-from pressrepublican.com-

By Andrea VanValkenburg

SARANAC LAKE — A property-damage accident Thursday night allegedly led police to a stash of drugs, weapons and unlawful fireworks.
Around 8:20 p.m., Saranac Lake Village Police officers responded to an accident on Lake Flower Avenue.

When they arrived, one of the vehicles involved had fled.

After a canvass through the village, police located and stopped the vehicle on River Street. Village Police said officers saw a marijuana pipe and fireworks inside the car.

vehicle search
According to police, they secured and executed a search warrant for the vehicle and found about 1.25 ounces of cocaine, totaling a street value of nearly $3,000.

Police also found $1,800 in U.S. currency, drug paraphernalia and two knives, including a switch blade, during the search.

The driver of the car, an 18-year-old male from Florida, now faces numerous charges for the contents of the vehicle and for leaving the scene of the accident.

A teen, who was given youthful-offender status, was charged with two counts of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and fifth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, both felonies, as well as two counts of fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, second-degree criminal use of drug paraphernalia, unlawfully dealing with fireworks, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and unlawful possession of marijuana. The teen was also ticketed for the accident.

An occupant in the car, Shela P. Jones, 25, of Florida, faces two counts of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and fifth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, both felonies, as well as two counts of fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, second-degree criminal use of drug paraphernalia, unlawfully dealing with fireworks and unlawful possession of marijuana.

Both Jones and the teen were arraigned in Village Court and sent to the Franklin County Jail for lack of $10,000 cash bail or $20,000 bond.

They are due back in court at a later date.

-from wane.com-

Three people were arrested earlier this week after they took delivery of 550 pounds of pot. The undercover investigation began in Texas and ended inside a Ligonier home on Tuesday.

An officer with the Noble County Sheriff’s Department told NewsChannel 15 that the DEA learned of a planned delivery of marijuana to a home in Ligonier. An undercover officer with the DEA actually helped deliver the pot which was offloaded from a semi to another vehicle on Tuesday before it was delivered to a home locaed in the 1500 block of Longwood Lane in Ligonier. Once the pot was delivered, several local SWAT teams and police agencies went to the home where they arrested 24 year old Hector Manuel Lopez of Ligonier, Aldo F. Perez of Detroit and 27-year old Roman Alvaro Torres of Ligonier.

All three men have been charged with possession with intent to distribute, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and aiding and abetting.

Besides the pot, officers also found a shotgun, a scale with packaging materials, drug ledgers and $45,000 in cash.

The investigation hasn’t ended with the bust and police say they expect more arrests.

-from greeleytrib.com-

A major multi-agency drug bust resulted in 10 arrests Monday and Tuesday in Weld County, adding to the nine people already in custody on state charges.

Several agencies today announced that a large methamphetamine distribution organization based in Greely has been dismantled by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Weld County Drug Task Force.

The investigation, which began in September 2005, resulted in the seizure of more than 45 pounds of ICE methamphetamine, 1.1 kilos of cocaine and $59,000 in cash. The organization used buses and cars to transport the high-quality meth from California to Colorado.

On Oct. 18, a federal grand jury in Denver returned an indictment charging 21 individuals with various drug-trafficking crimes, including conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute methamphetamine. DEA agents and Weld County Drug Task Force officers arrested 10 people this week, including Rigoverto Valle-Sierra, the alleged leader of the organization.

Two of the 21 individuals are fugitives.

Officers also executive five search warrants at three residences, a business and a storage unit in Greeley.

The case, also involving the Greeley and Evans police departments, Weld County Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

-from tvnz.co.nz-

Drug smugglers appear to be trying a new way of getting drugs into Australia - in metal boxes attached to the hulls of ships.

The alleged new method came to light as a father and son appeared in court accused of smuggling a multi-million dollar haul of cocaine using the Tampa, the cargo ship that became synonymous with Australia’s hardline refugee policies.

International customs officials will fly to Australia to inspect purpose-built metal pods allegedly used to import 27kg of cocaine worth $AU6.75 million on the MV Tampa and its sister ship the MV Taronga.

The method involves attaching pods measuring 50cm by 50cm to the hulls of ships with chains, below the water line.

Australian Customs Service (ACS) deputy chief executive John Drury said the sophisticated method was believed to be an Australian first.

It was more common to find attachments on ships overseas, but those operations were more amateurish and less successful, he said.

Justice Minister Chris Ellison said the alleged smugglers had gone to “extraordinary lengths” to bring the cocaine from South America.

