The Mega Merged Drug Busts Thread

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Fake SA priest caught smuggling drugs

Posted Fri, 17 Dec 2004

A South African man posing as a priest was detained in Brazil as he was about to board a flight to Portugal after police found more than five kilograms of cocaine hidden under his robe, news reports said on Thursday.

Police in Sao Paulo said Carl Paul Barry (27), who was travelling on a forged German passport in his real name, was wearing an elastic belt around his waist which held various pouches full of cocaine, Portuguese daily newspaper Correio da Manha reported.

He also was found to have cocaine hidden in the soles of his sandals as well as in a hidden compartment in his handbag, the paper said.

Barry had been scheduled to fly on Portuguese flag carrier TAP-Air Portugal to Lisbon on Wednesday where he was to have caught another flight to Amsterdam, his final destination.

He is currently behind bars in a Sao Paulo jail. If convicted Barry faces a 15-year jail term.

here
 
Men queried over 2,100-pound cocaine seizure


NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) -- Police have picked up for questioning three Italians and a Kenyan in connection with the largest cocaine seizure in Kenya -- 2,100 pounds (954 kilograms), a police spokesman said Thursday.

Police detained the four Wednesday, and they remain in police custody assisting investigators who are trying to find out how the cocaine, suspected to be from Colombia, got to Kenya, said Jaspher Ombati, the police spokesman.

Ombati said they have not been charged but did not give any other details.

On Tuesday, police seized the cocaine during raids in the industrial area of Nairobi and at a house in the coastal town of Malindi, about 260 miles (420 kilometers) southeast of the capital.

Kenyan newspapers reported Wednesday that police seized a speedboat found outside the Malindi house after they found some of the cocaine in the boat.

The newspapers quoted unnamed police sources as saying the boat was owned by a Nairobi company, Central Valley Suppliers Ltd., and was bought in Spain on June 4.

The Daily Nation newspaper also reported that three people of unspecified nationality and a Kenyan had been arrested in the Netherlands in connection with the cocaine seizure.

Ombati declined to confirm the newspaper reports.

"Let us wait and see what the investigations will come up with," he said.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/africa/12/16/kenya.cocaine.ap/index.html
 
XOCVANDALX said:
regarding the one with weed in the casket...were there any bodies inside the casket?? or were they just empty?
Click to expand...


That's a good question. I am asuming that they were empty caskets maybe being shiped to a distibuter.
 
Good question...

Since the truck belonged to a casket company it is a sure bet that they were empty caskets. I have another question: I enjoy reading this thread as much as the next one but wouldn't it be simpler to just offer a hyper link to "Counter Press Drug Summary?" The site is updated weekly and includes large scale drug busts from around the world with photos to boot.
 
NY Elementary School Principle caught w/ meth and ecstasy!

http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n1801/a08.html?397


GRAND ISLAND, N. Y. - An elementary school principle was charged Thursday with possessing methamphetamine and Ecstasy tablets.

Frank Cannata, 40, of Buffalo was immediately suspended from his job at the Grand Island Central Schools' Charlotte Sidway Elementary School, where he had been principal since 1998.

Investigators, carrying out a federal search warrant, seized five grams of crystal methamphetamine and 14 Ecstasy pills at Cannata's Buffalo home, according to a criminal complaint.

Cannata's arrest shocked his colleagues in the suburban district north of Buffalo, where Cannata himself had been a student, said assistant superintendent Karen Karmazin. He is also musical director of the Niagara Regional Theatre Guild.
 
Five arrested after allegedly trying to steal almost 200 pounds of cocaine

SOURCE: http://www.fox11.com/stories/news/coke_theft.asp


ARTICLE


(Vernon) - Five men who allegedly tried to steal nearly 200 pounds of cocaine in Vernon were arrested Sunday and the drugs seized, a police officer said.

