Richard John Ichihara has prior convictions for felony drug trafficking offenses

According to government prosecutors,Richard John Ichihara has three prior convictions for felony drug trafficking offenses that constitute a "prior felony drug offense." This can enhance punishment to a term of imprisonment not less than 20 years and up to life imprisonment in the event that the defendant is convicted of the offense of possession of more than 50 grams of methamphetamine.Ichihara was earlier convicted in the Superior Court of Guam on January 27, 2000 for two counts of importation of a controlled substance and one count of possession of a restricted substance with intent to distribute.Considered by prosecutors as the local kingpin of the drug syndicate, Ichihara pleaded not guilty to the superseding indictment filed against him and his three confederates --- Jackie Yong Lee, Kum Soon Yoo, and Won Yiel Lee.Lee and Yoo also pleaded not guilty to the charges of possession, distribution of illegal drugs, and money laundering. Yiel Lee remains at large.
During their arraignment last Friday, Yoo and Lee were both released and ordered to turn over their passports to the authorities while Ichihara was remanded to the custody of the US Marshals Service.Their trial is set for May 13.
Ichihara allegedly distributed the drugs coming from off-island to local residents for distribution on Guam. From January 2004 up to the date of indictment, Ichihara allegedly distributed more than 3,000 grams of methamphetamine hydrochloride and more than 30,000 grams of a mixture of substances containing detectable amounts of methamphetamine.Ichihara also allegedly imported approximately 18 grams of "ice" on December 3, 2007 and distributed approximately 24 grams of "ice" on Dec. 22, 2005.
On Feb. 3, 2008 he was arrested while in possession of approximately 23.35 grams of "ice."

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Algerian gang based in Malaga

Suspects are thought to be responsible for more than 300 crimes, including robberies with violence at domestic properties, document falsification, drug trafficking, crimes using stolen credit cards and conspiracy. The Guardia targeted the suspects by studying documentation seized in several raids. The gang was identified as being made up of 14 Algerians, six Spanish, Four Morrocans and one French person. The gang was divided into three cells directed by an Algerian head based in Malaga. In and around Cieza, in Murcia, the Guardia Civil carried out three operations which resulted in the recent arrest of five people thought to be involved in 21 robberies with violence at homes. A major operation took place in Cartagena recently when some 40 officers of the National Police swarmed the streets of the suburb of Lo Campana in an anti-drugs operation targeted at three families said to be drug traffickers in control of a large part of the illegal market. The three families are said to have cooperated closely and offered drugs on a menu system with fixed prices.

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Operation Toroyano a fishing boat carrying drugs was intercepted close to the shoreline

Puerto de Mazarrón, a major case involves the alleged smuggling of huge quantities of drugs coming in from North Africa. The criminal activities are said to have involved drugs being carried by large vessels sailing up the Mediterranean. The drugs were then dropped off onto fishing boats which brought them into Puerto de Mazarrón. The network is said to have been operated by a Spanish-Moroccan group. In Operation Toroyano a fishing boat carrying drugs was intercepted close to the shoreline. The boat sunk but suspects who dived in the water trying to escape were later arrested suffering from hypothermia. Navy divers have now succeeded in recovering 1,785 kilos of hashis from the sunken fishing boat to bring the total amount of drugs seized in the operation up to 2,600 kilos. Organised crime gangs that attack homes, petrol stations and businesses have been a particular target for Guardia Civil Action. This month a major operation, code named Centry, saw the Guardia break up a gang that had been attacking locations throughout the Costa del Sol. A total of 19 people were arrested and another six are being sought.

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Cruz Jaimes’ bail was set at $5 million. Bail for the other five men was set at $1 million each.Cocaine with an estimated street value of more than $1

The men were arrested after a traffic stop just off N.C. 211 in eastern Bladen County near the Columbus County line about 5 p.m. Thursday. They are:Lorenzo Cruz Jaimes, 32, of 52 Charles Ave., Hallsboro Fredy Jamies Cruz, 24, of 48 Charles Ave., Hallsboro Adolfo James, 31, of 48 Charles Ave., Hallsboro Saul Calvillo Rojas, 24, no address available Genaro Lara, 30, no address available
Juan Carlos Mendoza, 20, of Austin, TexasCruz Jaimes is charged with manufacturing 400 grams or more of cocaine. He also is charged with conspiracy to traffic cocaine by manufacture, possession, sell and deliver.
Cruz Jaimes’ bail was set at $5 million. Bail for the other five men was set at $1 million each.Cocaine with an estimated street value of more than $1million was confiscated and six men were arrested Thursday, Columbus County Sheriff Chris Batten said.Sheriff’s investigators in Bladen and New Hanover counties also were involved in the case that included the recovery of 10 kilograms of cocaine near Hallsboro after the six arrests in Bladen County.“We’re just glad to get this off the street,” Batten said of the drug seizure, one of the largest ever in Columbus or Bladen counties.
“We’ve hurt a lot of people in the pockets; we’ve hurt a lot of people on the street who thought they were going to have access to this on the street this holiday weekend.”Calvillo is charged with eight drug related crimes, the other four men with four each. Calvillo is charged with trafficking cocaine by manufacture, possession, sell, and delivery, and with conspiracy to traffic cocaine by manufacture, possession, sell and deliver.

Cruz Jaimes, James, Calvillo, Lara and Mendoza are each charged with conspiracy to traffic cocaine by manufacture, possession, sell and deliver.All but Mendoza are being held in the Bladen County Jail. Mendoza is being held in the Columbus County Detention Center because the Bladen jail was full, Sheriff Steve Bunn said.
New Hanover County Sheriff Sid Causey said his investigators have been chasing leads involving drug distribution in Bladen County for a few weeks.When the New Hanover drug agents learned Thursday that a shipment of cocaine would be delivered in Bladen County, they notified drug officers at the Bladen County Sheriff’s Department.
Officers stopped a 1999 Dodge Durango and a 1994 Chevrolet King Cab with six men inside the two vehicles, Bladen County Sheriff Steve Bunn said. He was not sure which vehicle contained which men, but said a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of cocaine was found in the Durango.Bladen officers seized the drugs, the vehicles and $2,962 in cash.Drug enforcement officers in Columbus County “conducted surveillance” at 18 Roberts Lane and 52 Charles Ave. near Hallsboro, then obtained search warrants for the two houses and property.Charles Avenue and Roberts Lane are small, private drives in an area “matted with mobile homes” just off of Pameter Road in Hallsboro, Batten said.


Inside the Roberts Lane home drug officers found 10 kilograms of cocaine, Batten said. Officers seized the drugs, two SKS assault rifles and three handguns.
Investigators seized vehicles and other materials from the Charles Avenue property they believe were purchased with drug proceeds, Batten said. Seized items include a 2005 Cadillac Escalade, a Ford Escort, a John Deere tractor with loader, a Frontier mower, a cement mixer, hole digger and all-terrain vehicles.

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Oral Watson leader of a North Jersey narcotics ring with ties to a violent Jamaican drug posse was arrested along with several of his associates

The leader of a North Jersey narcotics ring with ties to a violent Jamaican drug posse was arrested along with several of his associates, including a UPS driver who delivered cocaine for the ring along his Teaneck route, authorities said today.
A joint task force led by officers from the gangs units of the Passaic County Prosecutor's Office and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, along with Elmwood Park police, arrested six members and associates of the drug gang on Thursday. They seized an estimated $200,000 in cocaine, $85,000 cash, a Romanian-made AK-47 assault rifle, a loaded Taurus 9mm. semi-automatic handgun, two luxury cars and $40,000 in jewelry, authorities said.
The alleged ringleader, Oral Watson, 31, of Paterson, is being held at the Passaic County Jail on $500,000 bail, said Passaic County Prosecutor James Avigliano.
Authorities described Watson as a Jamaican national who moved to New Jersey as a child and became a flamboyant ringleader who threw lavish parties in rented music halls. He owned a 2007 BMW and a 2004 Mercedes that were seized by police and a four-story Paterson home where officers found a closet full of designer clothes and about 300 boxes of shoes belonging to his girlfriend, a telephone company employee who was not arrested in the sweep, authorities said.Watson was arrested as he tried to drive away from a drug stash house in Hackensack, authorities said. His car rammed a police vehicle as he jumped out and fled on foot, said Ricky Rosario, a Passaic County Sheriff's Department detective sergeant and a member of the Passaic County Prosecutor's Office Narcotics Task Force. Watson was arrested after a short chase.
Amilcar Caballero-Pardo, 35, of Garfield, a UPS employee for 14 years, was arrested Thursday at a UPS hub in Secaucus, Rosario said. He had been observed delivering drugs, which were hidden inside computers, to Watson along his Teaneck route, Rosario said. Also arrested was Dwight Donald Lewis, 37, an alleged drug gang leader from Paterson, Laura Kida, 39, of Parsippany, Carlos Calle-Munoz, 26, of Dover, and Fabricio Zambrano, 27, of Morristown. All were charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine.
The ring distributed drugs out of Morris, Passaic and Bergen counties and has ties to the Shower Posse, a violent drug gang in Jamaica, authorities said

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Sara Wuchevich Young pleaded guilty to conspiring to import cocaine

Sara Wuchevich Young, 34, formerly of Pompano Beach and Fort Lauderdale, has cooperated in ongoing drug investigations involving her ex-husband and was given a reduced sentence by U.S. District Judge Kenneth A. Marra. She faced at least 10 years in prison and has already served two years.As part of an agreement, Young pleaded guilty to conspiring to import cocaine aboard a powerboat called the Le Go II that was outfitted with secret drug compartments and registered in her name. Young kept the drug ledgers for the operation that ran three 740-kilogram boatloads of Colombian cocaine from the island of Saint Vincent to South Florida until 2001 when federal agents intercepted the third shipment. The case was delayed in part because of ongoing investigations.Young also hired a crew for the boat through Fort Lauderdale-based Crewfinders International. Prosecutors acknowledged that she was never aboard the boat during the smuggling operations."She was basically a secretary," said defense attorney Ana Davide, arguing that Young played only a minor role and lived in fear of her controlling ex-husband, who she said directed the operation.But Marra didn't reduce her sentence on that basis.At 25, Young, who grew up in Pompano Beach, was a struggling single mom working minimum wage jobs in Fort Lauderdale when she met Robert "Bobby" Young, then a convicted murderer, kidnapper and trafficker about 30 years her senior."I was very young when I met Bobby and he put stars in my eyes," said Young, her voice straining to control emotion as she read her statement to the judge before sentencing. "I was a struggling single mom and he promised me the world."
Robert Young is best known for his role in the execution-style murder of the legendary powerboat king, Don Aronow. In 1995, Robert Young pleaded no contest to the $60,000 hit job on Aronow and was sentenced to 19 years in a deal that spared him life in prison.Federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents said Robert Young contracted with Rodgrigo Chegwin-Vergara, who brokered shipments for Colombian cartels, to bring six boat-loads of cocaine into South Florida. In return, Robert Young received about one-third of each load to sell. Prosecutors said Robert Young made about $2,000 on each kilo he shipped.
Prosecutors said the cocaine was hidden in secret compartments built into the boat. Once in South Florida, the cocaine was transported in large blue plastic containers and cash was delivered in 5-gallon plastic paint buckets.

