The Mega Merged Drug Busts Thread

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UK - Sheffield - Drug money laundering gang jailed

A Jamaican drugs gang who laundered more than £1m in drugs money through a newsagent's shop have been jailed.

BBC News

Ten gang members were sentenced to a total of just over 26 years for their part in the scam in Sheffield.

Rajia Iqbal, 43, who ran Spital Hill News in Spital Hill, Sheffield, was jailed for 11 years for laundering the cash on behalf of the drugs barons.

Iqbal was found guilty at Sheffield Crown Court of conspiracy to launder money in the crime involving his shop.

Judge Patrick Robertshaw said the men were guilty of "offending on a massive scale" and had brought misery to many.

'Calculated and chronic'

He told Iqbal: "You were the lynchpin. Without your agency this could not have happened.

"Your breach of the responsibility for which you were entrusted was flagrant, calculated and chronic.

"Is it possible to envisage a worse case? It is, but only just."

The court heard funds from the sale of drugs were sent via money transfer to relatives of the gang in Jamaica, where it funded a lavish lifestyle.

Iqbal had allowed more than 1,500 payments to go to Jamaica through the money transfer service he operated from his newsagents.

'Message to criminals'

Among the others sentenced on Thursday were 35-year-old drug dealer Carl Hinds who was jailed for eight years for money laundering and drugs supply offences.

Richard Blake, 28, received a five-year sentence for similar offences.

Det Insp Andy Bishop, who was involved in the five-year police investigation, said: "This sends a message to Jamaican criminals coming across here to take wealth out of the country through drug dealing that we are prepared to pursue them not only locally but internationally as well."




A Jamaican drugs gang who laundered more than £1m in drugs money through a newsagent's shop have been jailed.....

Please follow the thread Guidelines. You included links to two different articles, so I only posted the first one.
 
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2nd Major Drug Seizure in 2 Days

Clayton County police officers found a half-million dollars worth of cocaine at a shipping company on Tuesday. On Wednesday, investigators found millions worth of cocaine at another shipping company.

Two days in a row, police stopped the cocaine shipments at the company that was paid to ship it. On Tuesday, it was a full crate of cocaine -- 167 kilos, almost 400 pounds worth, sniffed out by a K-9 unit at a shipping company in College Park. The next day, another cocaine bust at another shipping company.

"One of the delivery services in Forest Park called, saying they suspected two packages might contain drugs," said Clayton County Police Deputy "Chief Tim Robinson. "Our uniformed officers went to that location, brought in one of our canines, who alerted on that package."

The results this time -- six kilos of cocaine snared.

Hartsfield-Jackson moves more freight than anyone else anywhere in the world. That, they said, attracts business of all kinds.

Large shipping companies like FedEx, DHL, UPS, have been used to move the illegal product in and out of Atlanta. It was an employee at the company who became suspicious -- possibly because of the prior cocaine bust, and called police.

Link!
 
Dutch police seize huge cocaine shipment, arrest 3 suspects
The AP

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands: Dutch authorities seized 1,674 kilograms (3,690 pounds) of cocaine concealed in a shipping container filled with coffee from Costa Rica, officials said Friday.

The drugs were detected by a sniffer dog two weeks ago, and the transport was allowed to proceed from the Port of Rotterdam to its destination in the southern city of Weert, authorities said.

Three men — aged 25, 40 and 59 — were arrested earlier this week in connection with the investigation, the national public prosecutor's office said in a statement, without identifying the suspects by name.

The cocaine, which had an estimated street value of around €80 million (US$110 million), was destroyed, the statement said.

The bust announced Friday was unusually large, but not the largest or most valuable in Dutch history. In September 2005, customs officials at Rotterdam seized 4,600 kilograms (10,000 pounds) of cocaine hidden inside massive reels of steel cable on a ship from Venezuela.

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Spain seizes 3.2 metric tons of cocaine in high-seas raid
The AP

MADRID, Spain: Spanish authorities have seized 3.2 metric tons (3.5 US tons) of cocaine from a wooden fishing boat in a high-seas raid in the Atlantic, officials said Friday.

The drugs were confiscated Tuesday in international waters 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) from the Canary Islands and had a street value of €190 million (US$270 million), said the government's Tax Agency. It is in charge of customs and contraband and has its own flotilla of ships and helicopters to fight drug trafficking.

It was the agency's fourth raid this year that netted more than 3 metric tons (3.3 U.S. tons) of cocaine, the agency said in a statement.

The 20-meter (66-foot) boat was Venezuelan-flagged and its crew of six Venezuelans and one Ecuadorean were arrested without resistance.

Spain is Europe's main conduit for cocaine smuggled from Latin America.

The agency said that, so far this year, it has seized 115 metric tons (127 U.S. tons) of hashish and 20 metric tons (22 U.S. tons) of cocaine.

