cocaine

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Pandemic Changed the Way Cocaine Moves Around World

Production is at a record high, and smugglers are using parcel services more

(Newser) - In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, production of cocaine has skyrocketed and new distribution hubs have emerged in Africa, reports the BBC . Cocaine production rose by 35% between 2020 and 2021, marking the biggest increase in seven years, per CBS News , which also cites a new report from the...

On This Narco-Sub: 4 People, 2 of Them Dead

The Colombian navy said it recovered nearly 6K pounds of cocaine from the vessel

(Newser) - Some 6 million doses of cocaine likely headed for Central America have been intercepted by authorities—along with two bodies. The Colombian navy on Sunday said it seized a 50-foot submarine in the Pacific that was ferrying 5,800 pounds of cocaine valued at upwards of $87 million. Four people...

Exotic Cat on Cocaine 'Could've Shredded Us Apart'

Cincinnati Zoo now in possession of Amiry the serval, better known as 'cocaine cat'

(Newser) - It's a good thing Cincinnati Zoo employees had yet to see Cocaine Bear when they took in an exotic feline who'd gotten into the drug. Animal control officials were called to retrieve the African serval, a medium-sized cat, from a tree after he escaped from his owner's...

Cops: UPS Workers Made Some Very Illegal Deliveries

Two workers accused in drug trafficking scheme out of Texas

(Newser) - Some UPS drivers encounter trouble with snow, others with a very different kind of white powder. Two UPS employees are facing up to life in prison for "knowingly" transporting cocaine, federal authorities say . An indictment unsealed in the Southern District of Texas describes the drug trafficking scheme that involved...

Men Praised After Sea Rescue Were Drug Smugglers: Cops

Australian Federal Police hunting for 2 of 3 men who alerted emergency beacon off WA

(Newser) - A trio of men praised by authorities after they were found clinging to a cooler in the ocean off Western Australia earlier this month are now suspected of smuggling 800 pounds of cocaine. Aristides Avlontis, 36, Mate Stipinovich, 49, and Karl Whitburn, 45, claimed they were fishermen whose boat capsized...

Tons of Cocaine Were Floating in Pacific. Police Got to It First

It's New Zealand's biggest bust

(Newser) - New Zealand police said Wednesday they found 3.5 tons of cocaine floating in a remote part of the Pacific Ocean after it was dropped there by an international drug-smuggling syndicate. While they have yet to make any arrests, police said they had dealt a financial blow to everyone from...

Garland Tells Prosecutors to End Cocaine Case Disparities

House, Senate bills would alter gap first laid out by Sen. Biden

(Newser) - Federal prosecutors have been ordered to end sentencing disparities involving convictions for distributing cocaine: For decades, crack convictions have brought harsher punishments than powder cocaine offenses. Civil rights advocates and other opponents of the policy criticize the gap as harming Black and brown communities, a result of the government's...

Cocaine 'Super Cartel' Is Busted in Europe

Ring controlled about one-third of the trade on the continent

(Newser) - Law enforcement authorities in six different countries have joined forces to take down a "super cartel" of drug traffickers who controlled about one third of the cocaine trade in Europe, Europol said on Monday. The European Union crime agency said 49 suspects have been arrested during the investigation, with...

Belgium Has a Drug Problem. It&#39;s Not What You Think
Belgium Has
an Unusual
Drug Problem
Nov 22, 2022 4:34 PM CST

Belgium Has an Unusual Drug Problem

Authorities are seizing so much cocaine their incinerators can't handle the load

(Newser) - Authorities at Belgium's port of Antwerp have gotten so good at intercepting smuggled cocaine that it's led to an unexpected problem: Their incinerators can't burn it all fast enough. And as AFP explains, that has led to a related problem: There's so much seized cocaine lying...

Hidden Cocaine Hindered Wheelchair: Agents

JFK passenger's wheels weren't turning, agency says

(Newser) - Something seemed to be keeping the wheels on an arriving passenger's wheelchair from turning, Customs agents noticed at Kennedy Airport in New York. So they X-rayed the wheelchair and reported they found the problem: 28 pounds of cocaine stuffed into the wheels, ABC7 reports. The stash has a street...

