The Mega Merged Drug Busts Thread

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Sydney, Australia

Hide-out stormed, accused dealer arrested
By Kara Lawrence
October 21, 2006 12:50am

SURROUNDED by a 3m concrete wall and an electric fence, some secluded acreage in Sydney's west has been home to a wanted man.

Now Anthony John Michael Perish, 37, is behind bars after a 14-year search for the accused drug dealer.

Mr Perish - whose elderly grandparents Anthony Perish Sr, 91, and Frances Perish, 93, were shot dead at Leppington in a 1993 unsolved murder - had a warrant issued for his arrest in 1992.

His grandparents' murder remains unsolved and Mr Perish is not listed as being among numerous "persons of interest" in the murders.

However, police wanted Mr Perish for the alleged supply of 2.5kg of amphetamine -"speed" - on August 5, 1992.

Despite a lengthy national search, police did not arrest him until mid last month.

When the heavily-armed State Protection Group arrested him at his West Hoxton farmhouse, they allegedly found Mr Perish in possession a .22-calibre pistol.

Mr Perish was charged with supplying a commercial quantity of a prohibited drug over the 1992 amphetamine matter, as well as possessing an unregistered firearm.

He has not entered a plea and will appear in Liverpool Local Court on November 22. This week, Mr Perish was refused bail after making an application in the Supreme Court.

Mr Perish's lawyer Bill O'Brien told the court his client had been under police surveillance and had his phone tapped.

He argued the case against his client was weak and the identification of him flimsy.

Mr O'Brien argued that the drug charge was not enough to cause Mr Perish to have fled, considering his co-accused had not get lengthy sentences.

Justice Peter Hidden refused bail saying Mr Perish was a flight risk.

Daily Telegraph
 
Substantial Stephen Street marijuana grow-op busted

Substantial Stephen Street marijuana grow-op busted
Oct 21 2006

One man is facing criminal charges following the bust of a "substantial" marijuana grow operation yesterday.

Mission RCMP executed a search warrant in the 9500-block of Stephen Street on Friday, Mission RCMP said in a news release, and seized 812 marijuana plants and three firearms.

Mission RCMP say they arrested 45-year-old Robert Pearse, and he is facing charges of production of a controlled substance and possession for the purpose of trafficking. As well, he faces three counts each of unauthorized possession of a firearm, contravening firearms regulations and unsafe storage of a firearm.

http://www.abbynews.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=38&cat=23&id=754952&more=
 
Regional NSW, Australia

$150,000 worth of cannabis found in car
October 22, 2006 08:09am
Article from: AAP

A MAN has been charged with drug offences after police found $150,000 worth of cannabis in a car in NSW.

Officers carrying out anti-drug patrols stopped a Ford Falcon travelling along the Barrier Highway, about 10km from Cobar, at about 11.20pm (AEST) yesterday.

They found two boxes in the back of the car containing what police believe to be 14kg of cannabis, with an estimated street value of $150,000.

The officers also discovered money in the vehicle.

A 31-year-old Adamstown man was arrested at the scene and taken to Cobar police station for questioning.

He was later charged with having goods in his personal custody suspected of being stolen, possession of a prohibited drug, supplying a prohibited drug and supplying cannabis of a more than indictable but less than commercial quantity.

Bail was refused and he is due to appear at Bourke Local Court later today.

News.com.au
 
Hobart, Australia

Large haul of drugs, weapons found
October 21, 2006 11:59pm
Article from: AAP

A POLICE drug bust at a house north of Hobart today unearthed a large haul of weapons and explosives.

Police said drug investigators found at the Broadmarsh house 800 ecstasy tablets, methylamphetamine and four cannabis plants, and also seized a sawn-off shotgun, a pistol, ammunition, explosives and about $6,000 in cash.

Police said the raid followed the arrest of a 34-year-old man in Queensland after he allegedly gave them information about the property.

News.com.au
 
Drug Precursor for Amphetamine Captured on Kalotina Customs

23 October 2006

Sofia. The police and the customs officials captured a great amount of drug precursor – 500 kg, the Customs Agency announced. It is used for the production of amphetamines. The amount of that quantity on the black market could have reached BGN 100 million.

The quantity was discovered in a Volvo truck in 10 sacks each of 50 kg. The sacks were hidden between roof-tiles. The Serbian driver (37) was arrested and charges will be pressed against him.

http://www.modbee.com/local/story/12926700p-13583874c.html
 
Brownville camp owner charged in marijuana trafficking case

Brownville camp owner charged in marijuana trafficking case

By Diana Bowley

Monday, October 23, 2006 - Bangor Daily News << Back

By Diana Bowley
Bangor Daily News

DOVER-FOXCROFT - A tip from a game warden, weeks of surveillance, and a joint investigation has resulted in the arrest of a Bowdoin man and the seizure of more than 20 pounds of processed marijuana.