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Jacques Lavigne faces at least 20 years in federal prison

Jacques Lavigne, 64, faces at least 20 years in federal prison.After his arrest in October, Lavigne told investigators that he had cleared about $1 million in profit since he began selling cocaine from his Country Club Plaza home at the Locarno Apartments in the early 1990s.Lavigne quietly gave one- and two-word answers as he pleaded guilty to nine federal drug distribution felonies. He had no plea or cooperation agreements with prosecutors.More than 30 years ago, he pleaded straight up to 63 felonies for fixing greyhound races in Florida. In that case, according to a Sports Illustrated profile of him, his conspiracy stole about $2 million before prosecutors sent him to prison for 2½ years. Other than a friendly chat with investigators after he went to prison, he never cooperated against co-defendants.
According to prosecutors, Lavigne imported up to 154 pounds of cocaine into Kansas City between 2002 and 2007, selling most of it to an associate who peddled the dope to a “white collar” Plaza area crowd. Federal and city investigators learned of that associate last summer and persuaded him to begin recording his conversations with Lavigne.On the day of Lavigne’s arrest in October, authorities seized more than 2 pounds of cocaine and $400,000 from his apartment. They also intercepted an inbound shipment of more than 20 pounds of cocaine from a truck in Lafayette County. The driver of that truck, Oscar A. Torres, also is charged in the case.
Lavigne told friends in Kansas City that his name was “Frank Moran” — an identity he purchased in Florida before moving to Missouri — and that he owned several beauty supply warehouses in the area with a partner, according to court records.
He acknowledged Thursday that some of the money from drug sales went to purchase a handsome collection of diamond jewelry, commercial artwork, a 2003 Mercedes-Benz and a pair of matching Sony 32-inch flat-screen TVs that investigators also seized

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Siezed 18 kilograms 315 grams of heroin woman trafficker on a Moscow-Vladivistok passenger train

Russian police in the Far East seized on Thursday 18 kilograms 315 grams of heroin from a 46-year old woman trafficker on a Moscow-Vladivistok passenger train.
“The price of the drugs is estimated at close to 37 million rubles (1.6 million dollars), police told Tass on Friday, adding it was the biggest haul of illegal drugs this year. The woman trafficker may face up to 10 years in jail and a major fine. Last year the Far Eastern police registered 15 thousand 335 crimes related to illegal drugs.

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Duane S. Collins found guilty earlier this week of trafficking over 28 grams of cocaine

Duane S. Collins, 48, of 154 Lynnway, #207 was caught in Peabody nearly two years ago and was found guilty earlier this week of trafficking over 28 grams of cocaine by a Lawrence Superior Court jury.He was sentenced Thursday morning to serve not less than five years and not more than seven and one-half years in state prison by Judge Leila R. Kern.However, the judge ordered that the punishment will not commence until he completes a recently imposed 18-month jail term he is currently serving on a Middlesex County drug case for violating his probationary terms,Assistant District Attorney Michael A. Patten asked for a higher punishment, 8-to-10-years in prison, based on Collins' record and prior drug trafficking conviction in 1999.
Defense lawyer Russell L. Sobelman tried unsuccessfully to persuade Kern for an immediate straight five-year term, which is the minimum mandatory punishment for the crime, and eliminate the 18-month sentence he is now serving, but she declined. Collins was arrested July 6, 2006 after police discovered 38 grams of cocaine, nearly two ounces, in 34 individual bags in his red Ford Explorer.
Police were called to Su Changs restaurant at 373 Lowell St., a little after 5 p.m., on a report of a drunken and disorderly patron at the bar.When Peabody Patrolman Gerald Fitzgerald tried to place Collins into a cab, he refused to leave and police arrested him for disorderly conduct and intoxication.
Before towing his vehicle from the parking lot, police conducted a search and found the cocaine on the passenger's seat in a camera case.
Collins, a lobsterman by trade, testified that the cocaine was not his, that it belonged to two men he had picked up in Gloucester that night, but the jury was not swayed.The judge credited Collins the 12 days he has spent in jail awaiting trial on the case.

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Karlos Megale Council has been charged with possession with an intent to sell/deliver cocaine

Karlos Megale Council, of a Barlow Road address, was dealing cocaine. The informant described the type of car Council drove and his whereabouts. Reports said Edwards set up surveillance at Hawthorne Court Apartments on West Wilson Street and waited for Council to appear. At approximately 12:23 a.m. Wednesday, Council came to the apartments in the car the informant had described. "When Edwards approached Council, he took off running," said Tarboro Police Chief Robert Cherry. "Edwards followed in hot pursuit, ordering him to stop." As he ran, Council pulled something from the front of his pants, threw it down and continued running. Cherry said Edwards ordered Council to stop. Council complied and lay waiting on the ground while Edwards handcuffed him. Edwards seized a bag containing seven grams of cocaine, a scale and the suspect's car during the arrest. Council has been charged with possession with an intent to sell/deliver cocaine, possession of cocaine and maintaining a vehicle for the purpose of transporting cocaine.

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Ashly Vincent Livingston,Edwin Richard Crawly were picked up on warrants issued by the United States and implemented in cooperation with the US DEA

Two Britons were arrested Friday in the Thai seaside resort of Pattaya on charges of using the Internet to illegally export steroids to the United States, police said.
Police gave the names of the two detained men as Ashly Vincent Livingston, 45, and Edwin Richard Crawly, 44. They were arrested in a sting operation involving US anti-drug agents, police said.The Britons were picked up on warrants issued by the United States and implemented in cooperation with the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).The men are set to be extradited to the United States as Thai police said they face no charges in the kingdom.The Britons, who were living in Pattaya with their Thai wives, also had 40 million baht (1.2 million dollars) worth of their assets frozen, police said.Livingston's wife was arrested on a separate Thai warrant for drugs charges, police added.Livingston and Crawly set up an online store to sell steroids to customers in the United States. Steroids are legal in Thailand but are a controlled substance in the US.Earlier this month, the DEA worked with Thai police on an elaborate sting operation to arrest alleged Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who has been charged in New York with conspiracy to provide arms to terrorists.
Bout is being held in Thailand while prosecutors decide whether to bring him before a Thai court before extraditing him to the United States.

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Darren Rota admitted two charges of possessing cannabis for supply

Darren Rota, 43, who admitted two charges of possessing cannabis for supply and one charge of supplying the drug, was jailed for 22 months when he appeared in Tauranga District Court.Between March and November last year, Te Puke police received several complaints regarding Rota and other associates selling cannabis tinnies to passing motorists.About 7am on November 22, police searched Rota's Te Kahika Rd home. They found two plastic bags containing 32g of cannabis pre-packed into tinnies, utensils, plus $1220 cash, in a flax bush.Rota was arrested, charged and released on strict bail conditions.But at 4pm on December 3, police found Rota sitting in a Volvo parked on the corner of SH2 and Te Matai Rd in Te Puke.They searched the car and found $140 cash, zip- lock bags and drug utensils. Concealed in Rota's underwear there was also a zip lock bag containing 30 cannabis tinnies.Rota told police he had found the cannabis lying on the ground prior to their arrival.He planned to defend the charges, but pleaded guilty on February 19.Crown prosecutor Heidi Wrigley told Judge Peter Rollo on Wednesday that Rota had two prior convictions.
Defence lawyer Craig Tuck said Rota was taking a pragmatic approach, but had hoped to be eligible for home detention.Judge Rollo told Rota that given his "ill- advised" pattern of offending - including offending while on bail - imprisonment was the only option.

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Anthony Rollins earlier admitted trading a shotgun for cocaine

Anthony Rollins earlier admitted trading a shotgun for cocaine.Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Seykora says that in the summer of 2005, convicted cocaine dealer Steve Berg traded one-sixteenth of an ounce of cocaine to Rollins for a 12-gauge shotgun. The prosecutor says Berg also sold Rollins cocaine on four other occasions. The 33-year-old Rollins was sentenced in state court last August to five years in prison for two counts of assault with a weapon. He opened fire with a semiautomatic pistol at a vehicle in January 2006 after losing a fight. It turned out he shot at the wrong vehicle. No one was injured.

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Jamie Blunder,Greensboro firefighter arrested for cocaine possession and trafficking

A Greensboro firefighter has been suspended without pay after being arrested for cocaine possession, according to police.Archdale police arrested Jamie Blunder on Monday for possession of cocaine with intent to sell. Officers said Blunder had almost six ounces of cocaine and $9,400 in his possession at the time of the arrest.
Archdale Police arrested a Greensboro firefighter for cocaine possession and trafficking after getting a tip about a suspicious person at an apartment complex.
Investigators tell us they stopped Jamie Blunder's car at the Westbrook Court Condominiums. They say they found 5.9 ounces of cocaine with a street value of $17,000 and $9,412 in cash. Blunder was booked into the Randolph County Jail on a $50,000 secured bond. He's facing charges of possession of cocaine with intent to sell and deliver and trafficking cocaine. Blunder lives in Jamestown. He worked at Station 53 on Willow Road. Blunder joined the Greensboro Fire Department in 1998 and was promoted in 2002.
Fire Department adminstrators say they were unaware of the charges the media alerted them. They confirmed the arrest and charges early this morning. They immediately suspended Blunder with pay, pending an administrative investigation. Late Friday afternoon, they changed Blunder's status to suspended without pay.Blunder did report to work Friday morning. Department leaders say there is a possibility Blunder worked a shift after the arrest. He was scheduled to work on Tuesday.

