drug smuggling

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Smugglers Make Fake World Cup Out of Coke

Colombian police seize illegal replica after noticing peeling paint

(Newser) - Colombian investigators didn't like the "bad condition" of the gold paint on what at first appeared to be a World Cup trophy, so they had it checked—and found that the trophy seized at the Bogota airport consisted of 24 pounds of cocaine. The real thing is solid gold...

Reputed Jamaican Drug Lord Surrenders

Christopher 'Dudus' Coke is in custody

(Newser) - Reputed gang leader Christopher "Dudus" Coke, who eluded a bloody police offensive in his slum stronghold last month, surrendered to authorities outside Jamaica's capital today, local news media reported. Coke has been called one of the world's most dangerous drug lords by US authorities and faces trial in New...

Chocolate-Lover Busted for Cocaine-Filled Truffles

Turns out the guy had more than a sweet tooth

(Newser) - Guess it looked like a sweet deal to Robert Lopera. That is, before customs officials stopped the American at JFK Airport and took a close look at the heavy bags of chocolate truffles and pistachios he was toting on his return from Colombia. Turns out the truffles were cocaine balls...

Convent Drug Ring Busted
 Convent Drug Ring Busted 
May 13, 2010 1:42 AM CDT

Convent Drug Ring Busted

Nuns were oblivious to cocaine in prayer books

(Newser) - Italian police have smashed a huge cocaine ring that used a Milan-area convent as a cover. The convent's South American janitor collected cocaine hidden in prayer books from drug smugglers posing as pilgrims, the BBC reports. The janitor was among 33 people busted. Mafia and Colombian cartels were behind the...

Help! Texas Cops Stuck With 200,000 lbs of Pot

Tiny sheriff's department can't afford to destroy confiscated cannabis

(Newser) - Your local sheriff's department has a problem. Who wouldn't want help out? So when Brooks County, Texas, complains that it has 200,000 pounds of marijuana on its hands and no funding to dispose of it, civic-minded blog Toke of the Town naturally offers to come to the rescue. The...

Pot Smugglers Prefer Postal Service

Shipments through the mail have shot up in recent years

(Newser) - Pot traffickers are increasingly realizing that there's no need to risk hauling their drugs across the country—they can just have the US Postal Service do it for them. Seizures of marijuana by postal inspectors have increased 400% since 2007. More than 3,600 packages with marijuana were found in...

China Executes British Drug Smuggler

Akmal Shaikh, said to be mentally ill, dies by firing squad

(Newser) - Despite protests from the British government and human-rights activists worldwide, China today executed by firing squad a Briton convicted of smuggling drugs into the country. Supporters say Akmal Shaikh, 53, had bipolar disorder; the Foreign Office’s complaint centered on concerns China had not taken those issues into account in...

Veiled Women Nabbed in $12.5M Jakarta Drug Bust

Iranians arrested in record airport drug haul

(Newser) - Eight veiled women were among a group of 10 Iranians arrested on suspicion of drug smuggling at Indonesia's main airport today. The $12.5 million haul of methamphetamines found in their hand baggage is the biggest drug bust in the airport's history, authorities say. Indonesian authorities have never seen veiled...

Gal Pal Busted for Smuggling Heroin to Cam Douglas

(Newser) - The girlfriend of Michael Douglas' elder son has been busted after trying to smuggle 19 glassine envelopes of heroin to her boyfriend, police told the New York Post. The drugs were hidden in a black bag carrying an electric toothbrush and delivered to Cameron Douglas, 30, at mother Diandra Douglas'...

3 Teens Caught With Half-Ton of Pot on Boat

(Newser) - Three US teenagers returned from Mexico from what they claimed was a fishing trip with quite a catch: more than half a ton of marijuana stuffed beneath the deck of their boat. The three—two males ages 18 and 19 and a 19-year-old female—were arrested when they docked their...

Drug Smugglers Head to Sea on .... Surfboards?

(Newser) - Improved security along the US-Mexico border has pushed enterprising smugglers to the sea in any manner of craft, the New York Times reports. Authorities have been catching twice as many illegal immigrants as usual—and seized 7 times the typical quantity of drugs—in recent months from boats and beaches,...

Mexican Cartels Lure US Teens to Kill

Boys as young as 13 become smugglers, assassins

(Newser) - The powerful cartels that control the drug trade in Mexico increasingly have help north of the border—in the form of American teenagers, some as young as 13, who work as smugglers and assassins. The New York Times profiles one boy, who was recruited by the Gulf Cartel to kill...

Mexican Cocaine Hidden in Sharks

(Newser) - The Mexican Navy seized more than a ton of cocaine packed inside the bodies of frozen sharks on a freighter off the Yucatan coast headed for America, reports the BBC. The booty was pinpointed using dogs and x-ray machines, officials said. Drug fighters warned that powerful cartels are using increasingly...

Massive Drug Tunnel Found Under Mexico Border

Elaborate smuggling tunnel to Arizona has electricity, ventilation system

(Newser) - The US Border Patrol has uncovered one of the biggest and most sophisticated smuggling tunnels under the Mexican border it has ever seen, CNN reports. The 83-foot tunnel to Arizona from Nogales, Mexico, was still under construction when it was found after a tipoff from somebody who heard construction sounds....

Dude Busted for Smuggling Pot on Surfboard

(Newser) - A Mexican surfer off a California beach was busted for trying to smuggle 24 pounds of pot on his board, reports the Los Angeles Times. When suspicious cops on the beach close to the Mexican border ordered the surfer to come ashore, he heaved a duffel bag into the water....

Border Tribe's Land a Drug Smuggler's Paradise

(Newser) - Law enforcement expects to seize $1 billion worth of pot along one stretch of southern Arizona this year, and that’s just 20% of the marijuana they believe will be smuggled into the area from Mexico. But there’s little they can do about it, NPR reports; the region is...

Laos May Send Pregnant Brit to UK Prison

20-year-old accused of drug smuggling denies she was raped in prison

(Newser) - A pregnant British woman jailed in Laos could be allowed to serve her sentence in the UK if she is found guilty of drug smuggling, CNN reports. British and Laotian officials signed a prisoner transfer agreement yesterday after meeting in London to discuss the case of Samantha Orobator, 20, who...

Pregnant Brit Won't Face Laos Death Penalty

Law prohibits execution of those with child; lawyer still can't see her

(Newser) - Samantha Orobator, the Briton jailed in Laos on heroin-smuggling charges, will not face the death penalty because she is pregnant, CNN reports. The 20-year-old was, however, denied access to a British attorney who flew in with assurances they could meet. The lawyer “was refused her first visit,” a...

Brit Mom Pleads for Pregnant Daughter in Laos Prison

(Newser) - The mom of a pregnant London woman who may face a Laotian firing squad for drug smuggling pleaded with government officials to save "my baby, my angel," reports the Telegraph. "I'm appealing to the British government, to the Laos authorities, to please release her. I'm down on...

Pregnant Brit May Face Laos Firing Squad

(Newser) - A young pregnant Londoner could face a firing squad in Laos if she's convicted of drug smuggling charges in a trial that begins today, reports the Guardian. Samantha Orobator, 20, has not been allowed legal representation in the nine months she has been languishing in notorious Phonthong prison, and it's...

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