Darryl Dickey, 39, of Bowdoin and Brownville, was arrested last Wednesday for trafficking in marijuana. Dickey was released from the Sagadahoc County Jail after furnishing $1,000 cash bail. His initial court appearance is set for Nov. 30, at the West Bath District Court.

In May, a local game warden found a patch of marijuana growing off a woods road in Township B, Range 10 WELS, north of Brownville, and reported his find to the Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Department.

Through an investigation and surveillance, the department reportedly connected the marijuana patch to a Brownville camp owned by Dickey, according to Investigator Guy Dow of the Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Department.

Dow said marijuana plants were discovered outside Dickey’s camp. A search warrant was executed at the camp on Oct. 15, where small amounts of dried marijuana were found, he said.

Another search was conducted on Oct. 18 at Dickey’s Bowdoin home, where Piscataquis County and Sagadahoc County deputies found more than 20 pounds of dried marijuana, according to Joseph Manhardt, chief deputy of Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Department.

Manhardt said the marijuana had a street value of about $74,000.

"We’re extremely happy with the drug seizure," he said. The find was one of the largest in Sagadahoc County in recent years, he said.

Dow said Dickey was convicted of cultivating marijuana off the same woods road two years ago.

Manhardt said his department seized Dickey’s new all-terrain vehicle and a four-wheel drive pickup truck. He said the department would seek forfeiture. If the court sanctions the forfeiture, it is unknown if the proceeds from the sale will be shared, he said.

Also assisting in the investigation was the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency.

http://www.bangornews.com/news/t/penquis.aspx?articleid=142133&zoneid=184
 
Ecstasy importer needed to pay off drug debt

Ecstasy importer needed to pay off drug debt
25 October 2006

A Timaru man has been jailed for four years for importing nearly 3000 ecstasy tablets to pay off an English drug debt.

Kent Nicolson, who pleaded guilty to the charge, was sentenced by Justice Fogarty in the High Court in Timaru.

The court was told there was no evidence of large-scale dealing but that Nicolson's offending was a one-off attempt to settle the debt.

Nicolson told police he imported the tablets – he mailed them to himself from England to a Timaru address – to help pay a 6000 ($NZ16,825) debt.

He said he became addicted to crack cocaine in England and sent 2887 ecstasy tablets to himself from Worthing.

Customs intercepted the drugs in Auckland and a controlled delivery was set up.

Nicolson signed for the package and hid it in a garage.

The tablets had an estimated New Zealand street value of between $173,000 and $230,000.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3838802a12855,00.html
 
Porterville police confiscate 100 pounds of marijuana

Porterville police confiscate 100 pounds of marijuana

By Sarah Elizabeth Villicana, The Porterville Recorder

Porterville Police Department detectives made a major bust Tuesday morning, preventing between 80 and 100 pounds of marijuana and a half pound of peyote from reaching the streets.

At about 7:30 a.m., detectives with Porterville's Special Investigations Unit served a search warrant in the 2000 block of West La Vida Avenue. The warrant was obtained after a two-and-a-half-week investigation into suspected drug sales.
A handgun, scales, peyote and about 100 pounds of pot were confiscated Tuesday by Porterville police. (Recorder photo by John Tipton)


During a search of the home, officers reportedly found between 80 to 100 pounds of marijuana. Police said the marijuana was packaged for sale and had an estimated street value of $150,000.

Detectives also reportedly located packaging materials, pipes, scales and other narcotics paraphernalia.

Sgt. Jake Castellow called the bust the largest seizure of marijuana within the City of Porterville in about a year.

Even more unusual than the large quantity of marijuana was a half pound of the controlled substance peyote, also seized from the residence.

Peyote is a cactus that produces small buttons which can cause hallucinations when ingested.

“I've been in law enforcement 12 years and this is the first time I've seized peyote,” Castellow said.

No occupants of the residence on West La Vida Avenue were home at the time of the search and no suspects had been arrested in connection with this case.

Police were seeking several subjects, Castellow said.

Based on their investigation, authorities said they believe suspects were selling the drugs from the residence.

The case remained under investigation by the PPD Special Investigations Unit. Anyone with information regarding this case should contact Detective Marcial Morales or Sgt. Jake Castellow at 782-7400.

http://www.portervillerecorder.com/articles/2006/10/25/news/local_state/news4.txt
 
Bust of Northern Colorado meth organization to be announced

Bust of Northern Colorado meth organization to be announced
By Coloradoan staff

Federal and Weld County law enforcement officials this morning will announce the dismantling of a major Northern Colorado methamphetamine organization.