Acting on a tip that a burglary was planned for the 2500 block of Santa Fe Avenue in Vernon, at about 1:30 p.m., officers from Los Angeles Police Department Narcotics Division put the area under surveillance, said LA police.

Officers observed the five men enter a commercial building at the location and arrested them when they came out, allegedly with 90 kilos of cocaine, which was confiscated, police said.

No one else was in the building and no weapons were involved, police said.

The drug agents were assisted by Vernon Police and an LAPD SWAT team, police said.

The suspects were expected to be charged with possession of narcotics and conspiracy to distribute according to police.
 
Canada: $500M Ecstasy Bust

Ecstasy bust country's largest

Drug could become new marijuana for crime groups, cops say

Dec 23, 2004
Martin Derbyshire, Staff Writer - More from this author

A York Region home is part of the largest ecstasy bust in Canadian history.

Uncut ecstasy, with a street value of more than $500 million, was seized.

York drug cops fear the popular drug could become the new marijuana for organized crime groups looking to turn huge profits.

"We've seen the trend with marijuana. The marijuana grow op problem started in British Columbia and then it exploded here. Over the last four or five years, they've had a problem with ecstasy labs out there and now we're starting to see them here," York Regional Police Det. Don Cardwell said.

"I hope it's not going to get out of control like marijuana has been."

The number of marijuana grow operations busted by police reached a peak last year of 173.

Since that time, Det. Cardwell said a trend has emerged where growers have scaled down the size of operations to evade police.

The problem is, large or small, ecstasy labs can often go unnoticed, Det Cardwell said.

"They're a lot harder to detect," Det. Cardwell said.

"They don't generate the same amount of heat. We can't use (infrared technology) and the chemical precursors used to make the drug are not restricted. That's the problem: there's zero control."

The recipe for the drug can be downloaded off the Internet and ingredients found at a neighbourhood hardware store.

Because many of the chemicals are also used for legal purposes, including in the hot tub industry, Chief Armand La Barge said it would be difficult to make them illegal.

He suggested lawmakers consider a registry for purchase, making ingredients easier for police to track.

When ecstasy is being cooked inside a lab, it may emit smells similar to ammonia, licorice or root beer but, other than that, labs are virtually impossible to detect, Det. Cardwell said.

Police began this latest investigation by following the trail of a purchase of a large quantity of the precursor chemicals used to make the drug in early December.

It led them to two Toronto homes and a third in an affluent Markham neighbourhood were chemicals were being mixed and cooked into 96 per cent pure ecstasy.

That led to a number of storage units in Toronto where more than 700 kilograms of the drug was waiting to be shipped or cut and pressed into pills, police said.

Seven men, all from British Columbia, were arrested and are now facing various drug charges.

Chief La Barge estimated once the drug was cut with other chemicals and pressed into pills for sale, it could have yielded street profits in excess $500 million.

With two major ecstasy labs found in Markham earlier this year and now the largest seizure of the drug in Canadian history inside the town's borders, Markham Mayor Don Cousens is less than pleased with the reputation the town is earning.

"It's a sad thing that this could happen in our community," he said. "We will not tolerate it."

Police board chairperson David Barrow said, hopefully, a bust of this size will send a message to illegal drug manufacturers.

"The message is very clear. If you're in the illegal drug business, don't come here. You are not welcome," he said.

Chief La Barge vowed to continue the war on drugs.

"This is a war we cannot afford to lose because the very safety and security of this community is at risk," he said.

"We will make York Region a drug-free zone."


link
 
Uncut ecstasy, with a street value of more than $500 million, was seized
Click to expand...
8) Please, report facts not fiction! How do you estimate this ?

York drug cops fear the popular drug could become the new marijuana for organized crime groups
Click to expand...
Now this is where bullshit journalism takes over! I'm suprised they don't call it the new heroin of marijuana!