Link!
 
hmm, are these major coke busts because the kingpin of norte del valley just went down? Seems like some heavy seizures in a short time period!
 
Ah, it could just be them testing unfamiliar waters and messing around bigger in other areas! Although, in regards to the linked post, I disagree that they're gonna move product away from here to europe - I think they'll just make more coke. Just because they can get 25% more over there doesn't mean they don't still make ridiculous bank satisfying american demand. More markets = more cocaine production, not starving some markets to feed others. As long as there's customers willing to pay in the US, and pay more than what it costs to produce/process/transport to the end buyer (which will never happen lol!), they will still want to work with us. Thankfully for all ya'll who actually like coke!

medicine cabinet said:
^yea those are some big hauls....who cares if all the coke gets stopped anyways, coke sucks lol....give me some heroin.
Click to expand...
I care! I wouldn't want to see my fellow citizens denied their drug of choice! Just like I'd hope they wouldn't want to see me deprived my drugs of choice! But of course they do want to see that, otherwise I'd have some opiates in my system lol!!!
 
Drug bug bust

"Drug bug bust

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands | As drug mules, bugs don’t carry much. And they didn’t get by customs in the Netherlands.

A customs officer who took a close look at a consignment of more than 100 large dead bugs sent from Peru to the Netherlands discovered cocaine in their backs.

“It looked like they were cut open, the drugs hidden in their backs, and then they were glued back together again,” said customs spokesman Kees Nanninga.

The insects held only about 10 ounces of cocaine, worth about $11,000, Nanninga said."

It's from the AP.^^^
http://www.kansascity.com/news/nation/story/304060.html

fucking weird huh? makes you think twice before you put that shit up your nose or in your vein.
 
Heroin seizure in city is a record

By Vernon Clark
Philadelphia Inquirer

A savvy Northeast drug ring had 8.4 pounds worth $1.4 million, police said. Four raids led to two arrests.

Philadelphia police said yesterday that they had seized a record amount of heroin, some brought to the city in the soles of shoes, and shut down a sophisticated drug ring in the Northeast.

Officers confiscated 8.4 pounds of heroin, with a street value of $1.4 million, in raids on four homes Wednesday, Capt. Chris Werner said at the police narcotics division in Hunting Park.

"This is the largest seizure of heroin in the city," he said.

On a table in front of Werner were a plastic food-storage bag filled with brown powered heroin and two bags with about 11/2 inches of compressed heroin in the shape of a shoe. It and similar parcels likely were transported in someone's shoes, Werner said.

Two other bags contained hundreds of glassine packets stamped with "The Wire" and "Push." A .40-caliber handgun was also confiscated, Warner said.

Search warrants were served at 7158 Bustleton Ave., 230 W. Sheldon St., 5263 Montour St., 3836 J St., and two vehicles, Werner said.

In 2003, police confiscated 7.7 pounds of heroin during an investigation in the Northeast.

Arrested Wednesday were Juan Severino, 29, a Dominican national who lives in the 5200 block of Montour Street, and Robert Rosario, 35, of the 600 block of Brill Street.

Other arrests are likely in the continuing investigation, Werner said.

He said police thought the drugs had come from Puerto Rico.

"It was a rather sophisticated operation where the heroin was stored in different locations around the city," Werner said.

Werner then displayed a mechanical device - a black metal unit the size of a shoe box - that he said had been used to operate secret compartments inside the homes. He said the device could be triggered by a remote control or another type of switch.

Werner said the work of narcotics investigators Richard Wertz and Brian Myers had been crucial to the case.

Narcotics field-unit officers identified a heroin distribution network that supplied the Kensington and Lower Northeast sections of the city, and undercover officers made four buys of heroin before the raids, Werner said.

The information in the case will be presented to the U.S. Attorney's Office, he said.

Asked how long the ring had operated, Werner said he was not sure.

"That's a significant amount of heroin to bring into any city," he said. "They didn't do that overnight."

Link!
 
They got popped with 3.8keys.

Someone fucked up and either sold the UC cop weight or informed him about upper level business. Dickheads.

Two things stick out though.

1. Packaging of the heroin in soles. It's not the first time this is seen, but it's rarer than the typical swallowed packets.

2. Location of the mills. Typically, the mills were located in the shittier neighborhoods. These mills were in the near NE. Locating them in the shittier neighborhoods allows for shorter driving times needed for distribution, as the majority of the heroin is sold in North Philly. But, putting them in the NE, evades detection. Every corner junkie won't know that "that's the stash/mill house."

This is certainly not a new trend. The upper level dealers have been slowly moving farther away from the badlands for years, if not decades.
 