A press conference is scheduled for 10 a.m. in Denver at the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Participating law enforcement agencies include the U.S, Attorney’s Office, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Weld County Drug Task Force.

According to a press release, the organization distributed large quantities of high-quality methamphetamine, and often used buses to transport the illegal drugs from California to Colorado.

http://www.coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061025/NEWS01/61025009
 
Major drug haul made in Afghanistan

Major drug haul made in Afghanistan

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan police and NATO troops have seized more than 9 tonnes of hashish in a southeastern province bordering Pakistan, a major smuggling route, the alliance said on Wednesday.

The drugs were found in a truck after the driver was stopped at a checkpoint in Zabul province and he became nervous as his vehicle was searched, NATO said in a statement.

The driver and three others in the truck were arrested.

Since April, more than 13.5 tonnes of narcotics have been confiscated by police in what the United Nations has said will be a record year for the production of opium, the raw material for heroin, in the world's largest produced.

Afghan officials say the growing Taliban insurgency is fuelling the drugs trade, which in turn helps fund the rebellion.

This has been the bloodiest year of fighting in Afghanistan since U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban's strict Islamic government in 2001 for refusing to surrender Osama bin Laden over the September 11 attacks in the United States.

More than 3,000 people have died, mostly militants but also civilians and more than 150 foreign soldiers.

British Defense Secretary Des Browne wound up a four-day visit to Afghanistan, like most high level foreign visitors a trip kept largely secret until it was over, due to security fears.

As part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), Britain has charge of the southern province of Helmand, a Taliban stronghold and the heart of the Afghan drugs trade.

It has suffered several casualties since NATO took over the south from U.S.-led forces late this year.

Browne met President Hamid Karzai and other Afghan leaders. He gave no media conference in Afghanistan but in a statement issued in London paid tribute to U.K. forces.

"I am enormously proud of the work being done here by British forces. They continue to do an outstanding job in bringing security to the people of Helmand so that the rebuilding can begin," he said in the statement.

Browne also met NATO commander British General David Richards who has said that the coming winter will be the tipping point for the Afghan campaign, saying failure to step up reconstruction during the time will drive frustrated Afghanis to the Taliban.

http://today.reuters.com/news/artic...=&cap=&sz=13&WTModLoc=NewsArt-C1-ArticlePage2
 
NATO, Afghan Police Seize Pot, Opium

NATO, Afghan Police Seize Pot, Opium

By FISNIK ABRASHI

KABUL, Afghanistan - NATO-led troops and Afghan police seized over nine tons of marijuana from a truck in southern Afghanistan, the alliance said Wednesday.

Four people in the truck were detained, NATO said. No date was given for the seizure in Zabul province, on a road between the southern city of Kandahar and Kabul.

In the country's west, U.S. and Afghan troops recovered over 120 pounds of opium from a car in Farah province, another NATO statement said Tuesday.

The U.S. soldiers were supporting an Afghan army checkpoint when a car failed to stop, the statement said. An Afghan soldier noticed a suspicious bag where the spare tire was supposed to be and alerted the next checkpoint, where the car was searched and the driver and passenger detained.

Afghanistan grew 59 percent more opium this year, yielding a record crop of 6,100 tons, according to the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crimes.

The agency said that is enough to make 610 tons of heroin, outstripping world demand by a third.

Some 2.9 million Afghans, or 12.6 percent of the population, are involved in opium cultivation. The U.N. predicted revenue from this year's harvest would top $3 billion.

Opium cultivation has surged since the Taliban was ousted in late 2001. The former regime had virtually eradicated the crop with a ban it enforced by jailing farmers.

But Taliban-led militants are now implicated in the drug trade, encouraging poppy cultivation and using the proceeds to help fund their insurgency, Afghan and Western counter-narcotics officials say.

http://www.jg-tc.com/articles/2006/10/25/ap/international/d8kvjei81.txt
 
Pharmacist charged in drug case

Pharmacist charged in drug case
By AMY V. TALIT, The Bristol Press
04/20/2006

BRISTOL -- A local pharmacist was charged Tuesday with more than 40 counts of illegally distributing and supplying prescription drugs in connection with a case against two Ruth Street residents who face numerous counts of sale and possession of drugs, according to police documents.

John P. Skinnon, 34, of 52 Salvatore Ave. was arrested at the pharmacy where he works and charged with 20 counts of illegal distribution of a narcotic substance, 24 counts of illegally supplying a prescription drug and one count of illegal distribution of a controlled substance.

