The Mega Merged Drug Busts Thread

[SnailS1904]

200k tabs...wow

“People should also be vigilant in contacting ambulance officers immediately if their friends show any adverse effects after taking illicit drugs. A friend’s life should be the first priority, not whether they will get into trouble with police,” Detective Superintendent Bingham said.

i think its good he mentioned that though.

 

[phr]

Merged.

 

[BB1]

I almost fell off my barstool laughing when this came on the tv:

Saturday, Sept. 13, 2008:

A makeshift submarine loaded with $187 million in cocaine was seized in a harrowing drug bust off Costa Rica, authorities said Wednesday. The U.S. Coast Guard intercepted the steel and fiberglass vessel in the dark of night and arrested four Colombian smugglers and confiscated 7 tons of cocaine.

OMG. a Drug Sub!

here's the full article from cnn:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/09/19/drug.subs/index.html

 

[trainwreckmolly]

^^I've heard these are becoming more and more popular. This isn't the first submarine bust I've heard about.

 

[Ungoliath]

Toronto man charged in huge cocaine bust In Saint John 276kg

This Happened About an hour away from my house
(I think just the large amount warrents its own thread, and the smuggling method, if not feel free to merge)

Short and Skinny of it, East Coast Canada, You know those really skinny cocaine bricks we get? the 1-2" thick ones? Finally we know why they look so weird, and there getting shipped here from from South America.

Also, not mentioned here, this cocaine goes from An hour from my house, St. John, To Toronto, Maine, and a few other states. I didn't know my little province was so big in the drug trade.


http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2008/12/23/nb-cocaine-bust.html?ref=rss

Finally, An explanation for those thin bricks that i've always wondered about, bricks I see pictures of from Miami and New York are always so much thicker but not ours, finally I get my answer.

Info From My Newspaper. 276kg monthly, Going to Ontario, New Brunswick (Obviously), Maine (for Drugs), Vermont and New Hampshire.

Wow

A Toronto man has been charged after the Canada Border Services Agency seized 276 kilograms worth of cocaine with an estimated street value of $40 million at the Port of Saint John in New Brunswick.

The investigation known as Project Falcon involved months of work by the CBSA, Saint John police, RCMP and Durham Regional Police, resulting in the largest drug seizure ever in New Brunswick by the CBSA.

The cocaine was discovered by border services officers on Dec. 11, during the search of a marine container from Guyana. The ship makes regular trips between Saint John and the Caribbean.

The CBSA officer uncovered 1,653 packages of cocaine that were tucked inside the corrugated lining of 551 cardboard boxes holding other food shipments.

The discovery was aided by X-ray technology and a detector dog.

"The dog alerted us that it was definitely something there. Then our X-ray technology actually narrowed down to where it was and then our officers worked very hard," said Don Collins, a CBSA district director..

"I have to say I'm very proud of them because they do such hard work on a daily basis, taking the stuff apart, carefully weighing it and getting it ready for evidence."

The cocaine tested to be almost 80 per cent pure.

There have been three drug seizures in Atlantic Canada this year by the CBSA.

Project Falcon started with the intention of finding the source of cocaine landing in the hands of gang members.

Investigators removed all but two kilograms of the cocaine and conducted a controlled delivery of the container to Ontario.

Mahendrapaul Doodnauth, the 45-year-old owner of Caribbean International Food Distributors in Etobicoke, was arrested on Dec. 19.

Doodnauth has been charged with several offences, including importing cocaine and conspiracy to import cocaine.

But Insp. Darrell Scribner of the Saint John police said making a bust this big will affect the city.

"All of this cocaine did not end up on the streets here in Canada, some of it which may have been destined back here to Saint John," he said.

THIS MAN HAD A WICKED IDEA FOR SMUGGLING HE WOULD HAVE NEVER GOTTEN CAUGHT WITHOUT INFORMANTS, I KNOW FOR A FACT I HAVE HAD SOME OF THAT COCAINE BECAUSE THE BRICKS MY DEALER HAS ARE ALWAYS VERY THIN AND ROCK HARD EXACTLY LIKE PICTURE

 

[phr]

Merged.

 

[Hammilton]

You people are always so quick to blame informants when with something like that I'd give 99-1 odds that this was just dogs reacting to what was moving through.

Look at the heroin they find literally impregnated in clothing, this would be a cinch.

 

[Ungoliath]

You people are always so quick to blame informants when with something like that I'd give 99-1 odds that this was just dogs reacting to what was moving through.

Look at the heroin they find literally impregnated in clothing, this would be a cinch.

In my local paper it said they used police informants.

 

[FrostyMcFailure]

I tried to read this first page & i got stopped in my tracks, way too depressing.

Police said they believe the four men arrested Thursday ran a pot-growing ring that, with 700 mature plants, could have produced $14 million a year in profits.

On average, each plant produces one pound of street-ready marijuana a month, which sells for about $5,000.

