narcocrime

Jayson Ordinario, 22, later told police officer that 'he was forced to swallow 34 tubes of heroin

2009-11-04T08:51:00.001Z

Jayson Ordinario, 22, later told police officer that 'he was forced to swallow 34 tubes of heroin and that at the time of his rescue, he was about to board a plane to Macau to transport the substances,' Soriano said. Police officers also seized six capsules of a 'yellowish powdered substance,' which laboratory tests found to be high-grade heroin, from the two suspects identified as Jhun Enummeng and Elpidio Gonzales. Soriano said Enummeng and Gonzales were 'drug couriers for a well-knit drug syndicate operating internationally' that uses Manila as a trans-shipment point for distributing narcotics to China, Macau and Malaysia. He said the value of the seized heroin was estimated at more than 3 million pesos (64,000 dollars). The police unearthed the modus operandi when Ordinario's parents sought assistance to locate their missing son who was allegedly abducted by the two suspects. Ordinario, a former overseas worker in Macau, said he was about to attend mass in downtown Manila when he was seized by the suspects on November 1. 'They threatened me that if I didn't do what they were telling me, something bad would happen to me,' he said. Soriano said follow-up operations were being conducted to track down other members of the syndicate in Manila. The illegal drugs trade in the Philippines rakes in about 700 billion pesos every year, according to government estimates. More than 6 million Filipinos were believed to be habitual or occasional drug users.

Group of 10 alleged Iranian drug smugglers, including eight veiled women, were caught with $12.5 million worth of methamphetamines

2009-10-21T13:12:00.002+01:00

Group of 10 alleged Iranian drug smugglers, including eight veiled women, were caught with $12.5 million worth of methamphetamines at Indonesia’s main airport, the customs chief said Wednesday.

Czech police have found six kilogrammes of heroin during a home search of a Kosovo citizen who was allegedly selling the drug in the country

2009-09-21T12:47:00.002+01:00

Czech police have found six kilogrammes of heroin during a home search of a Kosovo citizen who was allegedly selling the drug in the country with his girlfriend for several months, Czech anti-drug centre head Jakub Frydrych told CTK Wednesday.The pair has been arrested and accused of drug production and possession. It could spend up to ten years in prison if the accusations are proved.Some 200,000 heroin doses worth 10 million crowns could have been produced from the seized drug.The Kosovo man who had a flat in Prague stayed illegally in the Czech Republic.Last year, the Czech police seized 46 kilogrammes of heroin. In 2007 it was about 20 kilos.Heroin is mostly smuggled to the country in cars by ethnic Albanians from Kosovo and Macedonia.According to the Czech anti-drug centre, demand for heroin dropped last year

James Orlando Quintana, 46.fugitive described as a former heroin kingpin of the western United States was found dead in Kansas City of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound

2009-09-21T12:45:00.002+01:00

fugitive described as a former heroin kingpin of the western United States was found dead in Kansas City of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound after a daylong standoff with police. He was James Orlando Quintana, 46.

Boston lawyer Kevin Barron has been acquitted of a charge that he tried to smuggle heroin into a Massachusetts state prison.

2009-09-21T12:39:00.000+01:00

Boston lawyer Kevin Barron has been acquitted of a charge that he tried to smuggle heroin into a Massachusetts state prison.Judge Janet Sanders ruled Barron did not know there was heroin hidden in a package he was carrying into the prison, the Boston Globe reports.In June, the mother of a prison inmate pleaded guilty to inserting the heroin into holes in a legal brief contained in the package.“I am innocent, and I would like to regain what was once a good reputation,’’ Barron said told the Globe.

