The Mega Merged Drug Busts Thread

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Sydney, Australia

Sydney crime syndicate disrupted - South East Asian Crime Squad
16 February 2007

An alleged organised crime syndicate in Sydney has been disrupted by a strike force led by the South East Asian Crime Squad.

Strike Force Whitbeck was established in September last year with assistance from Burwood Local Area Command to investigate the alleged supply of prohibited drugs in north-western Sydney.

As a result of extensive inquiries, detectives raided a garage in Brown Street, Chatswood, about 6pm Wednesday where they allegedly seized more than four kilograms of cocaine, seven kilograms of MDMA (ecstasy) tablets and two kilograms of methylamphetamine.

The drugs have a combined estimated potential street value of more than $1.2 million.

Two pistols, a silencer, automatic rifle, tazer gun, ammunition, steroids and a large amount of cash were also seized. A 23-year-old man was arrested at the scene and is currently before the courts.

Inquiries are continuing.

NSW Police Media Unit
 
Anaheim, CA

Anaheim bust breaks brown heroin record
Drug enforcement officials say the seizure is the largest of its kind in California history. Six suspects, four from Mexico, are arrested.
BY CINDY CARCAMO, ERIK ORTIZ, DENISSE SALAZAR AND MADIA JAVID-YAZDI
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

ANAHEIM – The working-class neighborhood near Anaheim Plaza was once known for drug dealing and crime.

It was a place where out-of-town buyers and out-of-state dealers did business on a regular basis during the '70s and '80s.

In the past two decades, however, the neighbors and the city had worked to clean it up.

Drug dealing still took place from time to time. It was no surprise Friday to neighbors who heard about a recent drug seizure.

But they were taken aback after hearing that the Wednesday bust at a home in the 1400 block of Chevy Chase Drive found enough Mexican brown heroin to make it the largest seizure of its kind in California history.

Federal and drug officials confiscated 121 pounds of heroin, 34 pounds of marijuana and 3 pounds of what is believed to be methamphetamine, along with $3,500 in cash stuffed inside closets and cabinets in the home and garage.

Agents arrested four Mexican nationals and two Anaheim women.

Four boys and a girl, all 10 and younger, were also at the home. They are now with child protective services.

The heroin alone would have been worth as much as $6 million on the street, officials announced Friday in a news conference.

The heroin would have provided 700,000 doses ready to be injected.

"This would've been out in the street affecting 700,000 people," said William J. Hayes, assistant special agent in charge for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "You can see the significant impact this would've had."

Officials said they didn't disclose the information about the drug bust earlier because they believed it would jeopardize their investigation.

It started Wednesday afternoon when a suspicious-looking vehicle tipped off border agents, officials said. Agents later determined the vehicle carried five bundles of heroin.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents alerted immigration enforcement agents, who followed the vehicle from the border to the Anaheim home and joined U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents and Anaheim and Irvine police to raid the home.

The children at the home were sleeping when officials made the bust.

An Anaheim police helicopter hovered above the home as agents, some with dogs, handcuffed the suspects and searched the home.

Police arrested Luis Alcantar-Zepeda, 28; Jose Casares-Macias, 22; Rosendo Churape-Cardenas, 37; and Jairo Ortiz-Diaz, 26, all of Michoacán, Mexico, officials said.

The children's mothers, Rosa Soto, 26, and Jacqueline Pimentel, 31, both of Anaheim, were also arrested, officials said.

The relationships between the women and the men are unclear, officials said. All face felony possession with intent to distribute charges and could get life in prison sentences, if convicted.

"These people were significant players in this organization," Hayes said.

It's unclear, however, how large the organization is and whether it has links to any large Mexican drug cartels.

Agents are investigating whether the organization had links to Michoacán, where all of the male suspects are from.

The heroin's purity is also unclear, and the drug will undergo testing that will ultimately determine its potency and even the origins of the poppies from which it was produced.