Police did not identify where Skinnon is employed.

Wesley Musumano and Diane Weidman, both 29, of 35 Ruth St., No. 30were arraigned Wednesday in Bristol Superior Court. Though bonds of $900,000 were set by the judge for each, Musamano posted bond late in the day and Weidman is expected to remain in prison until her next court date, according to court records.

Skinnon posted $50,000 bond and will be arraigned in Bristol Superior Court May 8, according to court records.

Details of his connection to the Musumano-Weidman case were not released by police, who said the investigation is ongoing with additional arrests anticipated.

According to police,Musumano andWeidman, both 29, of 35 Ruth St., No. 30 were the subjects of a drug investigation by members of the Bristol police Narcotics Enforcement Team and the Statewide Narcotics Enforcement Task Force, which culminated in their arrests Tuesday.

Court records indicate Musumano had made several sales of the prescription painkiller OxyContin to an undercover police officer on several dates between March 30 and April 11. On each date, according to court records, Musumano would meet the police officer at a public location and make the drug sale. The first several sales were of OxyContin, but court records show the last few sales included heroin.

When police went to the Ruth Street home Musumano and Weidman share to execute two search warrants, Musumano allegedly saw the officers’ approach and ran upstairs, where his 6-year-old son was. He reportedly threw a box filled with drugs and drug paraphernalia out of a window to the back yard, where officers were waiting, before attempting to escape capture by jumping from that window, according to records.

Police seized 45 bags of heroin with an estimated street value of $450; 41 OxyContin pills (80 mg strength) with an estimated street value of $3,200; 35 Oxycodone pills (30 mg) with an estimated street value of $1,050 and 45 methadone tablets (40 mg) with an approximate street value of $1,200. Also seized from Musumano was equipment used to allegedly forge prescriptions, including a computer and scanner and $7,000 cash.

Officers also searched a vehicle owned and operated by Weidman and reportedly found her in possession of 50 OxyContin pills (80 mg) with a street value of more than $4,000 and 30 bags of heroin with a street value of $300. They also reportedly found a weapon in the vehicle, though police did not specify the type.

Musumano was charged with three counts of possession of narcotics, two counts of possession of narcotics with intent to sell, three counts of conspiracy to commit sale of narcotics, sale of narcotics, interfering with police, destruction of evidence and risk of injury to a minor. He was held overnight with bond set at $1,100,000 until his arraignment Wednesday, where his bond was reduced to $900,000.

Weidman was charged with four counts of possession of narcotics, possession of weapons in a motor vehicle, three counts of sale of narcotics, three counts of conspiracy to commit sale of narcotics and interfering with police. She was held overnight with bond set at $620,000, an amount increased to $900,000 at her arraignment.

At Musumano’s arraignment, the prosecutor read a statement given by the man’s 6-year-old son to police in which the boy said, "Daddy brings medicine to his friends. His friends used to come to the house, but now daddy brings the medicine to his friends."

The minor child was taken into protective custody by agents of the state Department of Children and Families after the arrest, according to court records.

According to court records, Musumano has pending drug charges in another court.

Neither Musumano nor Weidman has any legal means of support as neither has a job, according to court records. Musumano nevertheless posted his $900,000 bond Wednesday afternoon. Both he and Weidman are scheduled to return to court May 17.

Members of the Hartford police department vice and narcotics units joined Bristol officers and statewide task force members to execute the search and arrest warrants, according to police.

http://www.bristolpress.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16506076&BRD=1643&PAG=461&dept_id=10486&rfi=6
 
Older article but pretty interesting. Since it pertained to painkillers and they are my fav, I thought I'd post. Mmmmmmm.. opiates!
 
Sydney, Australia

City workers watch as lunch-time raid nets $1m ice pack
Neil McMahon
October 26, 2006

A CITY street, lunch hour ticking to its end, office workers scurrying back to their desks - and in the middle of it all, a $1 million drug bust that police say cleared the streets of two kilograms of crystal methamphetamine.

Drug squad detectives swooped on a car in Park Street about 2pm on Tuesday and detained two men. They were cuffed and questioned, and their arrest was filmed on a hand-held camera as passers-by stopped to watch. Inside the car, police allege, was about two kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, known as ice.

A smaller quantity of the drug, with a street value of $7000, was seized during a later operation in Bondi, where a 49-year-old man was arrested. In connected raids in the city and Maroubra, police allegedly seized items linked to the supply of prohibited drugs.

