smuggler

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Smuggling of Rare Butterflies Doesn't End Well for NY Man

Long Island man who labeled rare insects as 'wall decorations' pleads guilty

(Newser) - A Long Island man has pleaded guilty to illegally trafficking bird-wing butterflies and other rare insects, according to a plea deal filed in Brooklyn federal court. Charles Limmer, 75, of Commack, pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to smuggle wildlife into the country and agreed to pay a $30,...

Raid Turns Up What Could Be a Precious Painting

If the unknown Jackson Pollock work is authentic, it could be worth $54M

(Newser) - A previously unknown painting by Jackson Pollock, worth upwards of $54 million, has been found during a raid on alleged international art smugglers. The painting turned up in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia during an operation targeting an organized criminal group known to operate across Greece, per Art News . Five...

Report: Squid Game Smuggler Gets Death Sentence in NK

Students who watched it will serve 5 years of hard labor, sources say

(Newser) - In the Netflix series Squid Game, luckless South Koreans are executed for losing children's games. In real-life North Korea, you can be executed for distributing Squid Game, according to Radio Free Asia . The US-funded news agency, citing sources in North Korea, reports that a man who smuggled a copy...

Smugglers Throw Migrants Overboard, Killing at Least 20

UN agency says 80 migrants were tossed into sea during passage to Yemen

(Newser) - Smugglers threw some 80 migrants off a boat that was crossing from East Africa to the Arabian Peninsula on Wednesday, resulting in at least 20 drowning deaths, according to a UN agency. Yvonne Ndege of the UN's International Organization for Migration said at least five bodies were taken from...

Trump on Report of Smugglers Sawing Wall: 'It's Easily Fixed'

'Virtually impenetrable' wall is apparently no match for a $100 reciprocating saw, per reports

(Newser) - President Trump has boasted that new sections of border wall are "virtually impossible" to climb—a claim that one engineer recently put to the test , with the results not exactly backing up the president . Now, a new issue has cropped up, with US agents and current and former administration...

Flight Attendant Tells Customs He Has $100. It Was $9K

4 American Airlines flight attendants accused of smuggling $22K in cash into Miami

(Newser) - Four American Airlines flight attendants have been arrested on money laundering charges after police say they flew into Miami with more than $22,000 in cash. Carlos Alberto Munoz-Moyano was the first to be checked by customs at Miami International Airport after departing the flight from Santiago, Chile, on Monday....

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...

CBP: Girl From India Dies in Desert on Way to US

Death took place in 'dangerous and austere location' in Arizona

(Newser) - The body of a 7-year-old girl believed to be from India was found this week in a remote part of the Arizona desert just over the border with Mexico, a death that a Border Patrol official is calling "senseless," reports the Daily Beast . Per a Customs and Border...

Cops: Man Had 50 Human Skulls, Bones in His Bag

Indian authorities say the bones were headed to Bhutan

(Newser) - Indian authorities arrested an alleged "corpse smuggler" at a railway station after 34 skeletal remains and 16 human skulls were discovered in his bag, the Telegraph reports. Police tell the Times of India that Sanjay Prasad, 29, was likely taking the remains to Bhutan—a Buddhist kingdom on the...

20 Children Ditched by Smugglers Perish in Sahara

They were part of a group of 34 migrants

(Newser) - A group of nearly three dozen migrants, most of them kids, paid smugglers to whisk them out of Niger and Nigeria and to a new life to the north—but instead paid the ultimate price. The five men, nine women, and 20 minors were found dead Sunday in the Sahara,...

94 iPhones Strapped to Smuggler

Chinese customs officers noticed his funny walk

(Newser) - Walking through customs with the gait of Iron Man may not exactly work out—who knew? Customs officers at Futian Port in China stopped a guy who had an odd walk and allegedly found 94 hidden iPhones strapped to his body, Gizmodo reports. According to a Chinese social media site...

Suspect's Giveaway: He Was 'Walking Awkwardly'

Police say they found heroin in man's underwear at JFK Airport

(Newser) - Pro tip: If you're going to smuggle heroin in your underwear, try to walk like a normal person while doing so. Bernard Charles apparently couldn't manage that, so when Customs and Border Protection officers spotted him "walking awkwardly" at New York's JFK Airport on April 1,...

Fleeing Violence, Illegal Youths Flock to US

But green cards aren't that easy to come by

(Newser) - Unaccompanied minors are surging into the US from Mexico, many seeking a haven from gang violence or hoping the government will take pity on them, the Miami Herald reports. But they endure terrible hardships on the way—like hunger, illness, robbery, and sexual assault, reports the LA Times —and...

Found in Plane Toilet: 32 Gold Nuggets

Indian authorities bust up smuggling ring

(Newser) - Note to self: Always brave the airplane bathroom. Just in case. Because Indian intelligence busted an international gold smuggling outfit at Chennai airport on Sunday, and in the process discovered 32 gold nuggets, weighing roughly a kilogram each. The kicker? They were hidden in a plane toilet, the Times of ...

Guards Catch 'Smuggler Kitty' Sneaking Into Prison

Cat has cell phone and charger strapped to its body

(Newser) - At least one prisoner in Brazil may still be waiting for his cell phone. Authorities at a prison in Arapiraca city apprehended a white cat slipping through the gate with all kinds of goodies strapped to it, including a cell phone and charger, earphones, drill bits, and files, the BBC...

Smuggler Swallowed 220 Diamonds: Police

Man caught trying to leave South Africa

(Newser) - A diamond smuggler is accused of the impressive, painful-sounding feat of swallowing 220 of the gems in an attempt to get them out of South Africa. The Lebanese man was arrested at the Johannesburg airport as he was waiting to fly to Dubai, the BBC reports. Scans of his body...

Attempt to Scale Border Fence Goes Poorly

Border patrol assumes it was a smuggling operation gone wrong

(Newser) - Suspected smugglers who tried to use ramps to drive an SUV over a 14-foot-tall border fence had to abandon their plan when the Jeep became stuck on top of the barrier. Agents patrolling the US-Mexico border near the Imperial Sand Dunes in California's southeast corner spotted the Jeep Cherokee...

Smugglers Busted With Primates in Their Skivvies

Lorises headed to Dubai from Bangkok

(Newser) - Is that a slender loris in your pants, or are you just happy to see me? In this case, it was the former: Three United Arab Emirates men headed to Dubai from Bangkok were caught with small primates in their underwear. Two were carrying mammals called slender lorises, Sri Lanka...

Cops: Airport Smuggler Hid Cocaine in ... Clam Shells

Customs officials call case one of the oddest they've seen

(Newser) - Finding a pearl inside a clam is rare, but finding a bag of cocaine is rarer. Just ask Dulles International Airport customs officials who arrested a Central American man trying to enter the US with 15 bags of cocaine stashed in shells that had been opened, stuffed, and glued back...

Rev.: Give GPS to Human Smugglers

Human rights activist aims to make border crossing safer

(Newser) - Rev. Robin Hoover, a human rights activist, wants to give GPS devices to human smugglers along the dangerous Mexico-Arizona border, reports the Christian Science Monitor . “It’s like giving a life preserver to somebody that’s using a boat,” and would allow the "coyotes" to alert search...

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