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David Wren, Gregory William Jones,John Michael Wilson have been charged with importing a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug Heroin

Gregory William Jones, 48, of Balmain in Sydney's inner west, and John Michael Wilson, 54, of central Sydney, both appeared via videolink at Parramatta Bail Court.
Both have been charged with importing a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug and attempting to possess a commercial quantity of heroin.Neither man applied for bail and it was formally refused.Both are due to appear at Central Local Court on March 26.A third NSW man, 57-year-old David Wren from Dapto, appeared at Wollongong Magistrates Court on the same charges.He made no application for bail and was remanded in custody to appear at Central Local Court on March 25.
A fourth man, from Adelaide, is due to face the same charges in Adelaide Magistrates Court on Tuesday.It's the second major drug bust by the AFP, NSW Crime Commission and Customs in as many weeks.There have been about 200 separate heroin busts across Australia this year, netting 63kg of the drug.Australian authorities seized cash and drugs worth almost $10 million in raids across three states.
Authorities allege the syndicate concealed 28 kilograms of heroin, with a potential street value of $8.4 million, in three wooden chests of drawers bound for Adelaide.
The chests were intercepted in Sydney in February, then tracked to an address in Camden Park in Adelaide and back to Shellharbour, near Wollongong in NSW, by a joint-agency taskforce made up of the Australian Federal Police (AFP), NSW Police, NSW Crime Commission and Customs.
The taskforce seized the heroin and more than $1.5 million in international currency in raids in Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane on Thursday.
Police said they believed the cash, found in various locations, including the glovebox of a car, was the "proceeds of previous (drug-related) activity".

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Mohamed El Ouazzani aka El Nene was allowed to stroll out of prison

Last year drug lord Mohamed El Ouazzani, known as El Nene, was allowed to stroll out of prison and probably fled to Spain to avoid serving the rest of an eight-year prison sentence. Six prison guards were jailed for allowing him to escapeMoroccan drug baron was jailed along with the former head of Tangier's judicial police after a lengthy trial that pitted the Rabat authorities against powerful interests in the kingdom's northern cannabis growing region.A Casablanca court jailed Mohamed Kharraz, better known as Cherif Bin Louidane, for eight years, the government said on Thursday. It ordered 5.2 million dirhams of his fortune to be seized and fined him 500,000 dirhams.Judicial police officers grabbed Kharraz in August 2006 at the Al Ghouroub (Sunset) cafe near the northern port city of Tangier, acting on a warrant issued after a separate drugs trial years earlier, newspapers said.
The arrest surprised locals for whom Kharraz had seemed virtually immune from the law and benefited from a reputation for generosity among the poor of a region neglected for decades by the central government, the papers said.


He named over 30 members of the security services as being implicated in the drugs trade including Abdelaziz Izzou, head of the Tangier judicial police from 1996 to 2003, who was suspended from his job as head of security at Morocco's royal palaces.
Izzou was imprisoned for 18 months and had 700,000 dirhams seized by the state. Two others were jailed including Kharraz's brother while nine people were acquitted including another top former Tangier police official, the government said.
Those imprisoned were found guilty of offences including international drug trafficking, abuse of power, incitement to illegal immigration and failing to report crimes.Morocco had aimed to erase its cannabis industry by this year, a campaign given added momentum by suspicions that hashish was used to partly pay for dynamite that blew up trains in Madrid in 2004, killing 191 people.But the north African country is still the world's biggest hashish producer.The dark green fern-like plant grows well in poor soil of the northern Rif mountains and has come to be known as "green gold" because it staves off grinding poverty for thousands of local families.Smugglers hide the drug in containers and trucks or use powerful speedboats to ship it to Barcelona in Spain or Marseille in France.
Moroccan customs said drugs with a value of 30 million dirhams were seized at the port of Tetouan near Tangier last year, up six times from a year earlier.But catching the top criminals and keeping them behind bars is still proving difficult.

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Jere Karalahti guilty of helping finance the smuggling of amphetamines and cocaine from Estonia into Finland

NHL player Jere Karalahti a 20-month suspended sentence on Thursday for being an accessory in a drug smuggling operation.The Espoo District Court found Karalahti, 32, guilty of helping finance the smuggling of amphetamines and cocaine from Estonia into Finland last year, in a case involving 18 others. He was fined $16,000.
Prosecutors say they will appeal, claiming that Karalahti was directly involved in the smuggling operation. Karalahti denied all charges in the case.Karalahti left the NHL in 2002 after being suspended for six months for his third violation of the league's substance abuse policy. He played 121 games from 2000-02 for the Los Angeles Kings and Nashville Predators.

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Keith Green jailed six years

Keith Green was stopped by customs officials who discovered two packets hidden behind the glove box of his car, Canterbury Crown Court heard. When the contents were analysed they were found to be two kilos of pure cocaine with a street value of £79,920.
Green, 35, of Bellacre Close, Diss, was jailed after he admitted smuggling at Dover on December 16 last year.
Claire Harden, prosecuting, told the court that, when stopped by customs, Green said he had been visiting his parents who moved to France 18 months ago but he couldn't be precise about the town where they lived.
Deanna Heer, mitigating, said Green had run up about £30,000 in debts on loans and credit cards after he was unable to work for 18 months following an operation for a back problem.
She said that he had been offered £4,500 to bring the drugs in and had he been successful would have handed them over at a supermarket car park.

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Jonathan Fisher was charged with possession of heroin, possession of heroin with intent to sell

Jonathan Fisher, 26, of 240 Williams St. was charged with possession of heroin, possession of heroin with intent to sell, possession of heroin with intent to sell within 1,500 feet of a school, reckless driving and three counts of risk of injury to a minor.Police Capt. William D. Dittman said the arrest was part of a crackdown on drugs, prostitution and weapons in the city. At about 4:15 p.m., members of New London vice unit, the statewide narcotics task force and the police patrol division attempted to stop a suspect on Williams Street. Officers had information that the suspect was a large-scale heroin dealer in the city, Dittman said.Dittman said Fisher initially attempted to flee the scene, but was stopped by traffic congestion on Williams Street in the vicinity of Mohegan Avenue.Police said they found him in possession of the heroin and $400 in cash. Three juveniles, possibly relatives, ages 8, 11 and 15, were in the vehicle at the time of the arrest, police said. Police seized the vehicle.Fisher was held on a $250,000 bond and is scheduled to be arraigned in New London Superior Court today.

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Lee O'Grady unlawful possession of drugs

Lee O'Grady from Kilbraney, Gusserane was ordered to make a €200 contribution to the New Ross Community Hospital at Tuesday's sitting of New Ross District Court for the unlawful possession of drugs.The defendant, who had no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to unlawfully possessing drugs on January 19, 2007 at Ballycullane.The Court heard that the 20-year-old defendant was employed by a local construction company and the quantity of drugs found was very small'. Solicitor, Gerry Flynn, suggested that his client could make a €200 contribution to the New Ross Community Hospital.

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Thomas Kearney considering the number of previous convictions in the case, I am sending this man to prison

Thomas Kearney of Avonmount, Sea Road, will serve two concurrent prison sentences by order of Bray District Court Judge Murrough Connellon, who ruled so having heard the defendants' previous convictions.A 32-year-old Arklow man will go to jail for 12 months for robbing a house in Wicklow to fund his drug habit.Kearney came before the court charged with the burglary of a house at Kilmacanogue in Wicklow, causing considerable damage to the property and trauma to the owner of the house who was on the premises at the time.Garda Damien Travers said Kearney fled the scene with a mobile phone and €37.83 in cash, but had ransacked' the house in his frantic search for loot.'Defence solicitor Conway O'Hara told the court Kearney was a young man with a serious drug problem.'
He realises his burglary of this property must have been a traumatic experience for the owner of the house, but is appealing that you bear in mind his drug problem.'Is he making any attempt to deal with his drug problem?' asked the Judge.He says he is not on anything at present your honour and I have before the court a letter from his doctor detailing his addictions,' replied Mr. O'Hara.Considering the number of previous convictions in the case, I am sending this man to prison,' said Judge Connellan.

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Raul Reveron,Alex Serrano,Elizabeth Serrano, just a family affair charged with seven drug distribution charges

Raul Reveron, 26, was charged with seven drug distribution charges and two counts of aggravated assault on a police officer. His brother, Alex Serrano, 24, and their mother, Elizabeth Serrano, 58, were charged with obstructing justice and three counts of aggravated assault on a police officer. Alex Serrano was also charged with hindering the arrest of another. Police suspected that Reveron, of Jersey City, was selling drugs and on March 14, at 12:45 p.m., Detectives Mark Mullins and Steven Aguiar tried to arrest Reveron on the corner of Second and Harrison streets, police said. Reveron pushed Aguiar away, a "short wrestling match" ensued, and Reveron ran into an apartment building on the 200 block of Harrison, police said. The cops chased him to an apartment, but Reveron repeatedly slammed the door on Aguiar's arm and leg, police said.
Mullins and Sgt. Brian Brereton joined the pushing match as people inside the apartment pushed back, police said. Eventually the officers forced their way into the apartment, but the mother and brother continued to push, grab and scream at the officers as they tried to arrest Reveron. Four more officers arrived and cops arrested all three. In the apartment, cops saw three small bags of what they suspect was heroin discarded by Reveron and $304 that they believe came from a drug sale, police said. Aguiar was treated at police headquarters for bruises on his right arm. Elizabeth Serrano complained of heart pains and was treated at Hoboken University Medical Center.