The recipe for the drug can be downloaded off the Internet and ingredients found at a neighbourhood hardware store. Because many of the chemicals are also used for legal purposes, including in the hot tub industry, Chief Armand La Barge said it would be difficult to make them illegal
Click to expand...
LFMAO, haha , riiiiiiiiiiiiight. check your facts as to obtaining precursors before writing crap!!! 8)
 
^8)

Why dont you chill the fuck out? I thought mods were supposed to be the cool and calm type. Also, I do believe he was quoting a reputable source and simply forgot to cite said quotation.

j00 fuckin spaz!.
 
Crazzee....

Simple mathamatics could return a figure on the dollar amount of drugs seized..

Why couldnt X become the next Mariguana.... Its nearly as accepted these days...
 
LikuidKid said:
^8)

Why dont you chill the fuck out? I thought mods were supposed to be the cool and calm type.

j00 fuckin spaz!.
Click to expand...

I am chill Kid, i just hate sloppy basement journalism, if you have a reputable source report it. Otherwise you [they] are writing fiction like any other basement journalist.

>HotMOovZ

As a reference to the new MJ, that was a joke pertainin to certain FP article posted few days ago. Too bad you didn't get it.
 
Nuts! Cops use holiday treats for sting!

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n1831/a04.html
Newshawk: Herb
Votes: 0
Pubdate: Fri, 24 Dec 2004
Source: Chicago Sun-Times (IL)
Copyright: 2004 The Sun-Times Co.
Contact: [email protected]
Website: http://www.suntimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/81
Author: Annie Sweeney


NUTS! COPS USE HOLIDAY TREAT IN DRUG STING

Robbins police added their own Christmas cheer to a drug bust Wednesday night -- selling macadamia nuts as rocks of crack for $20.

The reverse sting has been done before, but not with Christmas treats, Detective Sgt. Terrance Franklin said.

"We always use the peanut,'' Franklin said. "This time, we wanted to get into the holiday spirit.''

The macadamia nut was inside a small, sealed plastic bag.

Twenty people were arrested after attempting to buy the nuts in the 13500 block of Woodlawn, he said.

One officer was injured in the sting after one of the alleged buyers tried to get away, Franklin said. In the struggle, the officer fell and broke his leg in two places.

Franklin said he hopes the misdemeanor charges of attempting to possess drugs will do two things: Make people afraid to go to Robbins to feed their drug habit and encourage users to get help.

Franklin said most of the buyers were not from Robbins, but southwest suburbs, including Orland Park and Tinley Park.

Among the buyers, he said, was a Frankfort homemaker who took her 3-year-old child along, a former grammar school teacher, a college student, a woman willing to pawn her husband's watch and wedding ring, and teenagers.

"Crack cocaine is a bad thing,'' Franklin said. "We want them to seek out and get some help.''
 
LOL!

"In the struggle, the officer fell and broke his leg in two places."

Hopefully he tripped an fell on a Loiusville Slugger.
Peace,
Jesse
 
Cops: Marijuana stashed under man's hat
By JOHN RICHMEIER, Leavenworth Times Staff Writer
December 28, 2004

What had started out as a traffic stop ended in a drug arrest on Christmas after a Leavenworth man reportedly revealed what was under his hat.

Under his cap, the 18-year-old man allegedly had 45 grams of marijuana and cash, according to the police.

The man was stopped around 11:45 p.m. Saturday after he allegedly was seen running a stop sign at Maple Avenue and Thornton Street.

The vehicle, a 1997 Chevy Camaro, was stopped at West Seventh and Garfield streets.

The driver reportedly told the officer he had been racing another vehicle and couldn't stop in time for the stop sign, according to the arrest report.

The officer returned to his patrol car and wrote two traffic citations. The officer returned to the other vehicle and asked the driver to step out of the vehicle so he could talk with him in private away from a passenger.

While the man was outside, the officer reportedly noticed what appeared to be the corner of a plastic bag hanging out from underneath the hat.

The man had been wearing the baseball cap backwards on his head, according to Kathy Tytla, Leavenworth Police Department.

