty to the Indonesians who led the operation -- Benny Sudrajat and Iming Santosa.

"The defendants were proven guilty of collectively producing psychotropic drugs illegally and in an organised way," said presiding judge Zaid Umar.

The court also heard how the two used foreign workers as well as machinery to manufacture the drugs and had links to a regional drug syndicate.

Five Chinese nationals also each received 20 years in jail for working at the illegal drug factories.

Indonesia imposes the death sentence for many narcotic offences. Some 20 foreigners, mostly Africans, are on death row at the moment awaiting execution by firing squad.

Six young Australians were sentenced to death this year for heroin smuggling on Indonesia's Bali island, sparking anger in Australia where capital punishment has been abolished.

The most recent foreigners executed for drugs offences were two Thai nationals in October 2004.



Tough sentences for Indonesian drug factory criminals
VT
441 words
6 November 2006
02:58
Agence France Presse
English
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2006 All reproduction and presentation rights reserved.

TANGERANG, Indonesia, Nov 6, 2006 (AFP) -

A judge in Indonesia Monday sentenced two Europeans to life in prison for their role in running the world's third-largest ecstasy factory, while the two Indonesian co-owners of the plant were handed death sentences.

Judge Mulyanto found Dutchman Nicolaas Garnick Josephus Gerardus, 61, and French national Serge Areski Atlaoui, 43, guilty of producing dangerous substances.

In a separate trial at the same court building, Judge Zaid Umar Bob Said sentenced the two employers of the two Europeans, Benny Sudrajat and Iming Susanto, each to the death penalty.

Sudrajat, the court heard, had provided the land and buildings for the plant, while Santoso paid for the equipment and its operation.

Police seized more than 100 kilograms (220 pounds) of crystal methamphetamine, thousands of ecstasy pills and more than 300 drums of raw ingredients for drugs during a raid last November on the factory in Serang, 60 kilometers (35 miles) west of Jakarta.

Prosecutors said the plant was "the largest ecstasy factory ever found in Southeast Asia and the world's third-largest, after factories in China and Fiji", and recommended the judge pass the death sentence.

The factory was capable of producing one million ecstasy pills, worth 100 billion rupiah (11 million dollars) a week, they said.

The lawyer for both Europeans, Aprilson Purba, demanded time to decide whether to appeal. The prosecutors had recommended the death penalty for both men.

"No (not fair), because of the wrong publicity given by the media and because of the wrong publicity by the minister of justice," Garnick told journalists after the trial. He did not elaborate.

Atlaoui said he also thought the trial had been unfair, without explaining further.

The men were hired for their expertise in producing MDMA, the substance required to make ecstasy pills, the Tanggerang state district court heard.

Meanwhile, Judge Mahanikmah sentenced five Chinese nationals to 20 years in jail each for helping organise the production of drugs at the plant, in a separate trial held at the same court.

Prosecutors had recommended death sentences for the five, identified as Lhang Manquan, Chin Hongxin, Jiang Yuxin, Gan Chinyi, and Zhu Xuxiong.

Four other Indonesians were also to be sentenced in the same case.

Indonesian courts have increasingly handed down stiff punishments for drug crimes.

At least 43 people are now on death row for drug offences in Indonesia.

The majority of them are foreigners, mostly from Africa. Six Australians are also among those sentenced to death by firing squad for leading an attempt to smuggle heroin from Bali to Sydney.

vt/bs/jc
 
what the fuck? that hepatitis ridden chick has been selling those for years... along with many others... how did the police miss the 100 other people that sell pot on the way to the store? oh yeah thats right the famous nimbin copper call... why would they even bother busting someone for selling really. I mean that cafe is full of dealers, and theres a bloody hemp bar across the road where everyone sm okes.. i mean.. if you live in nimbin.. you smoke weed... they should be getting rid of the H junkies.

hoptis said:
Nimbin, Australia

Charges over cannabis cookies
November 06, 2006 06:29am
Article from: AAP

POLICE have charged a woman on the far north coast over the possession of cookies and chocolates made with cannabis.

Police were attending the break-in of several shops in Nimbin's Cullen Street yesterday about 1pm (AEDT) when they witnessed an alleged drug transaction in one of the shops.

While searching the premises, they seized bags of cannabis leaf, nearly 2kg of cannabis cookies and 89 chocolates wrapped in foil and made from cannabis butter weighing more than 1.3 kg, police said.

They also seized a sum of cash.