‘Hillbilly Heroin’ leads to Walgreens robbery

2009-09-21T12:37:00.000+01:00

Gary Filip may have been better off if he would have just dealt with his withdrawal instead of allegedly choosing to steal drugs to deal with the aftereffects.Instead, Filip, 35, of Detroit is accused in Buffalo County Court of robbing Walgreens at 2516 Second Ave. at about 9:45 p.m. Tuesday of an undisclosed amount of cash and Oxycontin. The drug, also known as Hillbilly Heroin, is a powerful painkiller that can only be obtained through a prescription.The drug also is used by addicts to manage withdrawal symptoms.Kristie Workman, 40, also of Detroit, is accused of aiding and abetting Filip by driving him to and from the scene.Workman's 13-year-old daughter, who was with the couple at the time they were arrested, was taken into protective custody and released to the state department of Health and Human Services.At his initial court hearing Wednesday, Filip told Judge Gerry Jorgensen he has lived in Detroit all of his life and has two previous felony convictions, although he didn't elaborate. His bond is set at $750,000 cash or surety.An attorney with the county public defender's office will represent him.Workman, originally from Arizona, told Jorgensen she's only lived in Detroit six months. Her last felony conviction was 15 or 16 years ago.Jorgensen set her bond at $100,000 cash or surety, and she will receive a special public defender.
As Filip left Jorgensen's courtroom Wednesday after having his bond set, he said "Write me, hon" to Workman.Court records outline how the robbery took place:About 9:45 p.m. Tuesday, the Kearney Police Department received a report of an armed robbery at Walgreens. A man demanded cash and Oxycontin from the pharmacy and indicated he had a gun.Witnesses in the parking lot saw a white male with a shotgun enter a Dodge Stratus and noted the license plate number. The car's description was broadcast to all law enforcement. About 10:15 p.m., a trooper with the Nebraska State Patrol located the car in the parking lot of 1st Interstate Inn at the Elm Creek interchange.The trooper contacted three people - Filip, Workman and Workman's daughter - and saw a shotgun in plain view inside the car. The trooper took the three into custody without incident.Police interviewed Workman and her daughter, who told police Filip needed drugs because he was going through withdrawal. Filip told Workman to find the first pharmacy she came to. After robbing Walgreens, Filip gave Workman a handful of the drug, which she ingested.Police have surveillance footage from Walgreens that shows a man matching Filip's description.Filip and Workman are scheduled to appear in court in October.

Wilfredo Rodriguez Rosado, recruited several American Airlines employees to watch over cocaine-laden suitcases that later were distributed across the United States.

2009-09-21T12:24:00.002+01:00

Agents with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bayamon Drug Force, the Puerto Rico Police Department and the FBI arrested the suspects Tuesday in Puerto Rico and Miami."Although the indictment does not mention Orlando, it is part of our investigation," said Lymarie V. Llovet-Ayala, the U.S. attorney's spokeswoman in Puerto Rico. "That information will be released later."Llovet-Ayala said all suspects are residents of Puerto Rico.The narcotics ring began its operation in 1999 and smuggled nearly $20 million in cocaine from Puerto Rico into the United States through Orlando and Miami, authorities said.In Orlando, an airport spokeswoman said she was unaware of any airline workers being involved in the drug bust.An American Airlines spokesman said in an e-mail to CNN the airline was aware that arrests were made but couldn't discuss specifics because of the company's privacy regulations. The spokesman said airline officials were working with authorities.The four-count indictment alleges the suspected ringleader, Wilfredo Rodriguez Rosado, recruited several American Airlines employees to watch over cocaine-laden suitcases that later were distributed across the United States.Officials said most of the commercial fights ferrying drug-filled suitcases came into San Juan, a major trans-shipment point for drugs earmarked for U.S. mainland cities, CNN reported.In the indictment, the Justice Department also sought to seize $18 million worth of property owned by the suspects, including seven homes, three businesses and an apartment complex.

scheme in which heroin is given to addicts in supervised clinics has led to big reductions in the use of street drugs and crime