Whoever came up with those numbers deserved to be sentenced to life in a Chinese jail cell.

p.s. fuck informants, even the police got no respect for their kind.

 

[trainwreckmolly]

Panama Seizes 53 tonnes of drugs in 2008

Panama seizes 53 tonnes of drugs in 2008
January 5, 2009
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j1AZaj9Al8RVfbmFSiUh1DnyzdZw

PANAMA CITY - Panama seized 53 tonnes of drugs in 2008, took over 42 bank accounts, confiscated 700 cell phones and 209 vehicles connected with drug trafficking, prosecutors said in an annual report Monday.

Drug seizures were slightly below the previous year, which saw a record haul from a cargo ship of 20 tonnes in March 2007, said drug prosecutor Edwin Guardia.

The 2008 haul included 51 tonnes of cocaine and two of marijuana.

One tenth of the seizures were in joint naval operations with the United States in international waters, the report said.

Police also seized more than three million dollars in cash linked to drug trafficking and confiscated 1.5 million from 42 bank accounts.

A total of 540 people were charged in connection with drug trafficking; mostly Panamanians, but also Colombians and Mexicans, the report said.

"Colombian cartels concentrate on the production of illicit drugs," while Mexican cartels are "transport cartels working on bringing illicit drugs to the United States and Europe," said chief drug prosecutor Jose Abel Almengor.

 

[AfterGlow]

Panama seizes 53 tonnes of drugs in 2008
January 5, 2009
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j1AZaj9Al8RVfbmFSiUh1DnyzdZw

PANAMA CITY - Panama seized 53 tonnes of drugs in 2008, took over 42 bank accounts, confiscated 700 cell phones and 209 vehicles connected with drug trafficking, prosecutors said in an annual report Monday.
.
.
One tenth of the seizures were in joint naval operations with the United States in international waters, the report said.
.
.

Who exactly has jurisdiction in international waters? I thought that if I was n possession of drugs on my own privately owned vessel beyond the oceanic borders of any country, then I was not bound to any laws provided I was not trying to kill or steal from somebody who was a declared national. no?

 

[thinctwo]

Who exactly has jurisdiction in international waters? I thought that if I was n possession of drugs on my own privately owned vessel beyond the oceanic borders of any country, then I was not bound to any laws provided I was not trying to kill or steal from somebody who was a declared national. no?

Article 108 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and article 17 of the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances lay the foundation of narcotics being illegal in international waters, but as pirates (think Somalia, Malacca, not RIAA) have shown whoever has arms and the will to use them ultimately has jurisdiction at sea (anywhere really).

 

[AfterGlow]

Article 108 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and article 17 of the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances lay the foundation of narcotics being illegal in international waters, but as pirates (think Somalia, Malacca, not RIAA) have shown whoever has arms and the will to use them ultimately has jurisdiction at sea (anywhere really).

Aren't there some nations who are not members of the U.N.? And does this apply to ALL oceans. What if I owned my own island? Would the rest of the world try to assert some soft of control over MY sovereignty?

 

[forestxfaerie]

this is so sad. no wonder why its so hard to find shit nowadays.

 

[trainwreckmolly]

Sixteen Arrested in Small Town America Drug Trafficking Ring

Sixteen Arrested in Small Town America Drug Trafficking Ring
January 16, 2009
By Jodie Underwood
http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/pubs/states/newsrel/2009/seattle011609b.html



JAN 16 -- (Seattle) – DEA Special Agent in Charge (SAC) Arnold R. Moorin and the United States Attorney for the Western District of Washington, Jeffrey Sullivan, announced that on January 16, 2009 , sixteen people were arrested following a year long investigation of a drug distribution conspiracy centered in Skagit County , Washington . It is alleged that the drug ring smuggled pound quantities of heroin and five to ten kilograms of cocaine per month into the United States .

Law enforcement searched five residences and seized approximately five pounds of heroin, two pounds of cocaine, $23,000 in cash, seven vehicles and two firearms. Eight of the defendants have been indicted by a federal grand jury and seven others detained are facing either charges in Skagit County Superior Court of immigration proceedings. One defendant likely will be processed as a juvenile. Investigators utilized court authorized wire taps and confidential sources to infiltrate the organization as it recruited people to transport cocaine from Tijuana , Baja , California , Mexico into the United States .

The defendants have been indicted by a federal grand jury:

Alfonso Gutierrez-Orozco, a/k/a “Saul”, 25, of Mount Vernon , Washington ,
Fernando Hernandez-Salazar, a/k/a “Tino”, 20, of Mount Vernon , Washington ,
Abel Orozco-Gutierrez, a/k/a “Kalvin”, 34, of Tacoma , Washington ,
Joel Vasquez-Vasquez, 21, of Mount Vernon , Washington ,
Luis Miguel Campos-Alvarado, 18, of Mount Vernon , Washington ,
Samuel Vaca-Garcia, 26, of Bellingham , Washington ,
Jessie Smith, 26, of Sedro Woolley , Washington ,
Tammy Zorotovich, 39, of Bellingham , Washington

 

[Tchort]

A lot of successful drug dealers live out in the suburbs and rural 'Main Street' towns, but conduct business elsewhere. There was a big local media frenzy about evidence that the small rural Main Street town I lived in at the time was home to several similar operations as the one mentioned in the news article above. While this town was in a rural area and as redneck as it gets, it is only 30 miles to Washington D.C. and maybe 30-40 miles to Baltimore (and not far from any of the big cities in Virginia, and NYC).