A 51-year-old woman from Jiggi was arrested at the scene and charged with three counts of supply a prohibited drug, two counts of possess a prohibited drug and one count of goods in custody.

She was granted conditional bail and will appear in Lismore Local Court on December 4, police have said.

News.com.au
Click to expand...
 
Sydney, Australia

Police raid nets drugs, cash, weapons
November 08, 2006 04:39pm

THREE people have been arrested after a police raid allegedly netted cash, weapons and drugs including cannabis and heroin at homes in inner-Sydney.

Officers raided houses in Vine, Louis and Eveleigh Streets in Redfern just after 7am (AEDT) today, allegedly finding cash, knives and a samurai sword.

Police said a quantity of prohibited drugs, believed to be heroin, methylamphetamine and cannabis were also discovered, along with allegedly stolen credit cards, driver's licences and electronic goods.

A 59-year-old woman and a 51-year-old man were arrested at the Louis Street home and both charged with possessing a prohibited durg.

They were granted bail and are due to appear at the Downing Centre Local Court on December 20.

A 20-year man arrested in Eveleigh Street was detained for breach of bail.

He was refused bail and was expected to appear in Central Local Court today.

News.com.au
 
Adelaide, Australia

Huge drug bust
CHRIS SALTER
November 11, 2006 12:15am

POLICE yesterday uncovered one of the most extensive hydroponic drug productions in the state's history.

STAR group officers stormed a warehouse on Benjamin St, Newton, about 5.30am and seized more than $50,000 worth of hydroponic equipment and 70 seedlings.

Superintendent Paul Dickson said the find was significant, as the elaborate set-up had the potential to produce 21,000 street hits of cannabis every two to three months.

"It must be one of the most extensive hydroponic crop set-ups that's ever been located by SA police," Supt Dickson said.

"While the plants themselves weren't that big, it had the potential."

A man, 39, was arrested at the warehouse. Another man, 41, was arrested about 8am at Parafield Gardens.

Both were charged with cultivating cannabis, while the Parafield Gardens man was also charged with firearms offences after he was allegedly found in possession of two revolvers.

The Advertiser
 
Adelaide, Australia

Pair charged over drugs, cash find
November 23, 2006 04:33pm

TWO men have been charged after police allegedly found drugs and cash in two cars stopped in Adelaide's southern suburbs.

Police said the cars were stopped at Reynella at about 2am (CDST) this morning.

They allege a search revealed 600 grams of amphetamine paste and more than $120,000 in cash.

The men, aged 31 and 32, were subsequently charged with possessing a drug of dependence for sale and unlawful possession.

“This significant seizure has prevented approximately 20,000 street deals of amphetamines circulating to the public,” a police spokesman said.

The two were refused police bail and were expected to appear in the Christies Beach Magistrates Court tomorrow.

News.com.au
 
Gold Coast, Australia

22 arrested in drug seizures
November 29, 2006 04:02pm

HEROIN, ice and cannabis were seized and 22 people arrested in a police bid to stop drug-dealing on the Gold Coast and southwest Queensland.

Gold Coast detectives focused on the sale of methyl amphetamine, known as ice, and arrested three people.

Heroin, cannabis and a card-skimming device were found during searches of Gold Coast homes, police said.

Officers arrested a 47-year-old Currumbin Waters man at a Nergan car park today and charged him with trafficking a dangerous drug, supplying a dangerous drug and breaking and entering.

A 43-year-old woman of Currumbin Waters and a 36-year-old man from the Brisbane suburb of Birkdale also have been charged with drug offences.

They are due to appear in Southport Magistrates Court on December 13.

In southwest Queensland, 19 people have been charged with 53 offences after an operation that wound up this week.

The operation targeted drug trafficking to Charleville, Toowoomba and Quilpie.

Police said more arrests were expected.

Three Charleville people - two men, 41 and 28, and a woman, 56 - and a Quilpie man, 25, appeared in Charleville Magistrates Court today charged with trafficking cannabis.

The two Charleville men were remanded in custody while the woman and Quilpie man were granted bail.

News.com.au
 
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NSW, Australia


Alleged drug-smuggling head arrested
November 30, 2006 04:39pm

A MAN accused of being the head of a syndicate that tried to smuggle 30kg of cocaine into Sydney in 2004 has finally been caught.

Federal police arrested Les Mara, 53, at a property at Callala Bay, near Nowra on the NSW south coast, this morning.

Mr Mara, a former Balmain and South Sydney rugby league player, was charged with conspiracy to import cocaine.