2009-09-15T09:40:00.000+01:00

scheme in which heroin is given to addicts in supervised clinics has led to big reductions in the use of street drugs and crime, the BBC has learned. More than 100 users took part in the pilot – part funded by the government – in London, Brighton and Darlington. They either injected heroin or received the drug’s substitute methadone. Those given heroin responded best and an independent panel which monitored the scheme over six months are advising ministers to set up further trials. About three-quarters of those given heroin were said to have "substantially" reduced their use of street drugs. Research suggests that between half and two-thirds of all crime in the UK is drug-related. The Home Office says on its website that about three-quarters of crack and heroin users claim they commit crime to feed their habits.
PILOT SCHEME FINDINGS
Three-quarters reduced use of street heroin
Offences down from 1,731 in 30 days to 547 in six months
Spending on drugs down from £300 to £50 a week
Figures for group given heroin Professor John Strang, who led the project, said the results were "very positive" because the scheme had helped cut crime and avoid "expensive" prison sentences. Professor Strang, who is based at the National Addiction Centre, part of King’s Health Partners, said the individuals on the programme were among those who had been the hardest to treat. "It’s as if each of them is an oil tanker heading for disaster and so the purpose of this trial is to see: ‘Can you turn them around Is it possible to avert disaster’ "And the surprising finding – which is good for the individuals and good for society as well – is that you can," he said. The Randomised Injecting Opioid Treatment Trial (RIOTT) programme – which is funded by a number of agencies, including the Department of Health – began in 2005. It involved 127 chronic heroin addicts for whom conventional types of treatment had failed. Many of the addicts were also using other substances, including crack cocaine. During the trials, a third of addicts were given the heroin substitute methadone orally and another third injected methadone under supervision. The remainder, observed by nurses, injected themselves with diamorphine – unadulterated heroin – imported from Switzerland.
National roll-out,Those on the programme were also given psychological support and help with their housing and social needs. The results showed that addicts in all three groups cut the amount of heroin they obtained illicitly from street dealers. According to researchers, more than half of the heroin injecting group were said to be "largely abstinent" and one-in-five did not use street heroin at all. Before they began the programme, the addicts in the heroin injecting group were spending more than £300 a week on street drugs. After six months, this had reduced to an average of £50 a week."It used to be about chasing the buzz, but when you go on the programme you just want to feel comfortable"John, RIOTT participant
There was also a big drop in the number of offences addicts admitted committing to obtain money to feed their habit. In the previous month before the scheme started, addicts in the heroin injecting group reported carrying out 1,731 crimes. After six months, this had fallen to 547 offences – a reduction of more than two-thirds. One of the heroin addicts on the programme, a 34-year-old man called John, had been addicted for eight years when the trials began. He fed his habit by dealing. "My life was just a shambles… waking up, chasing money, chasing drugs," he said.
But John said the scheme had transformed his life "100 per cent" and he now had a part-time job. "It used to be about chasing the buzz, but when you go on the programme you just want to feel comfortable," he said.
"I’ve started reducing my dose gradually, so that maybe in a few months time I’ll be able to come off it altogether, drug free totally." In its drug strategy, published last year, the government said it would "roll out" the prescription of injectible heroin, subject to the findings of the pilot scheme. The National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse (NTA), which administers drug treatment in England, said the results were "encouraging". The NTA said an independent expert group, set up to advise the government, had concluded that there was enough "positive evidence of the benefits" of the programme to merit further pilots. The NTA is understood to be keen to evaluate the financial implications of the scheme. At £15,000 per user per year, supervised heroin injecting is three times more expensive than other treatments.

Robert Conde III arrested

2009-09-15T09:35:00.002+01:00

Silver City Police arrested Robert Conde III, 22, Friday evening on a warrant for possession of a controlled substance, from an incident that occurred on July 17.Conde was arrested on that date for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon as a result of an investigation of a domestic violence complaint. Officers responded to a complaint at the Lintero Apartment complex, and while at the apartment discovered a prescription bottle containing several small plastic bags that had a white, powdery substance in them. The substance was later tested and showed positive for cocaine.Conde was transported to the Grant County Detention Center and his bond was set at $5,000 for the possession charge.Throughout the weekend, officers also responded to a number of vandalism complaints. A total of seven incidents occurred through out Silver City in which windows were broken out of vehicles with either rocks or damaged by BB guns.

we simply cannot afford to keep arresting more than three people every minute in the failed 'war on drugs,'"

2009-09-15T09:30:00.002+01:00

group of police and judges who want to legalize drugs pointed to new FBI numbers released today as evidence that the "war on drugs" is a failure that can never be won. The data, from the FBI's "Crime in the United States" report, shows that in 2008 there were 1,702,537 arrests for drug law violations, or one drug arrest every 18 seconds. "In our current economic climate, we simply cannot afford to keep arresting more than three people every minute in the failed 'war on drugs,'" said Jack Cole, a retired undercover narcotics detective who now heads the group Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP). "Plus, if we legalized and taxed drug sales, we could actually create new revenue in addition to the money we'd save from ending the cruel policy of arresting users." Last December, LEAP commissioned a report by a Harvard University economist which found that legalizing and regulating drugs would inject $77 billion a year into the struggling U.S. economy. Today's FBI report, which can be found at http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2008/arrests/index.html, shows that 82.3 percent of all drug arrests in 2008 were for possession only, and 44.3 percent of drug arrests were for possession of marijuana. Pointing to the collateral consequences that often follow drug arrests, LEAP's Cole continued, "You can get over an addiction, but you will never get over a conviction." Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) is a 13,000-member organization representing cops, judges, prosecutors, prison wardens and others who now want to legalize and regulate all drugs after witnessing horrors and injustices fighting on the front lines of the "war on drugs."

