drug smuggling

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Smugglers' Cocaine Disguise Doesn't Fool Cops

Haul was altered to look like charcoal

(Newser) - Police in the Netherlands and Ireland were very keen to talk to the owners of two containers that arrived in Rotterdam weeks ago—but they never showed up to collect them. Inside the abandoned containers, which were destined for Ireland, was a huge shipment of cocaine disguised as charcoal, CNN...

Biologist Counting Turtles Finds These Instead

Bundles of cocaine wash up at Space Force base near Cape Canaveral

(Newser) - Florida, a place that has long had a reputation for strange goings-on, can add a tale of smugglers, sea turtles, a million dollars in drugs, and Space Force to its collection. A few weeks ago, Angy Chambers, a wildlife manager surveying sea turtle nests near Cape Canaveral found something besides...

Bundles of Drugs Keep Washing Up in South Florida

People continue to find cocaine, marijuana on Sunshine State's beaches, especially in the Keys

(Newser) - Last month, a beachgoer in Palm Beach stumbled upon 65 pounds of cocaine along the shoreline, a find worth $1.5 million. But that hasn't been an isolated incident in South Florida, where people continue to discover packages of drugs in the water and on local beaches, especially in...

'Scuba Steve' Sentenced in Drug Smuggling Case

Canadian man was found in river unconscious, tethered to 185 pounds of pot

(Newser) - A Canadian man who was found unconscious and tethered to 185 pounds of marijuana in the Detroit River was sentenced Wednesday to about six years in a US prison. The capture of Glen Mousseau—nicknamed "Scuba Steve" by authorities—last June capped a strange few weeks in his dealings...

That Sugary Frosting Was Cocaine: Customs

Agents seize shipment of corn flakes worth nearly $3M

(Newser) - It's not often that anyone talks about the street value of corn flakes. But Customs and Border Patrol officers said they intercepted a shipment of cereal last week whose secret ingredient was cocaine. The 44 pounds of corn flakes had a street value of just under $3 million, Cincinnati....

5 Kinds of Drugs Found in San Diego Smuggling Tunnel

Tunnel from Tijuana had its own rail system

(Newser) - Authorities in San Diego have found another cross-border smuggling tunnel long enough to rival the only subway portion of the city's transit system—along with a lot more drugs than usual. Federal agents say they found drugs worth almost $30 million in the 2,000-foot tunnel, which connected warehouses...

Authorities Stunned by Border Smuggling Tunnel

It is the longest ever found

(Newser) - US authorities on Wednesday announced the discovery of the longest smuggling tunnel ever found on the Southwest border, stretching more than three-quarters of a mile from an industrial site in Tijuana, Mexico, to the San Diego area. The tunnel featured an extensive rail cart system, forced air ventilation, high voltage...

Ex-Inmate Had Marijuana Up His Nose for 18 Years

He thought he had ingested pot wrapped in balloon

(Newser) - A prison inmate in Australia shoved a balloon containing marijuana up his nose, was unable to retrieve it, and then failed to make a connection between the lost pot and the sinus issues he suffered for the next 18 years, doctors say. In a case reported in the British Medical ...

The Cocaine Saved Them. Then It Got Them Busted

Suspected drug smugglers found clinging to bales in Pacific after boat overturns

(Newser) - They can thank their drug bundles for both saving their lives and possibly ruining them. ABC Australia reports that three men from Colombia were plucked out of the Pacific over the weekend after spending hours in shark-filled waters. The alleged drug-runners, who were said by authorities to have departed from...

Feds Find 4 Tons of Pot in Shipment of Jalapeños

California's black market is still thriving

(Newser) - An attempt to smuggle marijuana mixed in with jalapeño peppers didn't fool a K-9 unit at the Otay Mesa cargo facility in San Diego, authorities say. The pooches found pallets of pot and peppers Thursday in a tractor-trailer driven by a 37-year-old Mexican citizen, Customs and Border Protection...