Investigators say the material that is believed to be methamphetamine crossed the border already packaged. Officials have seen a trend of packaged methamphetamine coming from south of the border, where ingredients, such as ephedrine, are easier to obtain than they are in the U.S., which has laws restricting sales of potential ingredients.

Local officials said they didn't recognize the branding on the packaging – a smiling sun with rays. Some organizations have used devils and stars in the past.

"I can tell you there's more than six people involved in this," Hayes said. "This is obviously a major investigation."

On Friday, neighbors recalled the bad days of crime and drug dealing. Since then, the neighborhood went quiet, they said. Anaheim police said they have received only 25 calls for service since 2005.

Neighbors said they didn't know the men who lived at the house. They were the latest tenants of the one-story rental home, they added.

Alicia Martinez, a 20-year Chevy Chase Drive resident who lives next door to the home, said she warned the owner last year that she was suspicious about the tenants going in and out of the house.

They had used newspapers to cover the front windows, she said.

"I told the owner there's something weird going on in there," Martinez said.

http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/homepage/abox/article_1582975.php
 
Melbourne, AUS

Whopper crop from tip to cops
Shannon McRae and Paul Anderson
February 28, 2007 12:00am

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POLICE have uncovered a large hydroponic cannabis crop in the quiet leafy suburb of Balwyn North.
The police raid, carried out by armed detectives from Boroondara, was the result of a tip-off.

Cascade St residents noticed unusual activity at the house and alerted police to what turned out to be a sophisticated cannabis operation.

"These were premises where it appeared nobody was living but there were people coming and going at odd times of the day and night," Det Sen-Sgt Campbell Mill said.

Police swooped on the brick-veneer rental about 8.30am yesterday.

They found almost 80 cannabis plants, some growing to head height, on the property.

Detectives found a man asleep on a mattress surrounded by the plants.

The number of plants allowed no room for any furniture in the home, only the mattress.

Each room is said to have been filled with cannabis plants.

Detectives took several hours to remove them.

"It took them hours to empty the house," one witness said.

"Everything was laid out on the front lawn as they logged each piece of evidence. Some of the plants were more than 1m high and some were smaller and just coming on."

One witness said that when police went in he could smell a strong cannabis odour emanating from the house.

A witness said a sports car and taxis visited the home at odd hours.

A man, 21, was arrested and charged with cultivating, possessing and trafficking cannabis, as well as theft of power.

He appeared briefly at Melbourne Magistrates' Court yesterday afternoon and was remanded to reappear next month.

Herald Sun
 
Australian Customs media release
Tuesday, 27th February 2007

Alleged internal courier stopped at Sydney Airport -
Joint media release - Australian Customs Service and the Australian Federal Police


A Cabramatta man appeared in court this morning charged with importing heroin following a joint Customs and Australian Federal Police (AFP) operation.

The 43-year-old man was stopped by Customs officers yesterday at Sydney International Airport for a baggage examination after arriving on a flight from Vietnam.
During this examination, officers became suspicious that the man may have been concealing drugs internally.

He was referred to the AFP where he was taken to hospital for a medical examination. He was found to have concealed four pellets containing over 140 grams of a white powder.

The AFP will allege in court that the powder initially tested positive for heroin. AFP agents charged the man with importing a marketable quantity of a border controlled drug under section 307.2(1) of the Criminal Code Act 1995.

The man was remanded in custody and will reappear in Sydney Central Local Court on Wednesday, 11 April 2007.

The maximum penalty for this offence is a fine of $550,000 and/or 25 years imprisonment.

Aus Customs
 
Sydney, Australia

Soldiers charged over drug sting
March 02, 2007 06:03am

TWO Australian Defence Force soldiers will appear in court today charged with selling large amounts of ecstasy tablets to undercover police officers in Sydney's southwest.

A 23-year-old soldier based at Holsworthy was allegedly caught selling 500 ecstasy tablets, with an estimated street value of $25,000, yesterday.