Alvin Lewis "Chief" Macauley, who pleaded guilty of conspiring to distribute heroin and carrying a firearm while engaged in drug trafficking

2009-09-15T09:26:00.002+01:00

Alvin Lewis "Chief" Macauley, who pleaded guilty of conspiring to distribute heroin and carrying a firearm while engaged in drug trafficking, was sentenced to 12 years and three months, fined $1,000 and ordered to submit to supervision by the federal probation office for five years after release.Assistant U.S. Attorney Don Wolthuis said after Macauley's hearing that a motion of substantial assistance filed by the government was withdrawn pending resolution of heroin possession and gun charges that Macauley faces in New Jersey. A substantial assistance motion recognizes a defendant's assistance to investigators and lets a judge waive mandatory minimum sentences. Once the New Jersey case is finished, the substantial assistance motion may refiled and Macauley's sentence reconsidered, Wolthuis said.

2009-06-23T22:11:00.000+01:00

narcocrime espania

Alicante,arrest of two British citizens smuggling hash from Morocco to the Spanish coast

2009-06-17T18:20:00.001+01:00

joint customs surveillance and the civil guard service anti-drugs operation has been cleared with the seizure of about 800 kilograms of hashish in Xàbia and the arrest of two British citizens tripulaban's recreation that drugs under the roof in a proof area was misleadingly boat. The hide method is novel, because the hashish was under the so-called bath and yesterday had to use a radar to access to the area between the town and transitable cover.
The boat and detainees were transferred to the port of Alicante, where yesterday proceeded to make registration and seizure of drugs in presence of the Secretary of the Court of guard.
Arrested two are English and Irish source and late yesterday morning were transferred by agents of the team organized crime and Antidroga (EDOA) of the civil guard from one of the docks of West area until the command of Alicante, where it was planned the investigation and interrogation of the taken together with who participated in the operational customs officials.
Interceptada boat has a length of seven metres approximately and each is equipped with two Suzuki 115 horsepower engines. The boat was supposedly the journey the Alicante coast directly from Morocco, sources close to the case. Researchers try to find out if the download of the drug port was Xàbia or really addressed there detect that had been discovered.
The vessel was intercepted at nine in the evening last Monday in the Fontana in Xàbia, boat mooring there on the beach of the Arenal area canal. The boat approached there the be pursued by a helicopter customs to suspect that could carry drugs. Arenal neighbors noted that the helicopter landed on the beach and customs officials ran towards the two occupants. Two traffickers were captured a few metres of the place where abandoned the vessel.
At first sight there was no drug in the boat, but to suspicions that ocultara a cache of hashish the gunboat customs it moved to Alicante, where arrived on the two in the morning. The arrested spent the night in the civil guard dungeons and yesterday were driven back to the port to perform logging in the presence of the Court Secretary. The drug was distributed in packages of different sizes and apart from the resin of hashish had enough bundles of pollen of hashish, which is more expensive in the black market.
The anti-drugs operation remains open and new arrests depending on the progress of investigations are discarded.
The two British detainees not had been arrested previously by customs, although not has transcended if they were fichados by the civil guard or the national police.
This cache seizure confirms that networks of drug trafficking that operate between Morocco and the Spanish coast wager lately more by the introduction of the caches in instead of the powerful pneumatic boats in great length recreational craft and equipped with four or six outboard engines.

Nancy Cedeno, 34, of Laval, Que., is alleged to have supplied preapproved customs forms to drug traffickers

2009-05-18T22:37:00.000+01:00

Nancy Cedeno, 34, of Laval, Que., is alleged to have supplied preapproved customs forms to drug traffickers so they could arrange to have their couriers go through the airport with luggage packed with cocaine without having to be searched.
Among other things, Cedeno is charged with accepting bribes while she worked for Canada Border Services Agency. Omar Riahi, 33, is alleged to have recruited Cedeno for traffickers who smuggled drugs through the airport with the Mafia’s support. Among the eight charges he faces are two related to allegedly corrupting Cedeno.
Riahi worked for Canada Border Services Agency in 2004 and is described in court documents as being a military police officer when he emerged as a suspect in Project Colisee, the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit investigation into the Mafia’s leaders and associates.Three people accused of acting as couriers for the drug traffickers — Jean Marie Fritz Balmir, 38, Julie Chateauneuf Fleury, 27, and Jean Michel Reacarld, 41 — are also part of the trial at the Montreal courthouse before Judge Claude Millette.All five are charged with taking part in a general plot to import cocaine into Canada. Mafia leaders like Francesco Arcadi and Francesco Del Balso are named as non-indicted co-conspirators in the charge. Both men are currently serving 15-year prison terms they received last year after pleading guilty last year to charges filed in Project Colisee. Ivan Enrique Bayter, 44, of Vaughn, Ont., was supposed to be part of the same trial but pleaded guilty to conspiracy and a gangsterism charge on May 4. Sentencing in his case is scheduled to begin in September

Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera leads the Sinaloa cartel

2009-05-18T22:23:00.002+01:00

Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera leads the Sinaloa cartel, which is battling for turf along the border.Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera, a 54-year-old drug cartel leader is the most wanted man in Mexico. He's also one of the most wanted men in the United States. 1 of 3 For five years, the State Department has kept a $5 million bounty on his head, calling Guzman a threat to U.S. security.Guzman, who leads the Sinaloa cartel, is a key player in the bloody turf battles being fought along the border.
He recently upped the stakes, ordering his associates to use lethal force to protect their loads in contested drug trafficking corridors, according to the Los Angeles Times.The cartel's tentacles and those of its chief rival, the Gulf cartel, already reach across the border and into metropolitan areas such as Atlanta, Georgia; Chicago, Illinois; Seattle, Washington; St. Louis, Missouri; and Charlotte, North Carolina, Drug Enforcement Administration Agent Joseph Arabit told a subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee in March."No other country in the world has a greater impact on the drug situation in the United States than Mexico does," said Arabit, who heads the DEA's office in this year's border hot spot, El Paso, Texas. See where Mexican cartels are in the U.S.A December 2008 report by the Justice Department's National Drug Intelligence Center revealed that Mexican drug traffickers can be found in more than 230 U.S. cities.So far, the U.S. has largely been spared the violence seen in Mexico, where the cartels' running gunbattles with police, the military and each other claimed about 6,500 lives last year. It was a sharp spike from the 2,600 deaths attributed to cartel violence in 2007.

Oscar Ceballos, 31, of Los Angeles (distribution of methamphetamine and conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine) Mexican Mafia

2009-05-08T00:41:00.000+01:00

Fifteen individuals associated with the a Los Angeles street gang known to be linked to the Mexican Mafia were charged for their roles in a narcotics distribution ring operating in and around Compton, California, announced several federal and local officials in Los Angeles including, Thomas O’Brien, United States Attorney in Los Angeles; Timothy J. Landrum, Special Agent in Charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration in Los Angeles; Salvador Hernandez, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI in Los Angeles; Leroy Baca, Sheriff of Los Angeles County; Edmund G. Brown, Jr., Attorney General for the State of California.
An investigation was initiated in 2008 to address gang-related crime reported by the Los Angeles Sheriffs Department in the Compton area. The investigation focused on identifying and disrupting members of a drug trafficking network there. According to court documents filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, several associates of the gang are charged with distribution and/or conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, a schedule II narcotic drug controlled substance. Four people are charged with being in the United States illegally following deportation after felony convictions.“Today's successful operation is an example of how law enforcement has joined forces at all levels to free our communities from the violence brought into our neighborhoods by these criminal drug organizations," said Timothy J. Landrum, DEA Special Agent in Charge. In executing the operation early this morning, Agents and police from several federal, state and local agencies executed four federal arrest warrants, five state arrest warrants and six search warrants that resulted in the seizure of narcotics, weapons and explosives. Six individuals charged in the federal cases were already in custody. In addition, twenty parole searches and ten probation searches were carried out. “It is vital for law enforcement at all levels to collectively address drug distribution networks which fuel the violence wreaking havoc in Los Angeles communities, and sustain the lifeblood of criminal enterprises like the Mexican Mafia,” said Salvador Hernandez, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI in Los Angeles. “By shutting down a major source of drugs and weapons, these arrests will deal another hammer blow to the persistent violence that terrorizes Compton,” Attorney General Edmund G. Brown said.
Those charged in the federal cases include: Oscar Ceballos, 31, of Los Angeles (distribution of methamphetamine and conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine)Noe Chairez , 28, of Los Angeles (distribution of methamphetamine)
Denisio Delgado, 33, of Los Angeles (distribution of methamphetamine.
Daniel Alberto Gonzalez, 30, of Los Angeles (distribution of methamphetamine)
Jorge Torres, 20, of Los Angeles (distribution of methamphetamine)
David Zavala, 22, of Los Angeles (distribution of methamphetamine and conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine)
Victor Mendoza , 36, residing in U.S. illegally (re-entering the U.S. after two deportations, including for felony)
Adolfo Mendoza, 34, residing in the U.S. illegally (re-entering the U.S. after two deportations, including for felony)
Victor Zermino, 34, residing in the U.S. illegally (re-entering the U.S. after two deportations, including for felony)
Cesar Guevara-Ponce, 26, residing in the U.S. illegally (re-entering the U.S. after two deportations, including for felony)
Those charged by the State of California in the methamphetamine distribution operation include: Ernesto Alonso Martinez, 39, of Los Angeles; Gerardo Chavira, 21, of Los Angeles Brian Doyle, 42, of Los Angeles; Benjamin Rodriguez, 33, of Los Angeles; Francisco Rodriguez, 34, of Los Angeles