Packed With the Baby Wipes: Much Cocaine

Border Patrol estimates the street value at $11.8M

(Newser) - Border Patrol officers at the Colombia-Solidarity Bridge near Laredo, Texas, decided somebody should take a second look at a trailer truck supposedly transporting baby wipes. What the agency described as a canine and "non-intrusive" inspection last weekend found unlisted cargo: 1,935 packages holding about 1,533 pounds of...

Supermarkets Find $83M Worth of Cocaine in Banana Shipments
Oops: $83M Worth of Cocaine
Sent to Supermarkets
in case you missed it
Jun 19, 2022 7:05 AM CDT

Oops: $83M Worth of Cocaine Sent to Supermarkets

And in Colombia, cocaine disguised as potatoes

(Newser) - Supermarkets in the Czech Republic got a little more than they bargained for in their banana shipments last week: $83 million worth of cocaine. Police were alerted after grocery workers started discovering blocks of pressed cocaine in with the fruit; ultimately, 1,851 pounds were found, Newsweek reports. The crates...

Canada Takes Bold Step to 'Remove the Shame' on Drugs

Small amounts of 'hard' drugs to be temporarily decriminalized in British Columbia to fight ODs

(Newser) - If you're busted in British Columbia with a small amount of hard drugs, you could soon see some grace, thanks to an innovative new program designed to deal with the OD crisis. The BBC reports that, starting at the end of January, drugs like cocaine, methamphetamine, MDMA (ecstasy), and...

Feds Find First Major Drug Tunnel Since 2020

It ran from Tijuana to San Diego warehouse

(Newser) - The legalization of marijuana in California hasn't put the cross-border tunnel builders in the San Diego area out of business, but the highly sophisticated tunnels are now being used for different drugs, federal authorities say. The latest tunnel to be detected ran 1,744 feet from a property in...

Death of Diver Led Cops to Staggering Cocaine Haul

Australian police fear drugs from total shipment worth $84M have already reached the public

(Newser) - The death of a diver on the side of a coastal river in Australia led authorities to at least 220 pounds of cocaine—and that's apparently just the tip of the white powder iceberg. A man in high-end diving equipment was found unconscious near the Hunter River in Newcastle,...

Half a Ton of Cocaine Found in Coffee Shipment

Nespresso says drug hasn't contaminated its coffee pods

(Newser) - After more than half a ton of cocaine was found among a shipment of coffee beans at a Nespresso plant, the company reassured customers that its coffee pods would not provide a bigger jolt than customers were used to. "The substance in question did not come into contact with...

Premier of British Territory Claims Immunity in Drug Case

British Virgin Islands leader allegedly accepted bribe from undercover DEA agent

(Newser) - Update: The premier of the British Virgin Islands said Monday that as the elected, constitutional head of government of the British overseas territory, he is immune from prosecution on charges of cocaine-smuggling and the US must immediately release him from custody. One former federal prosecutor, however, tells the AP that...

Tainted Cocaine Kills 20, Sickens 74

Authorities in Argentina suspect batch was deliberately poisoned

(Newser) - Apparently adulterated cocaine killed 20 people and seriously sickened 74 others in Buenos Aires, health officials said early Thursday as authorities searched frantically for the remainder of the deadly batch to get it off the streets before it is consumed. Experts are still analyzing the drug to determine what was...

A Notorious Cocaine Dealer Ended Up in Maine, Then Dead

Alberto Martinez reportedly just couldn't quit Harlem

(Newser) - An affable man living in the town of Lewiston, Maine, was shot dead on Halloween in Harlem—where people came out in the street to drink a champagne toast to his demise. How do the two jibe? Writing for the New York Times , Ali Watkins explains that Abraham Rodriguez, as...

Grandma Shocked by Cactus Toy's Cocaine Rap

Walmart says item has been pulled

(Newser) - A grandmother in Canada says she was more than a little surprised when the dancing cactus toy she bought for her toddler granddaughter started rapping in Polish about depression and cocaine use. "It just so happens that I am Polish and when I started to listen to the songs...

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