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Christopher Pimblett and 17 people have now admitted their roles in the conspiracy to supply drugs of class A, B and C

Liverpool Crown Court heard from 12 deliveries alone, police managed to recover a total of £405,000.A total of 17 people have now admitted their roles in the conspiracy to supply drugs of class A, B and C between January 1, 2005 and April 17, 2007.The extent of the operation was confirmed by courier driver Thomas Green, who told police following his arrest he had been transporting in excess of £800,000 in cash and £1.3m worth of cocaine in about 30 trips over six months.On one occasion he recalled Pimblett counting out £125,000 in cash that he had brought back from Scotland.A telephone probe planted in the Pimbletts’ house recorded scores of conversations arranging deals.
On one occasion Christopher Pimblett told an accomplice: “I don’t mind when I get sent £35,000 to £40,000 a week, but when it’s not sent for a week-and-a-half or two weeks it’s not on.”At a rate of £40,000 a week, Pimblett would have made more than £4m in two years.In another call Pimblett told a fellow gang member he had £100,000 in a safe, £170,000 in cash and was owed a further £250,000.Officers also overheard conversations between gang members as they arranged to buy properties in Spain and discussed importing drugs from Germany.Judge Brian Lewis warned the defendants they were facing lengthy stretches behind bars, but he suspended sentencing until April 4.
Ringleader Christopher Pimblett, 34, of Newmarket Gardens, St Helens.
Sharon Pimblett, 36, also of Newmarket Gardens.
Darren Platt, 42, of Nutgrove Hall Drive, Nutgrove, St Helens.
Thomas Green, 26, of Lilley Road, Kensington, was a courier of cocaine.
Ian Moffatt, 37, of Falcondale, Winnick, Warrington.
Carl Moffat, 25, of Taylor Road, Haydock.
Fergus Smith, 26, of Fraser Street, Barrowfield, Glasgow.
John Dunbar, 26, of Byers Road, Glasgow.
Philip Browne, 63, of Appleby Lawn, Netherley, St Helens, was Christopher Pimblett’s step father-in-law.
Barry Brownbill, 35, of Constance Street, St Helens.
Peter Jones, 35, of Richard Grove, St Helens.
Christopher Kay, 23, Snowberry Crescent, Warrington.
John Johnson, 26, of Fairclough Road, St Helens.
Kenneth Whitfield, 51, of Marina Avenue, Sutton, St Helens.
John Carr, 47, of Elephant Lane, Thatto Heath, St Helens.
Qamaruddin Munshi , 29, from Avondale Street, Bolton.
Michael Peel, 22, Larkspur Road, Sankey Bridges, Warrington

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largest drug haul seized recently by Russian customs officers

Russian customs officers in the Urals have made their largest-ever drug bust seizing a total of 353 kg (780 lbs) of heroin, a spokesman for the Federal Customs Service said on Wednesday."This is the largest drug haul seized recently by Russian customs officers," the source said. He declined to give any further details for investigation reasons.Last May Moscow drug police seized 250-kg (550 lbs) of the drug, with a street value of $25 million in Moscow.A total of 895 kg (2,000 lbs) of heroin was seized in Russia in 2007.

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29-year-old Nigerian and a 35-year-old Pakistani were arrested

29-year-old Nigerian and a 35-year-old Pakistani were arrested yesterday by Sharjah Police for smuggling a total of 1.5kg of heroin into the country.They had concealed the contraband in their stomachs.Both of them are in the country on visit visas.
On a tip-off, the police arrested the Pakistani man in whose stomach 585 capsules of heroin were found during medical screening.He informed the police about the Nigerian man who arrived in the country recently with heroin capsules concealed in his stomach.The police arrested the Nigerian and the medical screening revealed 79 capsules of heroin in his stomach. With the help of the doctors, the capsules were removed from his stomach.Both suspects have confessed to their crimes and have been referred to Public Prosecution. Speaking to Khaleej Times, a top official of the Criminal Investigation Research at Sharjah Police said smuggling of narcotic substances by concealing them in the stomach and rectum had become a common phenomenon.The traffickers were using some individuals to smuggle the drugs into the country after paying them some money. In many cases, the carriers who used this method died after the capsules broke inside the stomach or rectum and the substances got into the blood stream, the official said. Of late, the police had acquired advanced technology to track down drug smuggling and trafficking

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Maxine Eland,had 68 offences on her record, including cocaine possession, prostitution and breaching an Asbo.

Maxine Eland, 41, evaded justice for months after absconding to Luton while facing allegations of involvement in drugs supply, a court heard.
She was seen passing on £40 rocks of crack cocaine during a police operation targeting drug dealers in Middlesbrough twice in October 2006.Eland, of Lytton Street, Middlesbrough, admitted two charges of being concerned in the Class A drug’s supply and failing to surrender to bail.
She had 68 offences on her record, including cocaine possession, prostitution and breaching an Asbo.Junior Bryan, 50, who lived with Eland on Norcliffe Street, North Ormesby at the time of the 2006 drugs supplies, was jailed for three years last May after admitting 17 crack cocaine supply charges.
Paul Cleasby, defending, said Bryan supplied addicts to feed his own habit, Eland was also a user, it was not her enterprise and she did not profit.
There had been no more loitering offences or trouble in Luton since the drug deals.
Judge Michael Taylor jailed Eland for 18 months.

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Allan Foster wanted for a gangland shooting on Tyneside has gone to the top of a Most Wanted list after becoming one of just two villains on the run

Allan Foster wanted for a gangland shooting on Tyneside has gone to the top of a Most Wanted list after becoming one of just two villains on the run from police on the Costa del Crime.Allan Foster is believed to have flown from his Spanish hideaway to assassinate David ‘Noddy’ Rice in South Shields in May 2006.Detectives believe Foster flew out of the country the day after the killing, which happened at a seaside car park near Marsden Grotto, and has remained a fugitive since.
Last month Foster, 31, was named among 10 suspects by Crimestoppers on a most-wanted website targeting the Costa del Sol.Now eight of those have been tracked down after support from the Spanish public and authorities, leaving just Foster and one other at large.An update from Crimestoppers yesterday said: “The Operation Captura campaign encourages anyone who recognises the wanted criminals on its website to call Crimestoppers from Spain, to give information anonymously on a dedicated Spanish free phone number. Calls are answered in the UK by Crimestoppers call handlers.“Crimestoppers worked with both UK and Spanish law enforcement agencies and the British Embassy to set up the operation.
“On the day of the publicity launch in Malaga, Most Wanted saw eight times more people visiting the site, with 77,000 page impressions on the first day. Two weeks after the launch, more than 700 calls had been received which produced 65 useful pieces of information.“Eight offenders have been located so far, for crimes including drug trafficking, murder and fraud.“In Spain, the concept has caught the public’s imagination. The Spanish media have continued their interest and media coverage of the campaign. Commentators have expressed considerable interest in setting up a similar mechanism to aid Spanish investigations.”The Spanish coastal resorts have been dubbed the Costa del Crime since the 1970s because hundreds of British criminals have fled there.Mr Rice, 42, was shot nine times by two masked men on the seafront at South Tyneside after being lured to the meeting by Steven Bevens, 39. Bevens worked for Foster, who police believe fired the fatal shots.
Last year Bevens was sentenced to life for murder, while getaway driver Derek Blackburn, 51, of Humberside, who turned informer, was given four years for assisting an offender, later cut to two and a half years.
Foster sometimes goes under the name Sean Wilkinson, and is known to have associates in the Kent area and links to the Canary Islands and Majorca.
He is also wanted for two offences of conspiring to supply controlled drugs and for the theft of a diamond ring.Yesterday a Northumbria Police spokesman said: “We are still trying to trace Allan James Foster. We would urge anyone who has knowledge of Mr Foster’s whereabouts to get in touch.”

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Helsinki brothers smuggled some 3,000 kilograms of hashish and 20 kilograms of cocaine

Helsinki District Court is expected to hand down a decision Wednesday in one of the country's biggest drug cases.Preliminary investigations by police indicate that a gang led by Helsinki brothers smuggled some 3,000 kilograms of hashish and 20 kilograms of cocaine into the country between 2002 and 2006. Twenty-five gang members are being tried for aggravated drug crimes and money laundering.The men were caught after investigators found a stash of drugs in the capital region. During the investigation, police confiscated about 600,000 euros in cash, 36 kilograms of hashish and two kilograms of cocaine.

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Joseph W. Houseal was charged with drug possession and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Joseph W. Houseal of 449 Campus Drive stopped breathing after taking heroin at his house on Feb. 25, according to a complaint filed at District Court in Perkasie on Monday.Minutes after Houseal's parents called for an ambulance, he began breathing again, the complaint said.
When police officers arrived shortly before 10 p.m., they found two small bags of heroin with the words ''Major League'' on them and a syringe next to Houseal, who was lying on his bedroom floor, the complaint says.Police said Houseal, before being transported to Grand View Hospital in West Rockhill Township, admitted that he had been using heroin.Houseal was charged with drug possession and possession of drug paraphernalia.

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Australian Vietnamese woman Jasmine Luong sentenced to death

An appeal court in Vietnam has sentenced an Vietnamese-Australian woman to death for heroin trafficking after prosecutors appealed against her original life sentence, a court clerk said Wednesday.Jasmine Luong, 34, was handed the death penalty on Tuesday by the court in Ho Chi Minh City, he said on condition of anonymity.
Luong, who was born in Vietnam, was arrested at Tan Son Nhat airport outside Ho Chi Minh City in February last year as she preparing to fly to Sydney with nearly 1.5 kilograms (3.3 pounds) of heroin, according to a police source.
"She had been hired to transport those heroin packs, hidden in her luggage and shoes," the source said.Several Australians of Vietnamese origin have been arrested over the past few years for trafficking heroin from Ho Chi Minh City to Australia. Of those, some were given life imprisonment or the death penalty.However, foreigners are rarely executed in the communist state, usually after intense diplomatic pressure from Western governments.Vietnam has some of the world's toughest drug laws. Those caught with more than 600 grams of heroin or 20 kilograms of opium face the death penalty.At least 104 people were sentenced to death in Vietnam last year, and 12 since the beginning of the year, according to figures compiled by AFP from state media and Vietnamese officials.
Vietnamese court of appeals has handed down death sentence to an Australian Vietnamese woman for drug smuggling, instead of life imprisonment one passed by the court of first instance, local newspaper Saigon Liberation reported Wednesday. The Supreme People's Court in southern Ho Chi Minh City on Tuesday gave the penalty to the 34-year-old man named Luong Jasmine, who was hired to transport heroin from Vietnam to Australia to tune of 16,000 U.S. dollars. Jasmine was arrested in February in 2007 when completing procedures for her departure to Australia at the International TanSon Nhat Airport in the city. Under Vietnam's laws, anyone possessing, trading or trafficking heroin of 600 grams or above can be sentenced to death or life in prison. facing the firing squad in Vietnam says she became a drug mule to pay off her husband's gambling debts.Jasmine Luong, 34, from Sydney, was arrested at Ho Chi Minh City's airport in February last year with 1.5kg of heroin in her baggage and shoes. Fairfax newspapers say Luong claimed that an unidentified man offered her $US15,000 ($16,458) to take the drugs to Sydney. In December she was sentenced to life imprisonment, but on her appeal this week the sentence was upgraded to the death penalty. It is believed Luong has claimed she was deserted by her husband and was left with little choice when approached about becoming a drug mule, Fairfax reported.

