drug smuggling

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Lawyer Accused of Bringing More Than Papers to Jail

Ronald Lewis, 77, is accused of smuggling drug-laced documents to inmates in Texas facility

(Newser) - A good attorney will have your back as you navigate all the legalities of your case. An even better attorney knows that "having your back" doesn't translate to sneaking narcotics into the facility where you're incarcerated. That's exactly what lawyer Ronald Henry Lewis is accused of...

Cocaine in Wheelchair Could Get Man Life Sentence

Hong Kong customs agents found 24 pounds of suspected cocaine in wheelchair cushions

(Newser) - Authorities in Hong Kong say an airline passenger's wheelchair was packed with enough suspected cocaine to get him a potential life sentence. The South China Morning Post reports that the 51-year-old passenger, who has mobility issues, flew with the motorized wheelchair as one of his items of checked baggage....

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...

Flight Attendant Admits to Fentanyl Smuggling Scheme
Drug-Smuggling Plot Goes
Awry for Flight Attendant
in case you missed it
Dec 31, 2022 4:50 PM CST

Drug-Smuggling Plot Goes Awry for Flight Attendant

Terese White admits taping 3 lbs. to her abdomen, a tiny fraction of total fentanyl seized in US in 2022

(Newser) - A flight attendant pleaded guilty last week to drug trafficking charges after being busted with 3 pounds of fentanyl taped to her body in San Diego International Airport. Per the San Diego Union-Tribune , Terese L. White, 41, entered her plea in a San Diego federal courtroom. White is from Dallas,...

How the US Blew It on Fentanyl
How the US Blew It
on Fentanyl
longform
Dec 12, 2022 1:18 PM CST

How the US Blew It on Fentanyl

'Washington Post' investigation spreads the blame over multiple administrations

(Newser) - Fentanyl overdoses kill about 196 Americans every day, “the equivalent of a fully loaded Boeing 757-200 crashing and killing everyone on board,” according to the Washington Post , which on Monday published an extensive and damning report on the federal government’s failure to stem the flow of a...

Belgium Has a Drug Problem. It'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...

In Ecuador, a 'Declaration of Open War'

Murders of 5 police officers on Tuesday attributed to criminal gangs

(Newser) - Five police officers were killed in the Ecuadorian city of Guayaquil on Tuesday, including two shot dead in their patrol car, in what some say is evidence of "criminal rule," per the Guardian . Officials described nine attacks in the city in apparent response to the transfer of hundreds...

Border Patrol Found More Than Pulp Inside These Pumpkins

Officials discovered $400K worth of meth in gourds arriving from Mexico

(Newser) - Last week, more than $300,000 worth of methamphetamine was uncovered at Texas' Eagle Pass Port of Entry, across from Piedras Negras in Mexico. This week, drug smugglers got a little more creative with their meth stash: cramming it into four condom-filled pumpkins, reports NBC News . A release from Customs...

For Spanish Police, a Drug-Smuggling First

Cops say they seized 3 underwater drones meant to carry 'large quantities of cocaine'

(Newser) - A probe that lasted more than a year has led to the arrest of eight and the seizure of three underwater drones that were apparently built to smuggle drugs across the Strait of Gibraltar. The BBC reports Spain's police force seized the unmanned submersibles—one completed and two still...

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...

Singapore Decides This Disabled Man Must Hang

Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, whose IQ is 69, loses final appeal over drug smuggling

(Newser) - A Malaysian man with a mental disability lost a final legal appeal Tuesday against his death sentence in Singapore and faces execution soon, a lawyer and rights activists said. Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam has been on death row for more than a decade for trying to smuggle less than 1.5...

The World Has a New 'Narcostate'
Syria's Biggest Export
May Surprise You
longform
Dec 6, 2021 3:09 PM CST

Syria's Biggest Export May Surprise You

'New York Times' alleges that Syria is a 'narcostate' pumping out amphetamine captagon

(Newser) - Last week, Syrian authorities trumpeted the seizure of a large cache of illegal amphetamine pills known as captagon and said an investigation was underway to figure out where the pills came from, notes the AP . Now, an investigation by the New York Times may provide the answer: The Syrian government...

Man to Be Hanged for Bringing Bundles of Pot Into Singapore

Appeal that centered on claiming confession was coerced was dismissed Tuesday

(Newser) - A man in Singapore is going to be hanged for bringing three bundles of cannabis into the country. Omar Yacob Bamadhaj, 41, lost an appeal Tuesday of a sentence handed down in February. In July 2018, Bamadhaj had hopped across the border from the tiny city-state into Malaysia to run...

For This Former Olympian, It's a Trip to Prison

Australia's Nathan Baggaley sentenced to 25 years for 2018 cocaine-smuggling plot

(Newser) - A two-time Olympic silver medalist and three-time world kayaking champion has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for his role in a failed $150 million cocaine-smuggling plot. Australia's Nathan Baggaley, 45, and his brother Dru, 39, were convicted in April of attempting to smuggle 650 kilograms of cocaine...

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...

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