smuggling

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$134B in Bonds Seized in Italy 'Clearly Fake'

US debt office tells conspiracy theorists to calm down

(Newser) - Conspiracy theorists, take note: The US bonds seized near the Swiss border with a face value of $134 billion "are clearly fakes," a Washington spokesman tells Bloomberg. Most securities are now issued electronically, only about $105 billion in bonds have yet to be surrendered, and the "Kennedy...

$134B Suitcase Could Be Huge Smuggling Scam
$134B Suitcase Could Be Huge Smuggling Scam
OPINION
Jun 17, 2009 8:40 AM CDT

$134B Suitcase Could Be Huge Smuggling Scam

Italy arrests men with enough US bonds to buy a few countries

(Newser) - Last week, Italian authorities detained two Japanese men attempting to cross the border into Switzerland carrying a suitcase stuffed with $134 billion in US bonds. The men are either massive counterfeiters or—even scarier—the fourth-largest creditors of the US Treasury, with enough cash to buy three or four countries....

Massive Drug Tunnel Found Under Mexico Border

Elaborate smuggling tunnel to Arizona has electricity, ventilation system

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

As Ariz. Housing Heads South, Kidnappers Move In

Failing housing market leaves homes abandoned for kidnappers to use

(Newser) - Gangs of kidnappers preying on illegal Mexicans immigrants or drug rivals are turning Phoenix into the kidnap capital of the US, reports the Wall Street Journal. In one raid, 30 shivering, half-naked smuggled immigrants were discovered in an abandoned home. They had been shaken down for thousands of dollars. The...

Dude Busted for Smuggling Pot on Surfboard

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

Smuggler Busted With Birds Bound to Legs

Droppings tip off feds to Vietnamese bird-smuggling racket

(Newser) - Two men have been charged with conspiracy to smuggle songbirds from Vietnam after one of them was found with the cheepers strapped to his legs, TMZ reports. Inspectors at Los Angeles International Airport stopped a man with his shoes covered in bird droppings and discovered he had 14 live birds...

Israel Launches Airstrikes on Gaza Tunnels

Smuggling tunnels pounded in response to renewed rocket attacks on Jewish state

(Newser) - Israeli jets struck three smuggling tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border today in the second day of renewed airstrikes, the AP reports. There were no reports of injuries. The Israeli military said the strikes—the first in almost two months—were in response to rocket and mortar attacks on Israel from...

Baby Gorilla Stashed in Smuggler's Bag

Had been inside for 6 hours; 'is responding to treatment'

(Newser) - A live baby gorilla was found at the bottom of a smuggler’s plastic bag in the Democratic Republic of Congo after a 3-month undercover smuggling probe, MSNBC reports. The female eastern lowland gorilla, which has a street value of up to $20,000, had been in the bag for...

Obama to Push for Treaty on Arms Trafficking

(Newser) - President Obama wants to add muscle to America’s promise to curb the flow of weapons to Mexico’s drug cartels. After meeting with Mexican leader Felipe Calderon today, Obama said he would push the Senate to ratify a decade-old treaty on the matter, the Washington Post reports. President Clinton...

Mexican Cartels Have Little Trouble Getting US Guns

Lax laws, difficult tracing system make smuggling easy

(Newser) - Thanks to lax gun laws that vary from state to state, smugglers providing arms to Mexican drug cartels can move vast quantities of weapons over the border for years without sparking suspicion. The subject may come up when President Obama visits Mexico tomorrow, but the political will to change US ...

Vastly Corrupt Afghan Cops Await US Trainers

Obama's plan to train cops faces tough challenge

(Newser) - The 4,000 troops President Obama is sending to train Afghanistan's police and army will run straight into a formidable wall of corruption that undermines national security at every turn, American soldiers tell the New York Times. Cops pilfer gas, judges take money, top officials profit from the drug trade,...

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