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Arsene K. and Kosom H two Bangladeshi men sentenced to death for smuggling heroin

The Crimi-nal Court Tuesday sentenced two Bangla-deshi men, identified as Arsene K. and Kosom H., to capital punishment for smuggling heroin into the country for trafficking.
Case files indicate the arresting officer received information that Kosom was trafficking in heroin. Acting on this information and armed with a search and arrest warrant, he sent a bogus customer to buy some heroin from him.
During the buy-bust operation, the officer arrested Kosom red-handed. During interrogations, he admitted that he possesses drugs and guided police to his house where the drugs were hidden.
When asked about the source of the heroin, Kosom said his friend Arsene had brought it for him from a Gulf state by land. He guided police to Arsene’s place who arrested him.
During interrogations, Arsene admitted to bringing heroin from a Gulf state in return for 20,000 Saudi riyals. He added he brought the drug twice for his friend.
The session was presided by Judge Adel Al-Saqer.

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Veronica Trevino, Ruben Diaz managed an armed criminal cell known as the Falcons

Mexican police on Tuesday arrested a woman on suspicion of overseeing a network of spies that tracked police for a powerful drug cartel in central Mexico, officials said.Veronica Trevino managed an armed criminal cell known as the Falcons whose job it was to monitor the movements of state and federal police and inform Gulf Cartel traffickers of their whereabouts, police told Reuters.It was the latest big arrest by President Felipe Calderon's government, which has waged an offensive on drug traffickers by deploying thousands of soldiers to hot spots around Mexico.
Trevino was arrested with Ruben Diaz, thought to be the Falcons' second-in-command, in the small Mexican state of Aguascalientes. They were found with a gun, five cell phones and sophisticated radio equipment, police said.Trevino also had with her a list of other Falcon members and their expenses, complete with restaurant and bar receipts.The Falcons work under the armed enforcement wing of the Gulf Cartel, made up of former army officers known as Zetas. They are part of an intricate network of lookouts ranging from taxi drivers to street kids who keep tabs on authorities and rival gangs.Last week Mexico captured a suspected high-ranking hit man for the brutal Tijuana Cartel, five days after arresting another suspected senior operative in the same gang, also known as the Arellano Felix Organization.
Last year Mexico extradited the suspected leader of the Gulf Cartel, Osiel Cardenas, to face trial in Texas. Other leaders of the group have been taken into custody since then.Cardenas, a former mechanic who rose up the cartel ranks by killing his superiors, set up the Zetas to fight the Sinaloa gang, which is run by Mexico's most wanted man, Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman.Analysts say a weakened Gulf Cartel could lead to more bloodshed as lower-rung operatives struggle for power and the Sinaloa alliance tries to muscle in on the Gulf's territory.

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Daniel Patterson, Mark Baensch charged with heroin trafficking

Daniel Patterson, 36, and Mark Baensch, also 36, were arrested at their Autumn St unit on Monday.Magistrate William White adjourned proceedings until April 15 for a contest mention and neither defendant applied for bail.The defendants' lawyer, Michael Brugman, told the court there were ``custodial issues'' in remanding the two men as both were taking methadone daily as part of drug treatment
Mr Brugman said Mr Baensch also suffered from stomach ulcers and was taking anti-depressant tablets.Police seized a crossbow, arrows and some sporting goods when they arrested the men at their unit on Monday.Mr Patterson slouched low during yesterday's court proceedings while Mr Baensch stared at the floor.

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Ruben Rochin-Gutierrez

Ruben Rochin-Gutierrez of Navojoa, Mexico pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy with the intent to distribute 6,489 pounds of marijuana. He was sentenced to 87 months in prison in U.S. District Court in Tucson, Ariz. on Monday.
According to prosecutors, the 41-year-old used his position as a federal police officer to help pass marijuana through his area and into the U.S. The U.S. Attorney's Office said Rochin-Gutierrez negotiated with undercover FBI agents to send three shipments into the U.S. between 2004 and 2006.

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Regina Ann Burke has been sentenced to 35 years in prison

Regina Ann Burke, 44, of Manor, pleaded guilty to two counts of delivery of a controlled substance after selling methamphetamine to an undercover officer.
Prosecutors said Burke confessed when investigators interviewed her, and complained she was being treated like a major drug dealer. “This case should make it obvious that the Parole Board’s policy of early release has given this drug dealer the wrong message,” said District Attorney John Bradley in a news release. “This time, the parole board should take the sentence seriously and remove this serial drug dealer from the community for a long time.” Burke had prior convictions for burglary and drug offenses and had been out on parole.

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Victoria Baptist,Alex Portocarrero,Jamie Fletcher admitted charges of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.

Victoria Baptist from Stroud soaked tent equipment in liquid forms of cocaine before boarding her flights back to the UK from South America. Bristol Crown Court heard the 36-year- old was part of a £3.5m drugs ring. Two accomplices, Alex Portocarrero, 36, from Ladywell, London, and Jamie Fletcher, 35, from Stroud, were jailed for eight years. Baptist took her 13-year-old daughter on drug deals to the Caribbean, South America and Holland between June 2004 and August 2005, the court heard.
Judge Richard Smith said: "How much was brought into Britain is not known - however it is quite clear that amounts were on a large rather than small scale in terms of importation." Baptist and Fletcher were involved in as many as seven shipments of cocaine which would be extracted at the drug laboratories for sale in Britain. Baptist, of Paganhill Estate, Stroud, who had denied any involvement in the plot, had been convicted at Gloucester Crown Court on 1 February. Portocarrero, of Slagrove Place, and Fletcher, of Russell Street, Stroud, had both admitted charges of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.

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Bernard King,Javon Kirk Louis Savage, Nicole Tamika Freeman charged with eight drug and conspiracy crimes

Anne Arundel County police seized $450,000 in cocaine in two packages sent to an Annapolis hotel, breaking up a drug-smuggling scheme run by three employees who made reservations in the made-up receipients' names, authorities said yesterday.
Two Upper Marlboro men have been charged, but police are looking for a 28-year-old woman from District Heights.Police first tracked suspicious packages being sent to the SpringHill Suites Annapolis, 189 Admiral Cochrane Drive. Detectives there noticed that the names listed on shipping labels were false, according to a police statement. Early last month, police said, they seized a package containing 5 kilograms of cocaine.
On Feb. 15, police said, they seized a second package containing 4.5 kilograms of cocaine. Detectives resealed the package and allowed it to be delivered to the hotel. Police arrested the two employees they said took possession of it: Bernard King, 48, and Javon Kirk Louis Savage, 22. Nicole Tamika Freeman remains at large.
All three are charged with eight drug and conspiracy crimes. Police said Savage is on house arrest until trial, and King is being held at the Anne Arundel County Detention Center on $750,000 bail.

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Nkemakonam Umenyi flew into Brisbane International Airport with almost 1kg of heroin in his suitcase.

Nkemakonam Umenyi, 22, pleaded guilty on Tuesday in the Supreme Court in Brisbane to one count of importing a marketable quantity of a border controlled drug.The court was told he was arrested on June 20 last year after arriving at Brisbane International Airport with almost 1kg of heroin in his suitcase.The drugs had a pure weight of 581.2g and were estimated to be worth $1,160,000.The court was told Umenyi, a microbiology student at one of Nigeria's most exclusive universities, had agreed to courier the drugs after running into financial difficulties.
Commonwealth prosecutor Paul Huygens told the court Umenyi had travelled from the university to the city of Lagos to inquire about flights to Canada, where his cousin lived.The court was told when he arrived in Lagos he was approached by three men and agreed to become a mule.It is not known how much he was to be paid for his involvement.When questioned by police upon his arrival in Australia, Umenyi initially denied knowing anything about the heroin in his bag.Justice John Byrne sentenced Umenyi to nine-and-a-half years jail with a non-parole period of five years

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Teck Boon Ng had 91 packets of heroin in his stomach

Teck Boon Ng, 40, had 91 packets of heroin in his stomach when he was arrested at Brisbane International Airport on June 27 last year.He pleaded guilty on Tuesday to one count of importing a marketable quantity of a border controlled drug.
Commonwealth prosecutor Paul Huygens told the court Ng had arrived on a flight from Hong Kong and was questioned by Customs officers after looking "nervous".
Ng quickly admitted to having swallowed a large amount of heroin before boarding the flight.He was arrested by Australian Federal Police and spent two days in hospital while he passed all the packages.The court was told Ng had swallowed almost 500g of powder, and that the pure weight of the heroin was 286.1g.The drugs had an estimated street value of $572,000.Defence barrister Simon Lewis said Ng had agreed to courier the drugs to Australia out of desperation for money.Mr Lewis told the court his client had travelled to Hong Kong in search of work but had been lured into becoming a mule with the promise of a $US5,000 ($A5,430) payment.He was given just $US400 ($A434) and a mobile phone before leaving for Australia, and told immigration officials the purpose of his trip was for a holiday.Justice John Byrne sentenced Ng to nine years jail with a non-parole period of five years.