 

[phr]

Merged.

 

[thinctwo]

DPS finds 9,210 pounds of marijuana in abandoned school bus

DPS finds 9,210 pounds of marijuana in abandoned school bus

Austin American-Statesman

Tuesday, February 3, 2009, 08:25 AM

From The Texas Department of Public Safety:

The Texas Department of Public Safety is asking for the public’s help after finding almost five tons of marijuana in an abandoned school bus in Webb County.

A DPS Highway Patrol trooper on routine patrol saw the school bus on the side of the road Saturday morning on U.S. 59 and went to investigate. He discovered more than 9,210 pounds of marijuana worth $3.9 million. The 560 bundles of marijuana were hidden under cardboard and in a secret ceiling compartment.


This is the second largest marijuana seizure by DPS during routine traffic enforcement since 1997.

The bus may have experienced engine problems. No suspect has been identified at this point, and DPS Narcotics is now conducting the follow-up investigation. Anyone with information about the case is urged to call DPS Narcotics at 956-728-2201.

Link

 

[cvillian]

Nine Arrested, MDMA, LSD, Marijuana, Guns, and U.S. Currency Seized

[/B]Nine Arrested, MDMA, LSD, Marijuana, Guns, and U.S. Currency Seized

Attorney General Brown and Mendocino County Sheriff Shut Down Ecstasy Ring

MENDOCINO- Attorney General Edmund G. Brown along with the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Major Crimes Task Force today announced the arrest of nine people involved in a “dangerous drug ring” that operated ecstasy (MDMA) labs throughout Northern California.

“This drug ring, operating throughout northern California, posed a threat to people and the environment” Attorney General Brown said. “Today’s bust marks an end to the activities of this dangerous drug ring.”

In November 2008, the Attorney General’s Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement teamed up with the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office after an anonymous tip alerted law enforcement agents of a possible MDMA lab operating in Mendocino County.

Agents monitored the suspected lab location and identified the cook as Jonathan Passel from El Cerrito. Passel was followed to several locations including: a residence in Willits and Redwood Valley, a warehouse in San Rafael, a residence in El Cerrito, a residence and warehouse in Oakland, and an extremely remote location in northwest Mendocino County.

On January 23, 2009, Agents from the Department of Justice Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, the Mendocino County Major Crimes Task Force, Santa Rosa Drug Enforcement Agency, West Contra Costa Narcotic Enforcement Team, Lake County Narcotics Task Force, California Highway Patrol, Sonoma Narcotics Task Force, Ukiah Police Department, Willits Police Department, and the Marin County Major Crimes Task Force served nine warrants in four counties.

Jonathan Passel, 46, and Mia Miller, 44, were arrested at the lab site in Mendocino County. Agents seized a .45 handgun, thousands of dollars worth of chemicals, commercial grade laboratory glassware, and over one-hundred gallons of toxic, poisonous, and flammable liquids and solids. Hazardous chemicals and laboratory equipment filled forty large barrels with an estimated disposal cost of $35,000.

Very little waste product was found at the lab site, raising concerns of illegal dumping of toxic, poisonous, and flammable substances in the surrounding area. Illegal dumping of chemical waste can be extremely dangerous to the land, animals, and people living near a dump site.

“This is the best example I’ve ever seen of a 3-month investigation being coordinated by multiple agencies and coming to a very successful conclusion.” Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman said.

Also seized were approximately 44 kilograms of MDMA (ecstacy), worth an estimated $1,936,000.00,

Paul Passel, 64, Jonathan Passel’s brother, was arrested in El Cerrito but was cited at the scene due to medical issues. Agents seized 1 ½ pounds of marijuana and lab glassware.

Phillip Crosby, 35, Jared Coil, 28, Kayla Kashtiban, 19, and Justin Spilis, 21, were arrested in Willits. Agents seized 600 marijuana plants, LSD, MDMA, and several firearms.

Leon Haskell, 34, and Tappie Dufresne, 37, were arrested in Oakland. Agents seized approximately 44 kilos of MDMA, 28 pounds of psyliocibin mushrooms, 30 pounds of marijuana, and approximately $500,000 in cash.

http://current.com/items/89765439/nine_arrested_mdma_lsd_marijuana_guns_and_u_s_currency_seized.htm

 

[cvillian]

Thanks to bluelight member, Mr Trips, for the article I posted above. He didn't follow the DiTM guidelines and didn't post this in the DiTM drug bust section and it was closed by a MOD. I went ahead and re-posted it here for him.