Is That Your Real Hair, or Are You Smuggling Drugs Under a Bad Toupee?

$33K worth of cocaine was quickly spotted on nervous guy arriving in Spain

(Newser) - A nervous-looking man flew from Colombia to Spain with what authorities there describe as an "oversized" toupee beneath his hat. Beneath that hairpiece was roughly a pound of cocaine bundled up and stuck to his head, according to police in Barcelona, who shared before and after images of the...

In Wild Video, Coast Guard Member Leaps Onto Drug Sub

'This is as satisfying as it gets'

(Newser) - Stunning video shows just how far the US Coast Guard will go to stop suspected drug smugglers. The minute-long video released Thursday shows a member of the US Coast Guard Cutter Munro jumping onto a semi-submersible vessel carrying 17,000 pounds of cocaine worth $232 million in the East Pacific...

Trail of Cocaine-Laden Ship Leads to JPMorgan Chase

Bank fund owns the MSC Gayane, but doesn't have operational control

(Newser) - The cargo ship seized in the Port of Philadelphia last month with nearly 20 tons of cocaine aboard isn't owned by a ruthless criminal gang hiding out somewhere, or by organized crime bosses pulling the strings from their prison cells. It's owned, more or less, by JPMorgan Chase....

He Was to Fly With Brazil's Prez —Then Came Luggage Search

Airman accused of smuggling cocaine into Spain ahead of G20

(Newser) - A promise to curtail drugs and crime helped Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro get elected last year—hence why NPR reports the arrest of a member of his G20 party is so embarrassing. Brazilian Air Force Sgt. Manoel Silva Rodrigues—serving as flight steward on a military plane en route to...

Ship's Cargo Was $1B in Cocaine, Feds Say

Officials call it one of the biggest busts in US history

(Newser) - Federal authorities have made what they called one of the largest cocaine busts in US history: 16 tons of the drug, worth more than $1 billion. The haul was seized Tuesday from a cargo ship, the MSC Gayane, at the Port of Philadelphia, the Inquirer reported. "This amount of...

Biggest Drug Bust in 25 Years Made at NYC-Area Port

'Dried fruit' shipment held $77M in cocaine

(Newser) - Customs agents have seized the biggest shipment of cocaine recovered at the ports of New York and New Jersey in 25 years. US Customs and Border Protection says 3,200 pounds of the drug in 60 packages were seized at Port New York/Newark on Feb. 28, the AP reports. The...

Woman Finds Out High Heels Are Bad Drug-Smuggling Aid

Missouri's Denise Woodrum is headed to an Australian jail

(Newser) - A Missouri woman was sentenced Thursday to 7.5 years in jail in Australia, where she'd traveled with various cocaine-stuffed items, including a pair of high heels. Denise Woodrum, 51, pleaded guilty in January to the illegal import stemming from her arrival at Sydney Airport last August with 756...

Officials: Man Paid $390K for Old KFC, Used It in 'Conspiracy'

Drug tunnel discovered under it

(Newser) - A 600-foot tunnel was discovered leading from under a bed in Mexico to the kitchen of a former KFC restaurant in Arizona—and authorities do not believe a fast food aficionado was responsible. Authorities say the cross-border tunnel was used to smuggle drugs including methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl, the...

Veterinarian Allegedly Turned Puppies Into Drug Mules

He pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges stemming from 2005

(Newser) - A veterinarian pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to US charges that he implanted liquid heroin in puppies to turn them into drug mules for a Colombian trafficking ring, the AP reports. Andres Lopez Elorza appeared in federal court in Brooklyn after being extradited from Spain, where he was arrested in...

She Documented Her Exotic Trip on Instagram, Now Heads to Prison

Mélina Roberge sentenced to 8 years for drug trafficking

(Newser) - "She wanted to be the envy of others," said an Australian judge of Mélina Roberge. There's little to envy now: The 24-year-old was on Wednesday sentenced to eight years for drug trafficking, in a case that involved $20 million of cocaine, an exotic cruise, and social...

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