^damn man, thats a pitty....that much dope off the street. i would think the dope was still uncut at that point if it was still in the shape of a shoe insole. i wonder what the purity % on it was...while this is a pretty big bust, its not going to do a damn thing in the long run. this will probably inconvience a bunch of ppl, but in a nother few weeks their operation will be back on.

bags called the wire, i bet those were pretty good haha....yeaaa bmore
 
Gonna be some sick folks in the town

Authorities stage drug raids in Oakland
Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

(10-24) 08:50 PDT OAKLAND --

Law enforcement officials raided numerous locations in Oakland today as part of a multi-agency investigation into heroin trafficking, authorities said.

The citywide busts occurred at 6 a.m. and involved Oakland police officers, Alameda County sheriff's deputies and agents with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration and the FBI.

San Francisco police and Internal Revenue Service agents also were involved, said Officer Roland Holmgren, an Oakland police spokesman.

The raids focused on a tar heroin trafficking organization based in the Central Valley with distribution cells in Oakland and elsewhere in the Bay Area, Holmgren said. The group had the capacity to distribute between to 50 and 100 pounds of tar heroin a month, police said.

Officials plan to release more details at a news conference this afternoon.


E-mail Henry K. Lee at [email protected].

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/10/24/BARMSVCR2.DTL
 
related article

Mexican heroin gang targeted in 26 Oakland raids
By Harry Harris, Staff Writer
Article Last Updated: 10/24/2007 09:29:39 AM PDT


Oakland police, state and federal officers fanned out across Oakland this morning, conducting 26 raids beginning at 6 a.m. aimed at shutting down a large Bay Area Mexican heroin smuggling ring.
There were also raids and warrants served in many other localities, includng Hayward, San Leandro, Tracy, Pittsburg and Vallejo. There were numerous arrests and at least two pounds of heroin seized, police said.

The drug gang was described as a major drug ring that brought heroin from Mexico into the Central Valley and distributed it throughout California.

Agencies participating included the Oakland Police, the San Francisco Police, federal Drug Enforcement Agency and Internal Revenue Service agents and investigators from the state Department of Justice.

Oakland police spokesman Roland Holmgren said that what began as a routine drug operation became a major series of raids.

"They got one door open," Holmgren said. "It led to more and it turned out the amount of (heroin) business being conducted was pretty significant," Holmgren said. He was unsure how many arrests have occurred, but some of the suspects being sought have been indicted by federal grand juries.

No one was hurt in the Oakland raids, he said. More information will be available at a press conference scheduled for 3 p.m. this afternoon by Oakland police.

http://www.insidebayarea.com/localnews/ci_7267562
 
RCMP dismantle huge ecstasy lab

RCMP dismantle huge ecstasy lab

Stock possibly worth up to $40 million found in northeast Toronto home

Oct 20, 2007 09:19 PM
Amy Fuller, Joanna Smith and Josh Wingrove
Staff Reporters

An ecstasy lab was found today in the garage of the same house where Toronto police discovered a marijuana grow-op last year.

Officers seized about 2 million units of ecstasy from what they said was a pill-pressing lab on Pipers Green Rd., in the Brimley Rd. and Finch Ave. E. area, around 1 p.m. today.

“This is the end of the production line,” said Insp. Rick Penney, the officer in charge of operations for the RCMP’s GTA drug squad. “The next step is in the mouth.”

Penney would not say how much the pills were worth but since the drugs can sell for $20 a unit, the seizure could be worth up to $40 million on the street.

The driveway was lined with cardboard boxes and plastic bags filled with ecstasy tablets and powder while officers dressed in white suits sorted through the lit garage.

RCMP Supt. Ron Allen said officers raided the premises following a bust in a car they stopped as part of an ongoing investigation on Friday night. Three adult men were arrested in connection with the van bust, police said.

Soon after pulling over the car, investigators surrounded the home, which police said was also a former marijuana grow-op. Officers entered with a warrant around noon today, where they found the large ecstasy lab and two more men were arrested at the house. The ecstasy was likely headed for the United States, Allen said.

“It wasn’t something that we happened to dance across. It was an ongoing investigation,” said Allen, head of the Toronto Drug Section.

While stopping short of confirming it as the largest drug bust in Toronto history, Sgt. Brent Hill, commander of the RCMP chemical diversion unit, said last night: “It’s on the top shelf of large drug busts.”

RCMP Clandestine Laboratory Team investigators are sorting through the volatile contents of the house this weekend, under supervision from Health Canada officials. One nearby house has been evacuated this weekend as a precaution, said RCMP Insp. Rick Penney, who is leading the on-site investigation.

The house was busted as a marijuana grow-op in May 2006. “The pots from the grow-op are still on the side of the house,” Penney said at the scene.

The house still belongs to the person who owned it during the previous bust but it was being rented out and police said they have no indication if the owner is involved at this point. Neighbours reported seeing people going in and out of the house, but said no family lived there.