“ICE is committed to using every tool at its disposal to combat gang-related crime and violence here in the Southland,” said Robert Schoch, special agent in charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in Los Angeles. “Our immigration and customs authorities are proving to be powerful weapons in this effort and we will continue working closely our law enforcement partners to attack and dismantle the gangs that have terrorized our communities.

This investigation was conducted by the FBI, the State of California’s Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement, the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department and the U.S.

Drug Enforcement Administration, as well as several agencies working with the FBI’s Safe Streets Task Force that provided considerable assistance during the investigation and during today’s operation, including U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Department of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), U.S.
Bureau of Prisons, L.A. IMPACT, U.S. Department of Probation, the California Department of Corrections and the Department of Child and Family Services of Los Angeles County.The federal defendants listed above will be prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles, and those arrested this morning will have an initial appearance in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles today. The District Attorney in Los Angeles will prosecute individuals charged in the state warrants.

Mandatory death sentence for Samantha Orobator, 20, who was in possession of 1.5lb (680g) of heroin when she was arrested at Wattay airport in Laos

2009-05-01T22:06:00.004+01:00

Prosecutors claim Samantha Orobator, 20, was in possession of 1.5lb (680g) of heroin when she was arrested at Wattay airport in Laos in August. Legal charity Reprieve has called on the UK government to intervene with the Laotian authorities on her behalf. The Foreign Office says it is "paying close attention to her welfare".
Miss Orobator, from London, has been held since her arrest at Phonthong prison in the south east Asian country. She became pregnant in the prison in December and is due to give birth in September. In Laos, anyone caught with more than 1lb (500g) of heroin faces a mandatory death sentence. Reprieve legal director Clive Stafford Smith said that on Thursday the authorities in Laos announced that they were bringing forward her trial by around a year to next week.Nothing that happens in that prison is voluntary
Clive Stafford Smith, Reprieve He believes the decision to move the trial was only taken after arrangements were made for her to see a lawyer for the first time. He said: "It's pretty shocking that they would do that apparently to avoid her seeing a British lawyer before she has to go to trial. "The notion that no lawyer should be appointed to defend her is outrageous." He said she was "certainly not guilty" and had originally told police the drugs were not hers.
Mr Stafford Smith added: "We're dealing with a woman who has clearly become pregnant in prison. Nothing that happens in that prison is voluntary". Labour MP Stephen Pound, vice chair of the all party group on the death penalty, said Miss Orobator was being kept "in the most inhumane circumstances". He criticised conditions in the prison saying there was evidence of "no space, no light, no exercise, no diet, no food, no consideration of the needs of a woman carrying a baby". There is no British Embassy in Laos and the nearest is in the Thai capital, Bangkok. A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: "We are paying close attention to her welfare and are in discussion with the Laotian authorities about her case.
"We have visited Samantha every month and we have kept in close contact with the family." She said Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Minister Bill Rammell will raise the issue with the Laotian foreign minister when he visits the UK on 7 May. But Mr Stafford Smith fears that could be too late. He said: "The trial will be over by then. We're calling on the government to do everything in its power". He wants the trial to be put back and for Reprieve lawyers and mental health professionals to be allowed into the prison. He is also seeking assurances that Miss Orobator will be provided with a proper defence. Miss Orobator was born in Nigeria but lived in south London from the age of eight. Her father lives in Nigeria and her mother and three sisters live in Ireland. She had been on holiday in Thailand and the Netherlands before travelling to Laos.
At least 39 people have been sentenced to death in Laos since 2003.

Joseph Callahan, 20, allegedly tried to hide the .38-caliber revolver under the seat.

2009-04-28T09:44:00.000+01:00

Joseph Callahan, 20, allegedly tried to hide the .38-caliber revolver under the seat. The detectives from the department's Anti-Crime Unit recovered the gun, along with nine packets of crack cocaine, which have a street value of about $180, police said.
Callahan, who is from the Somerset section of Franklin, was charged with unlawful possession of a handgun and possession during a drug offense. He was also charged with possession of cocaine and possession with intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of a school.
He was being held yesterday at the Middlesex County Adult Correction Center in North Brunswick in lieu of $25,000 bail, with no 10-percent cash option, a prison records official said.