Another soldier, 26, also based at Holsworthy, was arrested a short time later as he arrived home.

Police then executed search warrants at the soldier's nearby homes and allegedly seized a quantity of illegal drugs and a large amount of cash.

The arrests follow the three-month-long Operation Icecap by undercover police.

Both men were charged with numerous offences including commercial supply and ongoing supply of a prohibited drug.

The pair will appear in Liverpool Local Court today.

News.com.au
 
New indictments for fentanyl sales

By Jeff Coen
Published March 1, 2007, 9:16 PM CST

Fentanyl produced at a clandestine Mexican lab made its way into the hands of the Mickey Cobras street gang and killed drug customers, federal prosecutors said Thursday.

Seven gang members have been blamed for five deaths linked to the painkiller, which was mixed with heroin and sold at Chicago public housing complexes, authorities said.

It is the first time authorities have linked Chicago drug sales —responsible for more than 250 deaths in the city last year—to the illicit lab, which was shut down last year in Toluca. The allegations came in the form of two superseding indictments unsealed Thursday in drug conspiracy cases.

Thirteen people were indicted in connection with the Mexican ring, prosecutors said. Six of them, including ringleader Felixito Vidana-Aispuro, are awaiting extradition.

The second indictment deals with the Chicago end of the pipeline. Seven Mickey Cobras, including the gang's alleged leader, "King" James Austin, or "Jaymo," were blamed for the fentanyl deaths of at least five people. That could mean a mandatory life sentence if some members are convicted, Assistant U.S. Atty. Jake Ryan said.

Federal prosecutors last year had charged 47 gang members and associates in a sweeping complaint that accused the Mickey Cobras of selling heroin and fentanyl at the Dearborn Homes complex. Some of the drug cocktail had been branded in what prosecutors described as cold-blooded street marketing with names such as "Reaper" and "Lethal Injection."

Assistant U.S. Atty. Terra Brown, who is prosecuting members of the Mexican network, said the new indictments establish the connection between those in her case and the city's case.

"Fentanyl was in fact being distributed to customers in the Chicago area, and in turn they were distributing wholesale quantities to the Mickey Cobras and their associates," Brown said.

Frank Limon, chief of the Chicago Police Department's organized crime division, said the cases show his department's collaboration with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration is working.

"Today's indictment reached across our borders to Mexico and indicted the alleged head of a drug trafficking organization," Limon said. "This shows what can be accomplished when federal and local agencies combine their efforts."

According to one of the new indictments, the Mexican organization in 2003 established a front company named Distribuidora Talios to order the chemicals used for making fentanyl, authorities said.

Officials last year said the industrial park lab was capable of producing millions of doses of the powerful drug. It was discovered May 21. Mexican authorities who shut it down reported finding a climate-controlled room stocked with tools and chemicals.

Large quantities of the finished drug were given to alleged ring members Guadalupe Moreno-Soto and Jesus Mario Fajardo-Trujillo to be distributed in Chicago and Detroit, which has endured its own string of overdose deaths, the indictments state. Some of the drugs went through Lutgardo Chavez Jr. in Chicago and on to defendants Isaiah Coleman and Jimmy Darden, who distributed them to the Mickey Cobras, the indictments state.

Chavez Jr., Coleman, Darden and two others pleaded not guilty in Chicago Thursday, as did James Austin and other alleged gang members charged after the fentanyl fatalities.

Last year a Chicago man became the first person in Illinois to be charged in connection with a fentanyl-related death. Corey Crump, 35, an alleged gang member, was charged with drug-induced homicide for selling the drugs to Joseph Krecker, 17, the son of a suburban deputy police chief.

Tribune staff reporter David Heinzmann contributed this report.
Click to expand...

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There has been a lot of talk about fentanyl-related deaths throughout the Chicago-land area within the past few months. Personally, I'm very pleased that (now, hopefully) less people will buy Chicago street - told it's heroin and unknowingly ingest fentanyl.