Tracey Wilson was watching the action from behind yellow police tape down the street, where she was out walking her dog last night. She remembers being surprised by last year’s drug bust, so she said she felt very “strange” this time around.

“It’s very nice here,” she said. “You’d never know this was going to happen.”

Toronto residents Yan Shi, 31, Wei Qion Ma, 29, Yao Quan Jian, 20, and Shu Qiang Wu, 37, face drug charges. New York resident Wan Shan Ling, 50, was also charged.

http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/268808

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11 tons of cocaine seized in Mexico
Press TV


Mexican officials have seized over 11 tons of cocaine at a port on the country's Pacific coast, one of the largest-ever hauls in Mexico.

Police discovered the narcotics, the second major haul this month, on board a Hong Kong-flagged container ship from Colombia at the Manzanillo port in Colima state.

Mexican authorities seized at least 10 tons of cocaine earlier this month in a town on the nation's Atlantic coast.

Last month, a privately-owned jet with some four tons of cocaine aboard crashed into a southern Mexican jungle, considered to have been forced to crash-land by the army, according to reports.

Over 2,000 people have been killed this year in violence involving rival drug gangs and the government.

ABZ/FH

Link!
 
4 plead guilty to cocaine conspiracy

4 plead guilty to cocaine conspiracy
KITTY CAPARELLA
Philadelphia Daily News
11/21/07


Four co-defendants of onetime Philly hip-hop kingmaker Omar Teagle pleaded guilty this week to conspiracy to distribute 210 kilograms of Mexican cocaine - worth up to $40 million in street sales - from New York to Maryland.

In separate hearings yesterday, Ramon Alburg, of Crofton, Md., and Donnell Ball, 34, and George Rodgers, 36, both of Philadelphia, entered guilty pleas before U.S. District Judge R. Barkley Surrick - as did Raoul Alburg, of Somerset, N.J., on Monday.

Only Teagle, 34, who operated a South Street-area recording studio and hip-hop clothing store, and co-defendant Roland Alburg, 37, are left to face the music.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Curtis Douglas said that Teagle, a West Philadelphia native now living in Townsend, Del., is expected to plead guilty to the same charges in mid-December after his New York attorney finishes an unrelated trial.

And on Nov. 29, Roland Alburg, of Holtsville, N.Y., is also expected to enter a guilty plea to federal drug charges, said Douglas.

Roland and Ramon Alburg are brothers, and Raoul Alburg is their cousin.

All six face up to life in prison and multimillion-dollar fines.

Two others, who assisted in transporting the cocaine from Los Angeles to Somerset N.J., pleaded guilty to related state charges in New York.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Leo Tsao outlined each defendant's role in the high-level drug conspiracy:

In November 2005, Teagle, Ball, Rodgers and the three Alburgs allegedly decided to purchase Mexican cocaine from a California supplier.

Roland Alburg allegedly put up $1 million, and Ramon Alburg $1.5 million, for a total of $2.5 million in proceeds from prior drug transactions, said Tsao.

During his plea, Raoul Alburg admitted that he delivered the $2.5 million during several trips to Ball and Rodgers.

With defense attorney David Mischak beside him, Ball admitted that he gave the money to an unnamed person, who traveled with Raoul Alburg from Philadelphia to Los Angeles on March 24, 2006.

Meantime, Ball admitted, he flew to L.A., where he helped Alburg load 210 kilos of cocaine into the back of a trailer attached to a recreational vehicle.

Then, Raoul Alburg admitted that he and two associates drove the cocaine shipment cross-country to his Somerset, N.J., home on March 28, 2006, where his cousin, Roland Alburg, allegedly picked up 55 kilos the next day and headed back to New York.

The remaining 155 kilos were allegedly to be divided among Raoul, Ramon and Teagle.

After monitoring calls during the cross-country trip, authorities from federal, state and local law-enforcement agencies in four states fanned out to arrest the eight on March 29.

Authorities seized the 155 kilos in Somerset, N.J., and the 55 kilos in New York.

In a Colorado Street house in South Philadelphia where Rodgers lives with his mother, search teams found six cocaine parcels: 85 grams of crack cocaine, 183 grams of cocaine, 146 grams of cocaine in the living room, 10 grams on the dining room table and two bags - 35 grams and 74 grams - under a white bucket outside the back door.

Also found were five high-powered handguns, scales and the furniture in which the cocaine was hidden during the cross-country trip.

During his guilty plea, Rodgers admitted that the parcels of cocaine and guns were his. The judge granted attorney Gregory Pagano's request to reserve the right to appeal two motions as part of Rodger's plea agreement.

Rodgers pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute cocaine base, possession with intent to deliver 183.7 grams of cocaine, possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

During Ball's plea, he also admitted to money laundering as part of his agreement to cooperate with authorities.

Rodgers is not cooperating with the feds.

The investigation is continuing.*

Link!
 
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