Authorities have arrested 12 people on drug-related charges.

2009-04-23T22:37:00.001+01:00

Authorities have arrested 12 people on drug-related charges. A number of agencies participated in the investigation, including the Brown County Drug Task Force as well as federal and state authorities along with immigration officials. The FBI helped with translation, since most of the people arrested spoke only Spanish, said Deputy Chief John Gossage of the Brown County Sheriff’s Department. United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement is detaining other individuals on immigration related offenses not associated with the distribution ring.Authorities executed 14 search warrants at residences in Green Bay, Howard and Bellevue in connection to the ring.Agents said they would talk about the investigation and arrests at 10 a.m. Friday at the Brown County Sheriff Department.

Canadian citizen Kin Fai Chan and his associate Chun Fung Lo, of Hong Kong were charged with attempting to possess 15 kilos of methamphetamine

2009-04-23T22:33:00.000+01:00

Canadian citizen Kin Fai Chan and his associate Chun Fung Lo, of Hong Kong, admitted to the scheme in Federal Court in Sydney, Australia last week and were just sentenced. Lo got seven and a half years for playing a more limited role in the ring.The Australian charges stemmed from a B.C. investigation by the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit. Ye pleaded guilty to heading the drug ring last December and was sentenced in B.C. Supreme Court to 18 years.Chan and Lo were charged with attempting to possess 15 kilos of methamphetamine. The drugs had been manufactured in Canada and hidden in the linings of specially-modified suitcases. They were then shipped from Vancouver to Australia. CFSEU investigators alerted partners with the Australian Federal Police to the incoming shipment which led to the arrests of Chan and Lo.CFSEU Supt. Doug Kiloh said the guilty pleas down under show the extent to which law enforcement agencies work together internationally.“This is a good example of the excellent cooperation CFSEU continues to receive from our international policing partners and demonstrates the value of our efforts both locally and internationally,” Kiloh said.

Christopher Wiggins, 42, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply Cocaine from South America believed to be worth more than 650 million euro

2009-04-21T22:12:00.000+01:00

Christopher Wiggins, 42, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply Cocaine from South America believed to be worth more than 650 million euro (£580 million). Wiggins, based in the Costa del Sol in Spain, pleaded guilty at a brief hearing in Cork Circuit Criminal Court.The pair were detained after Irish navy, gardai and customs swooped on the 60ft ocean-going boat, Dances With Waves, 170 miles off the west Cork coast last November.Intelligence agencies had tracked the boat for two months across the Atlantic.

Sierra Leone court convicted 15 people including nine foreigners to prison sentences of up to five years for trying to smuggle a record cocaine haul

2009-04-21T21:55:00.001+01:00

Sierra Leone handed 5-year prison terms Tuesday to eight foreigners convicted of drug-smuggling.Justice Nicholas Browne-Marke also imposed fines ranging from $1.5 million to $5 million for the eight convicts, who include a Miami-based businessman with dual U.S.-Colombian citizenship, two Colombians, two Mexicans, two Venezuelans and one man from Guinea-Bissau.The men were convicted late Monday in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone. The court found they had attempted last year to illegally import 700 kilograms (1,500 pounds) of cocaine in a Cessna plane with Red Cross markings. The convictions and sentences are subject to appeal.
The men landed the plane July 13 at Lungi international airport, which serves the capital. After finding authorities at the airport, the group fled but were later arrested.Drug smugglers seeking to move cocaine from South America to Europe are increasingly using West Africa as a transit point.Nine foreigners -- a US citizen, one Colombian, six Venezuelans and a Guinean-Bissau national -- were each sentenced to five years in jail with fines ranging from 1.5 million dollars to five million dollars.Sierra Leone court convicted 15 people including nine foreigners to prison sentences of up to five years for trying to smuggle a record cocaine haul into the country last year.The highest fine of five million dollars was handed to the 30-year-old American national, identified as Harvey Perez.The remaining Sierra Leoneans received jail terms ranging from three to five years and fines of between 49,505 and 16,502 dollars.The men were all arrested after more than 700 kilograms (1,500 pounds) of cocaine was discovered on a Venezuelan plane bearing a fake Red Cross emblem which landed at Freetown's Lungi international airport on July 13, 2008.The haul was a record for Sierra Leone and one of the biggest in the region last year.West Africa has become an important transit point for cocaine coming in from South America en route to lucrative European markets.Initially 18 people were on trial for the record haul but during the nine month trial three were released after the prosecution dropped the charges against them.Judge Nicolas Browne-Marke recommended the expulsion of the foreign convictsbut said he left it to the foreign ministry to determine whether where they would serve their jail sentences.Sources told AFP that several of the foreign nationals were also sought on drugs charges in other countries including the United States and could be extradited to stand trial abroad.The court ordered the entire load on cocaine to be destroyed and recommended that the seized Cessna plane be sold to the highest bidder.They men can appeal their convictions in the coming 21 days, the judge explained.After the haul, Sierra Leone toughened up its drugs laws and passed a measure which retroactively raised the maximum sentence for cocaine trafficking to life in prison.