I've read on other news sources that for the past few months this has been a growing problem all along the east coast as well. Perhaps this will lead to less distribution of fent-laced heroin in that region as well?
 
AmorRoark said:
I've read on other news sources that for the past few months this has been a growing problem all along the east coast as well. Perhaps this will lead to less distribution of fent-laced heroin in that region as well?
Click to expand...
Why? I see it leading to more awareness of potentially lethal opiate concentrations, but isn't fentanyl just starting to be made illicitly on a major scale? If I'm properly understanding some of the things i've read, once clandestine production of it becomes more widespread, it's never going away
 
Sydney, Australia

Cannabis worth $370,000 seized during raids
March 7, 2007 - 6:12AM

Police have seized nearly 200 cannabis plants worth $370,000 in raids on two houses in Sydney's southwest.

Officers conducted simultaneous raids on two houses on Montgomery Road at Bonnyrigg and Chadwick Street, Fairfield West, yesterday.

Inside both homes police found cannabis growing in hydroponic set-ups.

Police arrested a 39-year-old man at the second house and charged him with cultivate a commercial supply of a prohibited drug, possess a commercial quantity of a prohibited plant and divert electricity without authority.

He will appear at Bankstown Local Court later today.

Police investigations are continuing.

SMH
 
Adelaide, Australia

Pair charged with using child as drug courier
March 06, 2007 05:07pm

A MAN and woman have been charged with using a child to traffic drugs - a first under new federal laws introduced two years ago.

Australian Federal Police today arrested a man and woman in Adelaide for allegedly attempting to traffic marijuana between South Australia and eastern states in January.

Two houses in Adelaide's northern suburbs of Parafield Gardens and Modbury were raided today.

About 700g of cannabis with a street value of $4000 was seized from the properties, police said.

A 58-year-old man and a 30-year-old woman, both from Parafield Gardens, have been charged.

Police will allege the two organised for another man to courier an unspecified amount of cannabis out of Adelaide Airport on January 12.

A week later, the couple allegedly arranged for a 17-year-old to take another parcel of drugs out through Adelaide airport, bound for eastern states.

The pair were charged with trafficking a controlled drug, procuring a person to traffic a controlled drug and procuring a child to traffic a controlled drug.

Each could face up to 25 years in jail.

AFP border and international network national manager Tim Morris said the charges laid today were the first under new laws introduced in May 2005.

The man and woman will appear in court at a later date.

The Advertiser
 
Central Victoria, Australia

11 arrested in drug swoop
March 07, 2007 12:00am
Article from: AAP

ELEVEN people are facing drugs related charges after a series of early morning raids in central Victoria today.

Four women and seven men were arrested after police swooped on eight properties in the Bendigo area about 6.25am (AEDT), police say.

Amphetamines and cannabis were seized, together with a Hyundai sedan and related car parts, a laptop computer, power tools, imitation pistols and mobile phones.

The 11 people arrested face multiple charges including trafficking and possessing amphetamines, cultivating cannabis, dealing with the proceeds of crime, theft of a motor car and firearm offences.

The arrests were part of Operation Yentes, an investigation which has been running in the Bendigo area since late 2006.

AAP

Herald Sun
 
Sydney, Australia

Man, woman charged for drug offences
March 8, 2007 - 6:34AM

A man and woman have been charged with drug offences after police found about $44,000 cash and a bag of white powder in a car in Sydney's west.

Police discovered the cash and drugs in a black Holden utility they pulled over for a traffic infringement about 1.50am (AEDT) on Wednesday.

A 44-year-old Smeaton Grange man was arrested and charged with supply a prohibited drug and two counts of possess a prohibited drug.

A 29-year-old Kings Cross woman was arrested and charged with drug offences, including possess and supply a prohibited drug as well as goods in custody.

Both appeared in Blacktown Local Court and were granted conditional bail to face the same court on April 19.

