« Previous Entries
» Next Entries

Smuggling

Africa, Smuggling
Another 2300 kilograms of cocaine missing from Ghana drug bust?
07.05.06 | Permalink | Comment?

In a dramatic twist in the investigation of five kilograms of cocaine that went missing from the 30 kilogram parcel of cocaine seized by the Narcotics Control Board off the coast of Ghana late April, an intelligence report has now revealed that the MV Benjamin was originally suspected of having 77 more such parcels of cocaine on board. As a result authorities have just set up a five-member investigating committee headed up by a Supreme Court Judge.

The committee will have one month to find out where this alleged extra cocaine went to and how soon this occurred before the drug bust. (They will also look into another case, this involving bribery and corruption by police officers after a bust in November last year of some Venezuelan cocaine smugglers.)
North America, People, Smuggling
David Duque Junior
07.01.06 | Permalink | Comment?

Border Patrol agent,David Duque Junior, has been arrested in the US in a public corruption scandal concerning the importation of illicit narcotics.

The FBI are alleging that Duque knowingly assisted smuglers in their smuggling operation and provided identification for them to use. In addition, it is alleged that he also assisted a vehicle which was being used for smuggling to pass through a US-Mexican checkpoint at Falfurrias.
Entertainment, North America, People, Smuggling, The Media
“The Return of Superfly”
06.30.06 | Permalink | Comment?

With production set to begin this month on the Ridley Scott-directed “American Gangster” starring Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe, about drug-lord Frank Lucas who made his name in the 70s selling heroin on the streets of Harlem, I thought I’d put up a profile of Lucas written for New York Magazine in 2000 – “The Return of Superfly” – by the always readable Mark Jacobson.

Lucas, who was said to be worth millions in his heyday, before being bust and sent to prison, now cries poor. Unrepentant about his drug-dealing past which included, notoriously, smuggling heroin from Southeast Asia’s Golden Triangle in the coffins of dead American soldiers killed in the Vietnam War, he takes Jacobson through his old New York haunts and reminisces about the criminals and celebrities he hung out with as well as the enemies who dared to cross him.
Africa, Smuggling, War on Drugs
Dealers Beginning to Target African Markets?
06.29.06 | Permalink | Comment?

The Internal Security Minister of Kanya, John Michuki, today expressed concern that hard drugs were becoming more easily available to the youth of Kenya.

According to Michuki, the involevment of Kenya has gone from being almost exclusively a crossroad for drug traffickers to being the actual target destination for many of the drugs. This trend had lead to Kenya’s increase in drug-related crime according to the minister.
Africa, Smuggling
Only one out of seven defendants in Kenyan drug trial found guilty
06.29.06 | Permalink | Comment?

Only one person out of the seven indicted last year in Kenya on charges of trafficking 1.1 metric tons of cocaine has been found guilty. Nairobi Chief Magistrate, Aggrey Mucheluloe, ruled Wednesday that only Kenyan businessman David Mugo Kiragu was guilty. Kiragu, who will appeal, was sentenced to 30 years in prison and also given a $270,000 fine.

The cocaine, which was found by police in the capital, Nairobi, and a coastal town, Malindi, at the end of 2004, was on its way to Europe where the chief suspect in the case, Kiragu’s old brother, George, is serving a jail term on a drug charge; Kenyan authorities still wish to extradite him.
Asia, Smuggling
Woman Swallows 320 Heroin Condoms!?
06.24.06 | Permalink | Comment?

According to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald, a woman has been detained by Australian customs with 320 heroin-filled condoms in her stomach.

In an attempt to smuggle drugs into the country, the 25 year old woman went on what must be close to a world record for heroin-filled condom eating! (Unless of course, the newspaper made a mistake and the actual number was 32?)

Police escorted the woman to a medical facility where staff waited until she passed around 300 grams of heroin after which she was charged with importing drugs.
North America, Smuggling, War on Drugs
The smuggling of drugs into prison by guards
06.22.06 | Permalink | Comment?

Two news stories in the U.S. at the moment of corrections officers being caught for smuggling drugs has again highlighted the potential for corruption and abuse of power in the prison system, in which drug use is extensive.

In one case, federal agents tried this Wednesday to arrest six corrections officers in a Tallahassee, Florida federal prison on charges of trading drugs for sex from female inmates and got involved in a shootout instead. The battle began after one of the guards, Ralph Hill, resisted arrest with a gun he had smuggled inside. Hill died, along with an agent from the Office of Inspector General.
Asia, Smuggling, War on Drugs
Golden Triangle Drugs to China Shrinking
06.22.06 | Permalink | Comment?

China has claimed a victory in their own war on drugs originating in the Golden Triangle.

The Golden Triangle area of Myanmar, Northern Thailand and Laos had been responsible for supplying the bulk of heroin flowing into China via Yunnan and Guangxi provinces which it borders, with the Golden Crescent supplying a sizeable amount of opium and heroin to Xinjiang in Western China.
Europe, Smuggling
Â£2.9 billion not collected by UK government due to cigarette smuggling
06.21.06 | Permalink | Comment?

The UK government’s Public Accounts select committee has wrapped up an investigation into tobacco smuggling and concluded that Â£2.9 billion worth of potential Value Added Tax (VAT) and excise duty revenue for the government has not been collected as a result of the illicit trade in contraband cigarettes and rolling tobacco.

In announcing the results the miffed committee chairman, Edward Leigh, declared that “[t]obacco smugglers cheat the taxpayer”. The taxpayers, that is, who haven’t bought the smokes.
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.