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) said Mr Mara had evaded authorities worldwide for 18 months after escaping arrest with an alleged co-conspirator, a 59-year-old man, during federal police raids that smashed a major drug syndicate in May last year.

Mr Mara was allegedly involved in the plot, foiled in December 2004, to bring cocaine from South America.

The other alleged principal of the syndicate has been charged and is before the courts.

If convicted, they could face life imprisonment and/or a fine of $825,000.

News.com.au
 
Sydney, Australia

Five arrested and $1m cannabis seized
November 30, 2006 03:33pm

CANNABIS with a street value of more than $1 million has been seized and five people arrested as police in Sydney busted an alleged Asian crime syndicate.

Three women and two men were arrested after more than 60 officers raided six houses in Ashfield, Bonnyrigg Heights, Belmore, Bankstown, Casula and Green Valley this morning.

Police said they found almost 400 hydroponic cannabis plants and dried cannabis with a street value of more than $1m.

"Police have uncovered and dismantled yet another Asian crime group involved in growing hydro cannabis, using a system that was first seen by authorities in Canada," police said.

The arrests follow a six-week investigation into the group and police believed some of the plants were ready for sale on Sydney's drug market within days.

Police arrested a 34-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman in Bonnyrigg Heights. An eight-month-old baby and a three-year-old girl that were found at the house are now in the care of relatives.

A 56-year-old Vietnamese woman, a suspected illegal immigrant, was arrested at Casula, while a 28-year-old man was taken into custody in Ashfield and a 29-year-old woman arrested in Green Valley.

The five are being questioned by police and charges are expected to be laid later today.

News.com.au
 
Sydney, Australia

Dawn raids 'shatter major crime syndicate'
December 06, 2006 04:41pm

A MAJOR Sydney crime syndicate has been smashed and its alleged kingpin charged with more than 60 drug offences.

A 25-year-old Campbelltown man was arrested with 12 other people during simultaneous dawn raids on 11 properties across Sydney's south-west and western suburbs today.

Police said those caught in the raids were members of a crime syndicate responsible for the sale and distribution of drugs including ecstasy, cocaine and cannabis throughout Sydney.

Assistant Commissioner Dave Owens, the South-West Metropolitan Region Commander, said police had dismantled a "sophisticated, well-established criminal enterprise".

More than 110 officers were involved in raids at homes in Campbelltown, Camden, Green Valley, Airds, Bradbury, Macquarie Links and Woodbine, all in Sydney's south-west, and at Seven Hills, St Marys and West Hoxton, in Sydney's west at about 6.30am (AEDT) today.

Officers attached to Strike Force Burraloo, established in March to investigate the alleged syndicate, seized more than $150,000 in cash.

They also allegedly seized cannabis, cocaine and ecstasy worth an estimated $60,000 and seven cars, including two Subaru WRXs, valued at more than $500,000.

A $60,000 boat and a jet-ski suspected of being the proceeds of crime were also confiscated, police said.

The alleged syndicate mastermind was charged with 60 drug supply offences. He was refused police bail to face Campbelltown Local Court tomorrow.

Of the remaining 12, eight men have been charged with more than 90 drug offences and were expected to face the same court today.

Strike force detectives have seized more than $250,000 in drugs and cash in the past two months and charged a further seven people with 28 drug offences.

Mr Owens said inquiries were continuing and further arrests were likely.

"This syndicate was a major player in the Sydney drug trade and we have shut them down," he said.

"Their operation was highly sophisticated and well-organised and this is an extremely successful result in our ongoing fight against illegal drugs."

The Advertiser
 
Ipswich, Australia

Red face gave drugmaker away
December 13, 2006 08:53am

A QUEENSLAND man has been caught red-handed, and red-faced, making drugs at an Ipswich home.

A 21-year-old man arrested in a raid yesterday had burns on his face and arms, allegedly suffered when he was making drugs, police said.

Police uncovered a home-made drug laboratory and chemicals and seized equipment from the house.

A man was charged with possessing instructions to make methamphetamines, possessing prescription drugs without a prescription, and possession of a utensil.

He is due in Ipswich Magistrates Court on January 4.

NEWS.com.au
 
Two Colombians, a Guatemalan and a Sri Lankan were arrested and taken to the United States, since they were captured in international waters, Berrocal said.
Click to expand...

ILLEGAL!

A man was charged with possessing instructions to make methamphetamines, possessing prescription drugs without a prescription, and possession of a utensil.
Click to expand...

sp-ti-spork.jpg
?

Oh and I think Snoop is to appear in court today =D
 
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