The officer asked the man if he minded showing what was under the hat.

The man reportedly removed the cap, revealing two plastic bags of marijuana, money and a piece of a paper bag, according to the arrest report.

In one of the plastic bags was 41 grams of marijuana. In the other was 4 grams of marijuana.

The man was arrested for possession of marijuana and failing to provide a drug tax stamp.

Link
 
Pot packages found inside bales of hay
The Associated Press
Monday, December 27, 2004

VAN BUREN, Ark. (AP) - A Massachusetts man was arrested the day after a state trooper found 27 packages of suspected marijuana nested in bales of hay inside a horse trailer.

State police say Everton Garriques, 45, of Hingham, Mass., was a passenger in the pickup truck pulling the trailer during the Christmas Day stop. Police said they found more than 800 pounds of what they believe is marijuana hidden inside the trailer.

Police stopped the truck for speeding and having no license plate light, according to a state police dispatcher. After receiving conflicting information from Garriques and the driver, Dale Barrett, 23, of Lithonia, Ga., the trooper asked for and received consent to conduct a search, the dispatcher said.

When he looked inside the trailer, he saw two horses, several bales of hay and a plastic wrapper inside one of the bales. At that point, Garriques took off running and eluded searchers Saturday night, the dispatcher said.

Garriques was discovered the next day at a rental house and was arrested after a short pursuit, Van Buren police officer Steve Grizzle said. He was booked into the Crawford County Jail on suspicion of possession of marijuana with intent to deliver, possession of drug paraphernalia, fleeing apprehension, burglary, breaking or entering, criminal mischief and two counts of cruelty to animals.

Barrett also faces charges of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, possession of drug paraphernalia and two counts of cruelty to animals.

Link
 
'Santa's Helpers' Allegedly Shipped Drugs Labeled As Toys
Californian Charged In Cocaine Smuggling Case
Associated Press
December 29, 2004

CLEVELAND -- The packages were labeled toys for good girls and boys and the business was called Santa's Helpers, but authorities said Tuesday the packages were part of a drug smuggling operation.

Santa's Helpers are accused of attempting to smuggle $7.8 million worth of cocaine from Los Angeles to nearby Willoughby.

Drug agents seized about 175 pounds of the drug Monday in the largest seizure in Cleveland this year and one of the largest in northeast Ohio.

Federal prosecutors charged Edward Boynton, 35, of Inglewood, Calif., with intent to possess cocaine. Boynton appeared in U.S. District Court on Tuesday. His attorney, Mary Jo Tipping, had no comment.

Authorities said Willoughby police learned Friday of suspicious packages at the Roadway Express offices. Billing information said the barrels contained toys, novelties and games.

Officers brought in a police dog, which picked up the scent of drugs. Officers confiscated the drums and called the Drug Enforcement Agency.

Authorities said Boynton drove a rented truck to the business on Monday. He wore a coat and a T-shirt with the logo "Santa's Helpers" and had paperwork and tracking information for the shipment.

Boynton told authorities that he had flown from Los Angeles to Cleveland to meet the shipment.

Willoughby police stopped him as he left the business. According to investigators and an affidavit, two of the drums were filled with concrete blocks and the others held the drugs.

A spokeswoman for Roadway Express in Akron, where the company is based, declined comment.

Boynton is being held without bond pending additional hearings.

Link
 
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -- Police captured a reputed leader of the Norte del Valle drug cartel Tuesday, the latest arrest in a U.S.-backed effort to dismantle a gang accused of trafficking half of all cocaine sold in the United States in the 1990s.

Dagoberto Florez, a reputed capo or leader in the cartel, was on a list of most wanted alleged cocaine kingpins sought by U.S. authorities under a court order handed down in New York in May. The U.S. government offered a $5 million reward for his capture.