SMH
 
Brisbane, Australia

False side of suitcase hides 2kg ephedrine
Friday, 9th March 2007
Joint media release - Australian Customs Service and the Australian Federal Police

A Malaysian woman will appear in Brisbane Magistrates Court this morning charged with importing about two kilograms of the precursor chemical, ephedrine.

Customs officers stopped and questioned the 40-year-old woman when she arrived at Brisbane International Airport on a flight from Kuala Lampur last night (8 March 2007). An x-ray of her bag revealed a possible concealment.

When Customs officers drilled the side of the suitcase, a white powder was found. A field test of the powder allegedly tested positive for ephedrine.

On closer examination, officers allegedly found about two kilograms of ephedrine concealed in the side and bottom of the suitcase.

Ephedrine is prohibited precursor chemical that can be converted from its legitimate use to produce amphetamine-type substances, such as methamphetamine.

The woman was arrested by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and charged with attempting to import a commercial quantity of a border-controlled precursor under the Criminal Code Act 1995.

The maximum penalty for an offence of this type is 25 years imprisonment and/or a fine
of $550,000.

Customs Media Release
 
Brisbane, Australia

Fake note' sparks drug arrests
March 10, 2007 01:32pm

A PIZZA bought with an allegedly counterfeit note has led to the arrest of seven people in Brisbane.

A woman bought the pizza at Toowong on Thursday and the store owner notified police of the alleged false currency.

Police searched an apartment where the woman is believed to have been staying on Patricks Lane, Toowong, at 9am (AEST) yesterday and found methylamphetamines, ecstasy tablets, counterfeit Australian currency and a firearm, it is alleged.

Police also searched a vehicle at the apartment and found it to have false registration plates.

Methylamphetamines and ecstasy tablets were found inside the car, it is alleged.

Two men, aged 35 and 20, and a 20-year-old woman will appear in the Brisbane Magistrates Court today on charges including drug trafficking, possessing dangerous drugs, supplying dangerous drugs, possessing a concealable firearm and possessing counterfeit currency.

Notices to appear were issued to a 32-year-old man and two women, aged 18 and 20, for fraud, possessing counterfeit currency, possessing dangerous drugs and utensils.

Another man was issued with a drug diversion.

News.com.au
 
Margaret River, Western Australia

Two men charged after cannabis seizure
March 13, 2007 11:00am

TWO men have been charged after police seized more than a tonne of cannabis being grown in state forests in Western Australia's southwest.

Police said they discovered the cannabis, worth an estimated $1 million, at 15 different locations in state forests around Nannup, Augusta and Margaret River.

Police used a helicopter to locate the crops between last Wednesday and Friday.

Police have charged a 52-year-old Nannup man with cultivating cannabis with intent to sell or supply and possess cannabis with intent to sell or supply.

He will face the Busselton Magistrates Court on March 27.

A 48-year-old man, also of Nannup, was charged with cultivating a prohibited plant.

He will appear in the same court on May 2.

News.com.au
 
QLD, Australia

Police seize drugs, cash in raid
March 13, 2007 04:31pm

POLICE seized tens of thousands of dollars worth of drugs and cash in raids today centred on the north Queensland city of Mackay.

Almost 30 search warrants were executed by police this morning - most of them in Mackay - netting more than $40,000 worth of drugs.

Two searches were carried out at Gold Coast addresses as part of the large-scale operation.

The raids turned up a variety of drugs, including methylamphetamine with a street value of more than $40,000, and $17,000 in cash.

Computers and electrical goods were also seized.

Six men and six women have been charged with 51 offences including trafficking, supply and possession of dangerous drugs and will face Mackay Magistrates Court during the next month.

State Drug Investigation Unit Detective Inspector Marty Mickelson said the investigation had targeted drug networks supplying local communities.

Police will continue operations to stop the development of drug networks in central Queensland, he said.

More charges may be laid as a result of follow-up investigations after today's raids.