Dennis Carrillo was arrested after authorities found 17-grams of crack cocaine, 2 digit scales and other drug-related evidence

2009-04-07T09:49:00.001+01:00

Dennis Carrillo was arrested after authorities found 17-grams of crack cocaine, 2 digit scales and other drug-related evidence inside his home on El Paso Street.Narcotics officers with the Pueblo County Sheriff's Office and Police Department made the arrest

Sean Patrick Wiseman, 23, of Greeba Road, Willaston, Douglas, and Steven Jonathan Corkill, 21, of no fixed address, were remanded in custody

2009-04-07T09:46:00.000+01:00

Sean Patrick Wiseman, 23, of Greeba Road, Willaston, Douglas, and Steven Jonathan Corkill, 21, of no fixed address, were remanded in custody by Deputy High Bailiff Alastair Montgomerie until Tuesday.
Both are charged with being concerned in the production of cocaine between March 31 and April 3 and attempting to possess cocaine with intent to supply on April 2.The charges follow an alleged seizure of drugs in the Union Mills area on April 2.Both men were granted legal aid.

Tia Shorts was crowned Miss Maryland USA in 2004.was held on $10,000 bond

2009-04-07T09:43:00.001+01:00

Tia Shorts was crowned Miss Maryland USA in 2004. Her boyfriend, 30-year-old Joey King, was arrested Tuesday after being pulled over by officers who found heroin, cocaine and an undisclosed amount of cash in his car, police said. Later that night, police said, they also pulled over King's brother, James Gilbert King, 32, and their 67-year-old mother, Hyacinth King, finding cocaine, cash and a loaded handgun in their car. Police said they then obtained a search warrant for Shorts' home and found the drugs, ammunition and cash inside. All three have been released on bail.former Miss Maryland USA, Tia Shorts, for narcotics and gun-related offenses after detectives executed search warrants at a residence in Germantown earlier this week. Police say at about 7 p.m. on Tuesday, detectives developed information that there was drug activity at an address on Pickering Court in Germantown. One suspect, identified by police as 30-year-old Joey Garcia King, of that same address, was seen leaving and stopped by officers. He was found to be in possession of heroin, cocaine, and an undisclosed amount of cash. Detectives then obtained a search and seizure warrant for the address. A few hours later, police say, a vehicle was seen leaving the address and was stopped by officers. Located in the vehicle were quantities of cocaine, an undisclosed amount of cash, and a loaded handgun. The occupants of the vehicle were identified by police as King's brother and mother, James Gilbert King, 32, and Hyacinth King, 67, both of the 25100 block of Hickory Ridge Lane in Gaithersburg. Detectives served the search and seizure warrant for the address and found ammunition, marijuana, and an undisclosed amount of cash. Tia Shorts, of that address, was arrested and charged with conspiracy to possess cocaine with intent to distribute, and possession of cocaine and marijuana. Police also charged the three other suspects on drug and weapons charges.
Joey King was charged with possession with the intent to distribute heroin and cocaine, possession of heroin, cocaine, and marijuana, and possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking crime. James King was charged with possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute, conspiracy to possess cocaine with the intent to distribute, possession of cocaine, possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking crime, and possession of a handgun in a vehicle.
Hyacinth King was charged with possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, conspiracy to possess cocaine with the intent to distribute, possession of cocaine, possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking crime, and possession of a handgun in a vehicle.
On Pickering Court where Shorts lives, some neighbors say they had their share of suspicions about what was going on behind closed doors where police say Shorts lived with 30year-old Joey King. "You'd see cars come up and stop come up and stop and then park and leave," said one man. Another woman added, "There was just a lot of odd people in and out."
Joey King was ordered held on a $60,000 bond. James King was being held on $50,000 bond. Hyacinth King was held on $75,000 bond. Tia Shorts was held on $10,000 bond. They each posted bond and have been released.