Police seized Florez early Tuesday in a rural area outside Medellin, Colombia's second largest city 250 miles northwest of the capital, the national police chief, Gen. Jorge Daniel Castro, told reporters.

He declined to provide details on the capture, and said it hasn't been decided who, if anyone, would receive the reward money.

Florez was among nine reputed Norte del Valle cartel leaders being sought for extradition after U.S. investigators traced a money trail from three small wire transfer businesses in New York to cartel leaders in Colombia.

Florez was the second on the list to be captured, following the arrest in October of Gabriel Puerta-Parra.

"His arrest today is yet another example of the unprecedented law enforcement cooperation between the United States and Colombia," Michael J. Garcia, an assistant secretary for the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement issued Tuesday.

In its heyday in the late 1990s, the Norte del Valle cartel, named for the region of Colombia where the gang originated, trafficked about half of the cocaine sold in the United States.

The U.S. government says the cartel exported $10 billion worth of cocaine over the past 15 years.

Under President Alvaro Uribe, a strong Washington ally, Colombia has extradited more than 100 alleged drug traffickers to the United States.

Earlier this month, he extradited Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela, a co-leader of the dismantled Cali cartel, who is considered the most powerful drug trafficker to ever see the inside of a U.S. prison.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/americas/12/28/colombia.druglord.ap/index.html
 
Largest-ever amount of ecstasy uncovered

http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/LondonFreePress/News/2004/12/23/794360-sun.html

Largest-ever amount of ecstasy uncovered

JASON BOTCHFORD, Special to The Free Press 2004-12-23 01:58:22


TORONTO -- York Regional police used some new-fangled gumshoe detective work to make a "shocking" ecstasy bust -- the largest in Canadian history. By tracing the sale of chemicals commonly used in hot tubs, deodorants and air fresheners -- which also happen to be key ingredients for illicit drugs -- police uncovered an ecstasy ring and 1,000 kilograms of liquid and powder MDMA (methylenedioxymeth- amphetamine or ecstasy).

The seized powdered drug was 96-per-cent pure and packed in vacuum-sealed bags, likely ready for shipment to the U.S. It's worth $100 million, but has a potential street value of half a billion dollars

It's also more than the total amount seized in all of the U.S. in 2003, police said.

"The quantity is shocking," said Det. Don Cardwell of the vice squad. "I just hope (ecstasy production) isn't about to get out of hand like the marijuana labs."

York police, led by Det.-Const. Doug Tetrault, developed a new policing technique in July and began monitoring the sale of chemicals such as safrole and piperonal, which are precursors in the production of MDMA.

Ecstasy is a semi-synthetic compound that can be made relatively easily by anyone with more than two years of college chemistry. The precursor chemicals for MDMA are tightly controlled in the U.S., making MDMA both risky and expensive to produce.

But, in Canada there are no restrictions on buying the chemicals.

The detective method reaped big benefits on Dec. 6 as the chemicals were traced to two individuals as well as a Markham house and two Toronto homes.

"We knew we were walking into a drug lab, but we had no idea how big it was," Cardwell said.

In total, three homes and four storage units in Toronto and Markham were raided over three days last week. Police also found a quantity of hash and some cash.

Seven people, mostly from B.C., have been arrested.

York police services board chairperson David Barrow said the drug's use is on the rise not only in Markham, but also in all the Greater Toronto Area.

Five years ago, ecstasy accounted for one per cent of all drugs seized in the GTA; this year, it will be about 33 per cent.

"I'm afraid to say the use of drugs is destroying our community fabric," Barrow said. "It destroys families. It destroys the character and values of individuals who use drugs."

Cardwell said ecstasy has proven harder to find than marijuana, but police are now having success in several investigations by tracing the sale of the precursor chemicals.

Cardwell said police in Peel Region and the OPP are also now monitoring chemical sales.

Police urged the Canadian government to look into legislation that restricts the sale of precursor chemicals.


Copyright © The London Free Press 2001,2002,2003
 
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