« Previous Entries
» Next Entries

Oceania

Oceania, People
Wayne Geoffrey Strawhorn
07.04.06 | Permalink | Comment?

Wayne Geoffrey Strawhorn was a respected drug squad officer from Victoria in Australia. Today, however, a court heard that the former officer used his position to traffic drugs to the Bandidos bikie gang for financial gain.

The accusations involve the movement of 5.5 kilograms of pseudoephedrine to the bandidos and well-known Australian underworld figure, Mark Moran.

“He was a man in a position of power and a man who had been invested with real trust,” the prosecuting attorney said. “That power and trust was manipulated and misused for his own gain.”
Oceania, People
Tifiga Atanoa to apply for bail later this week
07.03.06 | Permalink | Comment?

Tifiga Atanoa, the violent gang member dying of cancer who was captured by Auckland police last month after a crime spree, is set to make a bail application later this week in Manukau District Court on New Zealand’s North Island.

Said to be a P (crystal meth) addict and vowing not to be taken alive by police, he was in the end apprehended relatively quietly.

Atanoa’s appearances in court have been limited since he first walked into court a few weeks ago. While he was scheduled to appear in court a week ago he failed to turn up due to sickness. He is not expected to live long.
Entertainment, Oceania
Little Fish
06.28.06 | Permalink | Comment?

To be released in the the UK on the 17th of July. Here is the official website and a review in Variety. It is well worth seeing.
Oceania
Teacher charged with supplying drugs to student at Sydney school
06.26.06 | Permalink | 1 Comment

What is it with teachers supplying drugs to schoolkids? Can’t they just get friends their own age? It seems the answer to the latter is a big fat “No” for a certain unnamed 28-year-old – now former – teacher at Epping Boys High School in Sydney, Australia.

The teacher is under investigation by police for supplying drugs – apparently marijuana – to a student under the age of 16. He was charged two weeks ago and will appear in court next month.
Europe, Oceania, People
Former Australian rugby star returns after two-year ban for cocaine use
06.25.06 | Permalink | Comment?

Andrew Walker, the former Australian international rugby union and league player who was banned from both codes two years ago for cocaine use, will make his comeback next month for the second division rugby union club Gaillac in France, instead of with the Queensland Reds with whom he had been recently linked. The 32-year-old was busted in August 2004 after testing positive for cocaine use during his return to rugby league with Manly. Both codes have been rocked with drugs scandals of late, most recently with rugby union player Wendell Sailor testing positive for cocaine.
Oceania
Yacht instead of jail cell for alleged New Zealand drug kingpin
06.25.06 | Permalink | Comment?

The chief suspect in a celebrity drug ring that was busted last year in New Zealand will spend his bail time in the yacht of a millionaire friend. John Francis Waterworth, a 56-year-old businessman who is facing 28 charges of possessing and supplying drugs, including cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine, is the alleged “kingpin” behind a drug network that has seen various high-profile public figures in New Zealand implicated. Twelve arrests were originally made between June and October last year as part of Operation Aqua.
Oceania, The Media, Treatment
Marijuana Criminals Learning Horticulture in Jail
06.25.06 | Permalink | Comment?

In Australia, a newspaper investigation has revealed that drug criminals are being taught the finer points of horticulture while serving time for drug crimes.

As part of the rehabilitation program to help drug criminal reintegrate into society, prisoners are often offered tertiary education courses from the country’s Tertiary and Further Education (TAFE) facilities.

One of the TAFE training modules on offer is a certificate in horticulture, which the paper alleges allows the prisoners to recommence their life of drug crime once released, but with additional skills allowing them to hone their methods.
Oceania
Operation Caper and Sydney World Cup fans
06.22.06 | Permalink | Comment?

Harry Kewell’s 79th minute equaliser in Australia’s must-draw game against Croatia earlier today not only means the Socceroos are in the last 16 of the World Cup for the first time, but also that there will be continued wild celebrations and consumption of alcohol. After the success of Operation Caper in which minimal trouble occurred in Sydney after the Australia vs. Brazil game, police….

Okay. Who am I kidding? No one can be buying this contrived link to Australia’s fantastic World Cup result. Just enjoy the pic.
Entertainment, Oceania
Candy
06.21.06 | Permalink | Comment?

Check out the official website for the film starring Heath Ledger, Abbie Cornish and Geoffrey Rush.
Oceania, Smuggling, War on Drugs
Two million pills containing pseudoephedrine seized in Sydney
06.18.06 | Permalink | Comment?

Four people from Sydney, Australia have so far been charged with the illegal importation from Indonesia of two million cold tablets containing the ingredient pseudoephedrine, which can also be used to manufacture methamphetamine. Weighing in at 120 kilograms, the pills were found in 139 cartons hidden amongst a container-load of wooden furniture.

Customs officials had x-rayed the shipment at Botany Bay last Tuesday and then alerted Federal police, who followed the delivery to a business address in the inner-west suburb of Leichhardt. A 44-year-old woman from nearby Drummoyne, along with her 47-year-old partner, signed for the delivery and then gave it over to two men, aged 38 and 44, who took it to Chinatown in the city. Police swooped on the men and the delivery. All four face up to a maximum of 25 years imprisonment and/or a A$550,000 fine.