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Michelle Tillman,Charles Nelson members of the Bloods crack cocaine operation

Arrests made in what police called a "major" crack cocaine operation in the Hilltop City are now being pursued in federal court.At least two members of the Bloods — a notoriously violent street gang known for running drug rackets in many major U.S. cities — were arrested recently for running a drug operation out of an apartment at 231 High St. Police seized more than $3,700 worth of crack split among 70 packets with a total weight of 23 grams. Police also found ammunition indicating those involved possessed guns at some point.Michelle Tillman, 35, resided at the High Street residence and was charged with one count of conspiracy to sell crack cocaine. She was released on $50,000 personal recognizance bail.
Charles Nelson, 21 of 473 Pennsylvania Ave., Apt. 43, Brooklyn, N.Y., was charged with one count of conspiracy to sell crack cocaine and one count of possession of crack cocaine with intent to sell. Tyree Everson, 18, of 611 Blake Ave., Brooklyn, N.Y., was also charged with one count of conspiracy to sell crack cocaine, one count of possession of crack cocaine with intent to sell and one count of sale of crack cocaine. Both Nelson and Everson were discovered to be members of the Bloods, police say, after review of information gathered during the course of the investigation.
Nelson and Everson were scheduled for probable cause hearings Friday, but before that date their cases were "nol prossed" and transferred to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Concord. U.S. Attorney Thomas Colantuono's office said until further notice no information about the case will be released as the case is under seal.
"Nelson and Everson were in Somersworth with the intention of selling crack cocaine and possibly opening a chapter (of The Bloods) here," according to a press release from the Somersworth Police Department. Police Capt. David Kretschmar said the department has "no insight" about why these individuals chose Somersworth as a location to form a local chapter.
Four days elapsed before police notified the press about the arrests, which Kretschmar said was due to "the way the investigation was going."
He said there were elements of the investigation that had not been completed and to maintain the integrity of the investigation, information had to be withheld until a certain time.
Kretschmar did say there will be "more arrests down the road" related to this case

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The Dubai Court of First Instance rejected the 35-year-old Belgian visitor’s claim for leniency and sentenced him to four years in jail

A visitor, arrested on arrival at the airport for smuggling in a hashish-stuffed cigarette and some marijuana seeds, which he claimed is allowed in his country, has been jailed. The Dubai Court of First Instance rejected the 35-year-old Belgian visitor’s claim for leniency and sentenced him to four years in jail.
The accused will be deported after serving the jail term.
The accused earlier pleaded guilty to smuggling in and possessing drugs and asked Presiding Judge Saeed Salem Bin Sarm for leniency. "I am guilty... I embraced Islam in prison and I would like to ask you for forgiveness and mercy," the accused told the court.

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Scott Furnish admitted possessing 21.5 grams of cocaine with intent to supply.

Police stopped Scott Furnish's car in Fakenham they found cocaine with a street value of between £967 and £1,290 inside.The discovery was described at Norwich Crown Court on Friday when Cornish (27), of Poppyfields, Fakenham, admitted possessing 21.5 grams of cocaine with intent to supply.Judge Paul Downes warned him that he came very close to going to prison. He adjourned sentence until April 11 for reports to see if the defendant is suitable for a drugs rehabilitation programme. Cornish was given conditional bail in the meantime. Lori Tucker, prosecuting, said that a police office who decided to stop Cornish's car found a rolled-up note, possibly for snorting cocaine, and also some packets of the drugs.Cornish said he was a heavy user and had paid £450 for the drugs. When he was interviewed he said he only supplied associates to fund his own habit. Henry Hughes, defending, said his client had never been in trouble before and was working in the building trade and is a loving father. He said that Cornish had accumulated large debts including £6,000 of debt to his bank. He told the court that Cornish bought drugs and shared them with three friends. He had domestic problems and had started taking drugs but had since had counselling and there was minimum risk of him re-offending.
Judge Downes told Cornish: "You should understand people who deal in drugs, whether commercially or not, usually go to prison for a very long time. You were on a knife-edge today of being sent to prison but that may be counter-productive."

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Kirsty Mackay ,Cheryl Pattison ,Julian Tavernier all admitted being concerned in the importation of a prohibited drug

Kirsty Mackay and Cheryl Pattison were arrested at Mackay's home in Bethune Avenue, Seaham, by an undercover cop who delivered the package, disguised as a tin of biscuits.
Pattison's boyfriend, Julian Tavernier, who divided his time between London and the Dominican Republic, was jailed for six years.Steven Orange, prosecuting, said: "Tavernier posted the package and it was intercepted at Gatwick airport.
"It was disguised as a tin of biscuits and addressed to a Sharon Davis – a made-up name – at Mackay's home in Seaham."Under the biscuits was half a kilo of cocaine with a street value of around £200,000."The package was resealed and police decided to carry out what they call a controlled delivery at Seaham.The court heard Mackay signed for the package and police moved in immediately."Pattison was caught trying to run out of the back door," added Mr Orange. "The sisters eventually admitted they had agreed to take part in the scheme for £1,500 each.
"Tavernier was later to say he was paid £5,000 by the people in the Dominican Republic to post the package."Mackay, 25, of Bethune Avenue, Seaham, and Pattison, 29, of Canterbury Terrace, north west London, and Tavernier, 29, of the same London address, all admitted being concerned in the importation of a prohibited drug between August 31 and September 8, last year.The sisters admitted a separate charge of defrauding the Zenith insurance company of £25,000 by reporting Pattinson's Porsche Boxter car as stolen, when it had been towed away for unpaid parking fines.

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Salvador Zavala,Aureliano Diaz-Estrada were arrested when Diaz-Estrada allegedly showed police cocaine he had in his vehicle

Salvador Zavala, allegedly directed undercover officers to the car wash, where he said another alleged dealer, Biglerville resident Aureliano Diaz-Estrada, 19, was waiting. The two suspects were arrested when Diaz-Estrada allegedly showed police cocaine he had in his vehicle, police said. Police said 500 grams of cocaine and 1,000 grams of marijuana were seized from the vehicle. Investigators said the cocaine has a street value of between $50,000 and $75,000 and the marijuana has a street value of between $6,000 and $10,000. Police said officers also searched Zavala's residence, where they found a half-ounce of cocaine, marijuana and a handgun. Adams County Assistant District Attorney Brian Sinnett said Friday's bust is the largest seizure of cocaine in Adams County in about five years.
"They're major, major dealers," Sinnett said. In Adams County, cocaine and crack cocaine are consistently the most severe problem, though drugs like heroin and OxyContin are also significant parts of the local drug culture, Sinnett said.
Diaz-Estrada has been charged with possession with intent to deliver cocaine and marijuana and criminal conspiracy. His bail has been set at $100,000.
Zavala has been charged with one count of delivery of cocaine, one count of delivery of marijuana, two counts of possession with intent to deliver cocaine, one count of possession with intent to deliver marijuana and one count of criminal conspiracy. His bail has been set at $250,000.
Both are jailed at York County prison. No more arrests are expected in the investigation, officials said. Both Diaz-Estrada and Zavala speak Spanish, so investigators have not spoken to them about their own sources for drugs, Graff said. "I don't speak Spanish," he said.
The assistant district attorney also said police do not yet know the suspects' citizen status and can't be sure they even have their real names.
"We're looking into that," Graff said.

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Cocaine discovered inside a consignment of footballs.

Cocaine with a potential value of up to £120,000 has been discovered inside a consignment of footballs. One hundred packets of the drug were found sewn into the lining of five balls from Brazil by customs officers at East Midlands Airport. A total of 650g was recovered and officers said a basic street value of £40,000 could be trebled if it was mixed with other substances. No arrests have been made and investigations continue. The consignment arrived on Monday and was destined for an address in the London area.

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45-year-old man and the 30-year-old woman were arrested and accused on suspicion of drug smuggling

The 45-year-old man and the 30-year-old woman in the car (Volkswagen Golf), who were heading for Macedonia, were arrested and accused on suspicion of drug smuggling. The court will decide on their remanding in custody. The customs officers started to inspect the car in detail. The drug was uncovered thanks to a dog trained in detecting drugs, said Pavel Hoffman, head of the customs authority's drug and weapon section. The dog reacted to the car back. After the number plate was removed, the customs officers found a total of 30 drug parcels in the space between the bumper and the undercarriage. This has been a record high amount of drugs uncovered by customs officer on one occasion since 2005 when 19 kilos of heroin was found in a Hungarian lorry on Czech territory, Novinky.cz server reported. In the same year, the Czech police seized a contraband with 10kg of heroin in a Bulgarian lorry near Breclav, south Moravia. The so far biggest drug amount in one delivery (82 kilos) was revealed at the Czech border in 1998. In 2007, Czech customs officers and policemen seized a total of 20 kilos of heroin.

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Michael Rhodes collapsed in a cell at Middlesbrough police station

Michael Rhodes collapsed in a cell at Middlesbrough police station on February 25 after being taken into custody on suspicion of drug offences.The 38-year-old was taken from the cell to James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough.He was later transferred to the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle where he died on Sunday, March 9.
A post mortem examination proved to be inconclusive.Gary Garland, the IPCC's regional commissioner, said: "We will ensure all aspects of Mr Rhodes's time in custody are checked to ensure those close to him have a full picture of what happened. "The IPCC is required to conduct an independent investigation in these circumstances, and our involvement should not be taken as an immediate indication that the police have done something wrong."

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Shaun McGinley was given a six month jail sentence suspended for two years

Shaun McGinley, 22, turned up at the enquiry desk and told an officer: "It's not them, it's me," said prosecutor Emma Gough.The police had arrested his mother and girlfriend after a search warrant unearthed a cannabis bush at his Middlesbrough home.McGinley, an apprentice, was at work but a neighbour phoned him saying: "Your house has just been raided."The cannabis bush was found in bags along with electronic scales and £215 cash, Teesside Crown Court was told.McGinley told police they would find two more bags of cannabis in the laundry basket on the landing, and he said that nobody else was aware of them.He said that he was planning to sell them to pay off a drugs debt, and the cannabis had a street value of £2,000.
Rachel Dyson, defending, said that McGinley owed quite a lot of money to some "particularly not nice people" and they had suggested that selling the drugs for them would be a way of reducing his debt.McGinley of Alnwick Court, Middlesbrough, was given a six month jail sentence suspended for two years with 12 months supervision, 200 hours unpaid work and ordered to pay £270 prosecution costs after he pleaded guilty to possession of a Class C drug with intent to supply on June 27.