The man arrested in Bondi was charged with offences including supplying a large quantity of a prohibited drug. Another man, 25, faced the same charge. A man, 21, was questioned but released.

The arrests were made by detectives from Strike Force Bronsgrove. It was set up in May to investigate the supply of the drug in Sydney.

Sydney Morning Herald
 
Sydney, Australia

Sydneysider charged over $250,000 drug haul
October 27, 2006 - 7:04AM

Police have charged a Sydney man over a $250,000 cannabis haul.

Officers seized 126 hydroponic plants up to a metre high and a firearm during a raid on a home in Chamberlain Road, Padstow, in Sydney's south west, yesterday morning.

They had received reports about drugs being grown at the house.

A 27-year-old man has been charged with enhanced indoor cultivation of a plant for commercial purpose, possessing a prohibited drug, supplying a prohibited drug, possessing property suspected of being proceeds of crime and firearm offences.

He has been refused bail and will appear before Bankstown Local Court today.
AAP

SMH
 
And that dude in Mass is real fucked cuz Mass has the stricted gun laws in the nations and the combo will put him away for a very long time. Real rough.
 
Snoop faces drug, gun charges

Burbank, California - Snoop Dogg was arrested on suspicion of illegal drug and gun possession, police said.

The rapper, whose real name is Calvin Broadus, was arrested on Thursday at Bob Hope Airport, police said. Snoop Dogg posted $35 000 bail and was scheduled to appear in court on December 12.

Airport police officers stopped Snoop Dogg at a loading zone for a vehicle code violation. When officers searched the vehicle they found a gun and marijuana, police said.

"There was no basis for this arrest," the rapper's attorney, Donald Etra, said. "We believe that once this is cleared up, all charges will be dismissed."

The Orange County district attorney's office has been considering charges against Snoop Dogg after authorities last month discovered a 53-centimetre collapsible baton in his bags as he boarded a New York-bound flight from John Wayne International Airport.

The rapper was convicted in 1990 of cocaine possession and charged with gun possession after a 1993 traffic stop.

He pleaded guilty in exchange for three years' probation and a promise to make public service announcements against violence.

He was acquitted of murder in 1996 following the death of an alleged gang member who was killed by gunfire from the vehicle Snoop Dogg was travelling in.

http://www.news24.com/News24/Entertainment/Celebrities/0,,2-1225-2108_2021519,00.html
 
Cocaine courier tried to blow evidence away

Evening Times
27 October 2006

A DRUG courier caught red-handed with thousands of pounds worth of cocaine tried to blow away the evidence, a court was told.

The High Court in Glasgow heard Mark Green, 31, of Toreness Street, Partick, Glasgow, ran away from the police, bit open the bag containing the drug and then began shaking it.

But, the police caught up with Green, managed to wrestle him to the ground and grab the bag of cocaine.
Yesterday judge Lord Hardie jailed Green for five years after he admitted being concerned in the supply of cocaine last November, at Lumsden Street, Glasgow.

He also pleaded guilty to obstructing the police.

Lord Hardie told Green: "You took steps to obstruct the police officers by running away and seeking to dissipate drugs into the atmosphere."
Peter Hammond, prosecuting, told the court that the cocaine left in the bag had an estimated maximum street value of £6000.

Billy Lavelle, defending, said: "The accused was was approached by a man and asked to take what he thought was amphetamine to someone he knew. He undertook to do this without thinking of the consequences."

Green was caught because the police were looking for someone of a similar description who had an outstanding warrant. When they asked to check Green's details he panicked and ran off.

Link
 
Two additional meth suspects captured

(KIRKSVILLE) Two meth suspects on the loose are now behind bars.

The Adair County Sheriff's Department arrested 20-year-old William "Billy" Lewis of Kirksville and 20-year-old Lexis Lewis of Kirksville just after 6 p.m. Tuesday on a county gravel road.

Authorities had been searching for the pair since Thursday when three others were taken into custody in connection with a meth bust on Motter Hill Road that turned up an active meth lab, drugs, drug paraphernalia and other evidence.

Both Billy and Lexis Lewis are charged with conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine. Investigators tell KTVO other charges are pending.

The two were spotted by an attentive motorist who saw them fighting on the front lawn of a residence Tuesday evening.

Timothy Atterbery of Kirksville recognized Billy Lewis and contacted the authorities.

The other three suspects already in custody in this case are 42-year-old Robert Pettibone of Kirksville, 42-year-old Jerry Mahurin of Kirksville and 44-year-old James Butler of Unionville, Missouri. All three face a charge of conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine.

http://www.ktvotv3.com/Global/story.asp?S=5616416&nav=1LFs
 
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