News.com.au
 
Sydney, Australia

Cannabis plants worth more than $1 million seized — Concord
15 March 2007

Two men have been charged and police have seized more than $1 million of cannabis following a raid on a Concord home overnight.

As a result of information received, police attended a home in Turner Avenue about 2pm yesterday.

A search warrant was subsequently executed and in excess of 300 cannabis plants, as well as more than 100kg of cannabis leaf, were seized by police. The cannabis has an estimated potential street value of more than $1 million.

A 23-year-old man was arrested in the backyard of a Bradden Avenue home following a short foot pursuit and taken to Burwood Police Station. The Glebe man was charged overnight with:

• cultivating a commercial quantity of a prohibited plant
• possession of a prohibited drug
• use, consume, divert electricity, and
• supply commercial quantity of a prohibited drug.

Meanwhile, a 28-year-old Concord man was located underneath the house by police and subsequently arrested. The man was charged with:

• cultivating a commercial quantity of a prohibited plant
• possess prohibited drug
• use, consume, divert electricity
• supply commercial quantity of a prohibited drug

Both men have been refused bail and are expected to appear in Burwood Local Court today.

Detectives from the Burwood Local Area Command are continuing their inquiries. Forensic experts are expected to return to the house this morning to carry out further inquiries at the scene.

NSW Police Media Unit
 
Sydney, Australia

Drugs discovered in duffle bags at Sydney Airport
Wednesday, 14th March 2007
Joint media release - Australian Customs and the Australian Federal Police

Customs and Australian Federal Police (AFP) officers at Sydney International Airport have stopped an alleged attempt to import approximately half a kilo of heroin into the country.

A 20-year-old man from Woollooware and a 32-year-old woman from Sydney City were stopped by Customs officers when they arrived on a flight from Bangkok yesterday morning.

During a search of their baggage officers became suspicious of duffle bags being carried by the man and woman.

An x-ray of the luggage revealed a possible concealment of narcotics in the bottom of both bags. A Customs Detector Dog also reacted positively to the bags.

Customs officers drilled one of the bags, and discovered a white powder. A field test indicated the presence of heroin.

The man and woman were referred to the AFP who charged them with importing a marketable quantity of a border-controlled drug under the provisions of the Criminal Code Act 1995.

Both passengers will appear in Sydney's Central Local Court this morning. The estimated total weight of the drugs is yet to be determined by the AFP, but believed to be approximately 500 grams.

The maximum penalty for this offence is $550,000 fine and/or 25 years imprisonment.

Customs Media Release
 
Sydney, Australia

Massive steroid seizure in Sydney
Thursday, 15th March 2007

Customs officers in Sydney have seized about 80 kilograms of what is believed to be performance and image enhancing drugs (PIEDs) in one of the biggest ever detections of the substances.

The investigation began on 3 March when Customs officers working at the Sydney Container Examination Facility examined a consignment of 24 cardboard drums from China.

The 24 drums contained about 40kg of white powder which allegedly tested positive for testosterone and nandrolene.

Both are considered performance and image enhancing drugs and cannot be imported without a permit from the Therapeutic Goods Administration.

As a result of the detection, Customs and NSW Police officers executed search and seizure warrants on five properties in the Rockdale, Ramsgate and Double Bay areas on Tuesday 13 March and Wednesday 14 March.

A further 40kg of white powder was seized by Customs. A preliminary field test of the powder tested positive for steroids.

Customs Acting National Manager, Doug Nicoll, said that this was one of the biggest ever seizures by Customs of performance and image enhancing drugs.

"The steroids seized have an estimated street value of in excess of $5 million," Mr Nicoll said.

"Customs continues to be vigilant in detecting and seizing performance and image enhancing drugs."

While Customs investigations into the importation are continuing, several men have been questioned.

The maximum penalty for importing performance and image enhancing drugs is a fine of $110,000 and/or five years imprisonment.

Customs Media Release
 
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