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Noyimat Ronke Salau jailed earlier this month for six years

A 51-year-old Nigerian mother of four was jailed earlier this month for six years by Ipswich Crown Court after attempting to smuggle cocaine worth almost £80,000 into the UK.HMRC officers stopped Noyimat Ronke Salau at Stansted Airport on November 4 when she arrived on a flight from Istanbul.Salau said she was visiting her sister in Middlesex but when her suitcase was emptied it still felt heavy. Officers scanned the luggage and packages could be seen in the side linings of the suitcase. A hole was made with a spike and a white powder was discovered which tested positive to cocaine. In total 1.97 kilograms of cocaine with an estimated street value of £78,800 and £850 in cash, which was found in her handbag, was recovered. Salau was arrested and charged in November with drug smuggling offences and she pleaded guilty in February. She was charged with the importation of a controlled drug under the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979.His Honour Judge Neil McKittrick in sentencing Salau said: "You are of previous good character and you gave a no comment interview. However, the evidence against you is substantial.

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Tony Mokbel could be back in Australia within months

Drugs fugitive Tony Mokbel could be back in Australia within months to face trial for murder after Greece's highest court cleared the way for his forced return.
After a nine-month legal battle, seven Supreme Court judges sitting in Athens granted Australia's official request for Mokbel's extradition.The decision took less than five minutes to read out and appeared to initially confuse Mokbel, who had to rely on a translator to spell out the news as his distressed girlfriend Danielle McGuire looked on from the back row of the court.Greece's Justice Minister Sotirios Hatzigakis is now expected to take between one and two months to sign the official paperwork that will pave the way for Mokbel's return.However, Mokbel's lawyers are considering lodging an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights in a last-ditch bid to save him having to set foot on Australian soil.Lebanese officials have also issued arrest warrants for Mokbel, which could complicate his return to Melbourne, where he faces 20 criminal charges, including two of murder.The Supreme Court judges rejected five of the charges Mokbel is facing in Australia - one of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice and four others related to drug trafficking - as grounds to extradite him.However, they agreed there were sufficient grounds to force him to return based on the 15 other charges, for which he can now be tried.Before handing down their decision, the judges asked Mokbel, dressed in a sombre dark suit, red tie and white shirt, if he had anything to say.He simply replied: "Thank you for hearing our case".As he was led from the court he exchanged "I love you" calls with Ms McGuire before his two security guards granted him a brief reunion with his baby daughter, Renate, in a corridor.
Mokbel gave his little girl a quick peck on the cheek, telling her, "I love you, babe" and shared a quick embrace with Ms McGuire's eldest daughter, 12-year-old Brittany, before being led away to the court's cells.A disheartened Mokbel insisted to waiting reporters that he would never be able to get a fair trial in Australia if he was forced back to Melbourne.

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3.2 tons of cocaine were found in a swoop on an Elche warehouse

3.2 tons of cocaine were found in a swoop on an Elche warehouse in 2004
Sentencing has been released in the trial of the eight men charged after one of Valencia’s biggest ever drug hauls, three and a quarter tons of cocaine found in a lorry-load of bananas in the El Altet area of Elche four years ago. Total sentencing in the case amounts to more than 77 years and the smugglers will also have to pay the value the drug would have brought on the black market: more than 112 million €.The longest terms went to six of the suspects, who admitted their guilt and accepted sentences of 11 years, with two of them also getting another six months each for falsifying documents.
Two others claimed they had got lost looking for a car boot sale and were only at the warehouse where police swooped by mistake, but the court ruled it proved that their role in the smuggling operation was to distribute the cocaine. They received terms of five years and four months each.

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Ricky Simpson,was engaged in an altruistic activity and was firm in his belief that he was helping others

Ricky Simpson, 58,"Mr. Simpson is in an unusual position, because unlike other people engaged in the drug trade, he was not engaged in trafficking for financial gain," Judge Beaton said Monday. "He was engaged in an altruistic activity and was firm in his belief that he was helping others
won’t spend any time behind bars because Judge Carole Beaton said the time he spent in custody after his November arrest was enough of a deterrent.
"If he and others do not get the message, after spending the equivalent of eight days in jail, that trafficking is against the law, I’m doubtful that adding 20 more days as suggested by the Crown would be any more of a deterrent," Judge Beaton said Monday as she sentenced Mr. Simpson on one charge of trafficking marijuana oil.
Outside court after his sentencing, Mr. Simpson reiterated his intention to leave Canada. He said he can’t live in a country that persecutes and prosecutes him for believing that marijuana is a miracle cure."I’m heading for South America," he said. "I’m looking at moving to either Ecuador, Peru or Brazil. Those are countries where the government won’t prosecute me and where I can be free to make the (marijuana) medication I require."He said he will move as soon as he can sell his two properties.The trafficking charge was laid after a woman complained to Amherst police that Mr. Simpson had dropped off a syringe full of hemp oil at her home and asked her to give it to a relative who was using the drug for medicinal purposes. The syringe was found to contain about five millilitres of marijuana oil, the equivalent of a teaspoon. His arrest came as he was awaiting sentencing on earlier charges of producing marijuana and possessing less than three kilograms of tetrahydrocannabinol for the purpose of trafficking. Tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, is the main active ingredient in marijuana.A Nova Scotia Supreme Court jury found Mr. Simpson guilty of those charges in September and Justice Felix Cacchione sentenced him in February to a $2,000 fine and one day in jail, considered served by his appearance in court that day.Mr. Simpson maintained during his Supreme Court trial that he grew the marijuana on his property and turned it into hemp oil to give to more than 300 patients who he strongly maintains were cured from a variety of diseases ranging from cankers to cancer.

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Oliverto Jordan-Negron was charged with heroin trafficking

Oliverto Jordan-Negron, 52, of 31 Cambridge St., second floor, was allegedly in his bedroom when the vice squad, with a warrant, searched his apartment around 9:40 a.m.
Sgt. Eric A. Boss said police found a loaded .380-caliber semiautomatic firearm under the mattress in the bedroom. A 7-month-old boy, the son of a woman who was also arrested in the raid, was taken into temporary custody by the state Department of Social Services, he said.
Neighbor complaints about people going in and out of the second-floor apartment of the three-family home prompted the drug investigation, led by Officer Kenneth J. Davenport. Police allegedly made several controlled drug buys from Mr. Jordan-Negron during a six-week investigation, Sgt. Boss said. Sgt. Boss said 38 grams of heroin, $1,600 in cash, a scale and packaging materials were seized in the raid. Mr. Jordan-Negron was charged with heroin trafficking 28 to 99 grams, possession of heroin with intent to distribute, possession of a firearm without a firearm identification card, possession of ammunition without an FID card, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and improper storage of a firearm. Jessica Sullivan, 33, also of 31 Cambridge St., second floor, was arrested and charged with being present where heroin is knowingly kept. According to court records, Mr. Jordan-Negron — who has aliases of Alexis Deleon and Julio Echevarria — was sentenced in September to 18 months in the House of Correction with four months to be served on a charge of heroin possession with intent to distribute out of Central District Court.
He was also charged with possession of a firearm without a FID card, cocaine possession and two counts of heroin distribution, for which he received four concurrent terms of four months in the House of Correction.

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Sean Brown charges carry a maximum of 7-1/2 to 15 years in prison

Sean Brown, 34, formerly of 49 Worcester St., has been jailed since his arrest soon after the sales of drugs.Brown was first tried and convicted in 2006, but the state Supreme Court overturned that conviction, finding that the four sales should have been tried separately. Brown was tried on all four sales last week, however, under a newer law allowing related crimes to be handled in a single trial.
The jury Friday convicted Brown, who had acted as his own lawyer; his sentencing has not yet been scheduled.
The charges carry a maximum of 7-1/2 to 15 years in prison because of Brown's prior drug convictions. Judge William Groff had originally sentenced Brown to 3-1/2 to seven years in prison, but the state Sentence Review Board raised his sentence to five to 14 years.Because that conviction was reversed, however, Brown will now face sentencing anew.

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Nigel Edwards aka DJ admitted ten charges of supplying drugs

Nigel Edwards, 24, was arrested with two other men after providing an undercover team with heroin and crack cocaine.Edwards, nicknamed DJ, who used a series of runners to help distribute the class A-drugs, had been targeted in Operation Phoenix in which specialist officers were deployed to rid the streets of drugs and other associated crime from May 2006 to November 2007.Prosecutor James Kellam described how one officer, identified only as Frankie, had approached Edwards about buying some dark (heroin). Edwards offered his phone number and indicated he could supply larger quantities. A runner sitting in an adjacent car then supplied him with a wrap for £10.The city crown court heard of subsequent deals which ended after Frankie told him he wanted to buy a larger amount.Shortly after the transaction in Shirley, officers stopped the car in which he was in and he was arrested with the driver and another passenger. They had £2,000 of heroin between them.Edwards, 24, of Oxford Avenue, Southampton, admitted ten charges of supplying drugs. The court heard he had 28 previous convictions with five for drugs and in 2004 had been jailed for four years in Portsmouth for possessing crack cocaine with intent to supply.
The other vehicle occupants, Ryan Beckford, 26, from London, and Gary Squire, 25, of Kent Street, Northam, both admitted possessing heroin with intent to supply. Beckford was jailed for three and a half years, and Squire received three years.
Mr Kellam described how Frankie approached a drug dealer called A J in St Mary Street and asked if he had any heroin and was directed to the YMCA. There, he met Andrew Wooff who took him to a nearby subway where he bought two wraps for £20.
Wooff, 47, of Derby Road, Southampton, admitted supplying and being concerned in the supply of heroin and received three and a half years.In another Operation Phoenix case, Joseph Adams, 32, of Darwin Road, admitted five charges involving the supply of heroin and crack and was jailed for four and a half years. He was said to have committed 85 previous offences dating back to 1992.

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Tuan Tran arrested and remanded in custody until his trial

Tuan Tran, aged 38, who is from Vietnam, pleaded not guilty at Northampton Crown Court yesterday to producing cannabis and being concerned in its production with persons unknown.He was arrested after officers from Northamptonshire Police raided a house in Charwelton, near Daventry, on Monday, January 7 and discovered a sophisticated cannabis factory of more than 500 plants, worth an estimated £150,000 – the third raid of its kind in the county during the first week of the year.Judge Charles Wide QC heard how the prosecution alleges Tran's DNA was found on a discarded cigarette within the property and had the keys on him at the time of his arrest.At the time of the raid, Northamptonshire Police was dismantling cannabis farms at a rate of more than three each month as the trade in the class C drug moves from imported quantities to the home grown hydroponics substance. The factory was uncovered as a result of information provided to officers from Charwelton residents.
Tran, of Woolwich, London, was further remanded in custody until his trial later this year

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Ola Brunkert bled to death after a shard of glass pierced his neck

Civil Guard headquarters in Madrid said: "All the indications are that this was a tragic accident. "A glass door in the kitchen of the house was shattered and it appears that this man fell through the door. "He then managed to get out into the garden where he died."Brunkert had been a jazz drummer and a member of the blues band Slim's Blues Gang, before joining the pop group Science Poption in the mid-1960s. His first-known session with Abba was also the group's first single, People Need Love. Brunkert was one of only two musicians to appear on all of Abba's albums.

Ola Brunkert, the session drummer heard on nearly every Abba hit the legendary Swedish band had in the 1970s and early 1980s, has died after a freak accident on the Spanish holiday island of Majorca, local justice authorities said Monday.
The 61-year-old apparently bled to death after a shard of glass pierced his neck when he stumbled through a glass door leading from the kitchen to the garden of his holiday home where he lived alone. Authorities said after an initial post mortem examination that the musician apparently lost consciousness after falling, and then bled to death. The drummer was discovered by a neighbour who late Sunday chanced by the house, which is in a compound of holiday homes near Areta, in the east of Majorca. Authorities said the compound was largely empty during the winter months - accounting for no one being immediately available to offer first aid. Brunkert was one of the most sought-after session drummers in Sweden in the 1970s, and played in a variety of jazz and blues bands as well as on the Abba hits that dominated pop music from their 1974 hit Waterloo to the band's break-up in 1982.

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Captured Anthony Thurton,Ricardo Rivera,Caesar Canche,Arnoldo Rivas,Luis Novelo,Roy Lanza,Irvin Cantun,Victor Torres

As of Tuesday, March 11, eight persons have been charged in connection with the incident. They are all of Orange Walk: Anthony Thurton, 44; Ricardo Rivera, 50; Luis Novelo, 22; Irvin Cantun, 18; Victor Torres, 19; Roy Lanza, 22; Arnoldo Rivas, 44; and Caesar Canche, 39. They were denied bail by Magistrate Headley Stewart and remanded to Hattieville Prison on non-drug-related charges of conspiracy to land an aircraft, control of aviation fuel, illegally landing an aircraft and causing obstruction to the free flow of traffic. There were no drugs of any kind found aboard the plane, leading investigators to believe that the traffickers may have escaped with the drugs, or it may have been dropped beforehand, as police “strongly believe” there was a large quantity, possibly a ton or more, of drugs on the confiscated plane. The police did find equipment for refueling and a substantial amount of aircraft fuel - nine 15-gallon containers, according to reports.
Six suspects were initially detained, all Belizeans. The plane, a twin-engine KingAir Beechcraft with possibly false Venezuela markings, was damaged in the incident and had to be transported to the BDF base at Ladyville.
The Police Anti-Drug Unit, Orange Walk Police Formation under Senior Superintendent Robert Mariano, and the BDF are all participating in the investigation, and we are told that the prisoners were cooperating.Still at large are the individual injured in the original shootout by the BDF, as well as Zacharias Copo, who owns the container truck identified at the scene, and the pilot and co-pilot of the plane. Police are also looking for the drugs they are sure was on the plane and likely moved to another location during the shootout. Speaking with local media Tuesday, Orange Walk’s Sr. Supt. Robert Mariano said whatever information that was gotten from the prisoners was not taken by force, and was gathered in the presence of a Justice of the Peace, and confirmed that some Mexicans may have been involved.

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Liverpool man suspected of leading a drugs trafficking operation was arrested after he flew into Luton from Dubai

Liverpool man suspected of leading a drugs trafficking operation was arrested at a UK airport.Three men from Bootle were also today being questioned by police in connection with a drugs plot.Armed police swooped at six addresses in Liverpool and Sefton yesterday after search warrants were executed.Police confirmed the three men from Bootle were being questioned at police stations in Merseyside. They said one man was aged 57 and another 40, but did not reveal the age of the third man.The raids followed the earlier arrest of a Merseyside man, 39, who was detained by officers from the Serious Organised Crime Agency.
They held him after he flew into Luton from Dubai yesterday.Police believe he is the ringleader of an organised criminal gang which they have been tracking for 12 months.
He was seized by police on suspicion of drugs trafficking and false identity offences.His arrest gave the green light for a series of raids across Liverpool and Sefton.Addresses in Bootle, Litherland, Crosby and Kirkdale were visited by armed police as stunned locals looked on.One woman told how officers smashed down the front door of a house in Enstone Avenue, Litherland, before raiding the house.
She said: “The front door was damaged and there were police cars and vans on the street. Everyone asking what’s been going on.”

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Joseph Jenkins.was sent to a Young Offenders’ Institution for eight years after he admitted two counts of possessing class A drugs

The Recorder of Liverpool, Judge Henry Globe QC, said he feared Jenkins was one of many students being targeted by gangs to harbour drugs and cash.
Astonished cleaning staff at Atlantic Point Student Village, in Naylor Street, Liverpool city centre, called police after finding shoe boxes and drawers stuffed with drugs.Officers later identified heroin and crack cocaine, some of 94% purity, with a street value of about £270,000 and more than £63,000 in cash.
As officers emptied the room they noticed John Moores University student Jenkins returning to the premises and pursued him.
At Liverpool Crown Court yesterday the 20-year-old was sent to a Young Offenders’ Institution for eight years after he admitted two counts of possessing class A drugs with intent to supply on September 4 last year.
Judge Globe said: “Those who peddle these drugs and have access to these quantities of drugs and the amount of cash, which is significant, need a safe holding place.
“Intelligent, potentially trustworthy university undergraduates going about their studies in university accommodation are very good targets for criminals to use as warehouse men.”
He said gangs were unlikely to trust other criminals with serious amounts of cash and drugs and had begun to target those who were less suspicious.
But Judge Globe said Jenkins – who had stored the drugs for about five weeks – had succumbed to playing an “important role in the supply of dangerous drugs”.
Geoffrey Lowe, defending, said Jenkins – who had no previous convictions – was a promising and intelligent student who had suffered a “moment of madness”.
He presented Jenkins’s record of achievement to the court and even a letter of recommendation from District Judge Marilyn Mornington – the mother of his best friend.
Mr Lowe said: “There is nothing in this man’s background to suggest anything other than an intelligent, well-educated man with every opportunity before him.
“It’s madness to see how he could be involved in this level of drug dealing.”

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Joseph Offerbuike a 10-year sentence, with the final three years suspended, and further bound him to keep the peace for a further five years.

Joseph Offerbuike, with an address in Amsterdam, told Gardai he had agreed to smuggle the drugs to get €2,500 for his mother's funeral.
The 40-year-old, who is originally from Nigeria, pleaded guilty to possession of the drugs after he was found to have swallowed 90 pellets of cocaine.Judge Desmond Hogan imposed a 10-year sentence, with the final three years suspended, and further bound him to keep the peace for a further five years.

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Wendy Young admitted being concerned in the supply of cocaine

Wendy Young, 39, and her husband were stopped by police after a tip-off.And Young, a volunteer ambulance driver, confessed to officers: "I am an a*******. I only did it as we were hard-up for Christmas and we were desperate."At the High Court in Edinburgh, Young, of the city's Niddrie House Gardens, admitted being concerned in the supply of cocaine when stopped on the A702 near Carlops, Midlothian, in December last year.Alex Prentice, QC, prosecuting, said she was paid £1000 to fetch the drugs from Liverpool and part of that was used to hire a Chrysler Grand Voyager vehicle.Police discovered three mobile phones in the car as well as the drugs in a plastic bag.Jim Keegan, defending, said Young was married with three children and was a grandmother.He said: "This was prompted by the need for Christmas money. She and her husband have been unemployed and were on benefits."It was a foolish escapade and she described herself quite well to the police."Jailing her, Lord Brailsford said: "It is foolish and criminal behaviour and adds to the drug problem in Edinburgh."

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American in Costa Rica smuggling nearly a pound of cocaine (0.4 kg) in his stomach after he went into convulsions on a plane bound for Miami

American in Costa Rica was caught smuggling nearly a pound of cocaine (0.4 kg) in his stomach after he went into convulsions on a plane bound for Miami, police said on Friday.

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Former prison security chief on the resort island of Bali to four years in jail for drugs and weapons offences

An Indonesian court has sentenced a former prison security chief on the resort island of Bali to four years in jail for drugs and weapons offences.
Muhammad Sudrajat was found guilty of possessing 0.2 grams of crystal methamphetamine, also known locally as "shabu", and 50 rounds of ammunition.
Sudrajat's arrest in September last year had prompted Indonesian police to investigate reports of a drug network in Bali's Kerobokan prison where at least 10 Australians are serving heavy sentences for drug offences.
Police had initially suspected Sudrajat of having acted as a middleman, bringing drugs in and out of the prison, but the suspicion was not proven in court.Drugs are rife in Indonesian prisons and there are also frequent cases of prison staff being bribed.Sudrajat said after the conviction that he was sorry for tarnishing the image of the Bali prison.
"I'm satisfied that the judges have made an objective decision," he told reporters.
Indonesia imposes the death sentence for many narcotic offences, defending the penalty as necessary to deter others in a country with a growing drugs problem.
The Supreme Court this month commuted to life imprisonment the death sentences for three of six Australians on death row for trying to smuggle out of Bali 8.2 kg (18 lb) of heroin.

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