“They were using a method we have not seen before,” Senator Ellison said, adding that neither the shipping line nor its crew were under suspicion.

The arrests were the result of a five-month investigation that followed a tip-off from the New Zealand Customs Service (NZCS).

Police began tracking the alleged plot in June after 18.3kg of the drug was found in a metal box attached to the hull of the Tampa after it arrived in Auckland Harbour from South America, an ACS spokesman said outside court.

The Tampa was monitored by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and ACS as it continued to Australia in July, where NSW police allegedly identified the two men.

It is also alleged that another 8.7kg of cocaine was found in a metal box under the Taronga when it berthed in Auckland in late September, ACS said.

The ship was monitored as it sailed onto Brisbane and when it arrived in Sydney’s Darling Harbour on October 5.

Authorities allege the same people were linked to the drugs on the Tampa and Taronga, and that the drugs were destined for NSW.

Drury said it had been several years since drugs had been detected underneath a ship in Australia.

It would be impossible for divers to inspect all ships, because more than 200 vessels entered Australian ports every week, he said.

There is no suggestion the ships’ owners, Norwegian shipping line Wilh Wilhelmsen, or its employees, were involved in the alleged importation racket.

Michael Anderson, 28, of Mona Vale in Sydney’s north, and his father John Anderson, 66, of The Entrance on the NSW Central Coast, were on Thursday refused bail after appearing in separate courts.

Both are charged with attempting to import a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug and conspiracy to import a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug.

Michael Anderson will reappear in Central Local Court on December 20, while his father will face the same court on November 11.

The Tampa won enduring fame in 2001 when it rescued 433 asylum seekers from a sinking Indonesian ferry but was barred from landing them in Australian territory.

The incident became a focal point of Prime Minister John Howard’s successful battle to win the 2001 election.

The asylum seekers were sent to Pacific island detention camps in what became known as the “Pacific solution.”

-from theindychannel.com-

GREENWOOD, Ind. — Police recovered crystal methamphetamine, worth about $300,000 on the street, in a Greenwood drug bust late last week, officials said.

The bust went down outside of a McDonald’s restaurant just off Interstate 65.

The drug, also known on the street as “ice,” is a highly refined form of methamphetamine that is expensive and highly addictive.

For weeks, narcotics officers tracked a Mexican drug operation in both Greenwood and Indianapolis.Officers moved in when they learned of a crystal meth deal that was set up for Friday night.”We had undercover officers working on the investigation but we also had informants giving us the information that this is where it’s going to take place,” said Greenwood police Detective Matt Fillenwarth.Investigators said officers waited in the parking lot to make the bust, but that the suspects decided they were hungry. So, officers waited for them to finish their meal.Ten officers moved in and arrested Vincente Linares-Avila and Oscar Medival Cota. Officials said they found the meth on the floorboard of the car, under a jacket.”We know that it came from Mexico through Arizona, and from Arizona, it was shipped directly to Indy,” Fillenwarth said.A search of an Indianapolis home yielded another pound of ice, cash and digital scales, investigators said.Officials said the case is still under investigation and that more arrests are possible.

-from nbc5i.com-

GARLAND, Texas — Garland police said they have linked one person to 570 cases of identity theft, and that there may be more victims.

Investigators said Dandra Manning Crawford used the information to get powerful painkillers from several North Texas pharmacies. Police said Manning then sold those drugs on the Internet.

Police said they aren’t sure how Manning got ahold of the personal information used to purchase the drugs.

-from news.com.au-

TWO former police officers staged a fake drug bust during a $120,000 speed deal so that they could on-sell the drugs, a Sydney court was told today.

A witness known only as APW2 said former NSW police officer Samuel John Foster had asked him to organise the purchase of 1kg from a dealer in Enfield in southwest Sydney in September 2002.

Mr Foster, 41, and former Victorian police officer James Anthony McCabe would stage a drug bust during the deal and the men would split the drugs among themselves, APW2 told Downing Centre Local Court today.

“He (Mr Foster) said he would make it look like a drugs bust and I would be arrested,” he said.

“He would fix the paperwork for me … and let the supplier go and we would split the money.”

APW2 also told the committal hearing about another drug deal he helped organise for Mr Foster and Mr McCabe involving up to 1500 ecstasy tablets.

Mr Foster and Mr McCabe were attached to the National Crime Authority, later renamed the Australian Crime Commission, at the time of the alleged offences.

APW2 is giving evidence to a committal hearing for the pair.

Mr Foster, who is facing 16 charges, sat quietly in the dock during today’s evidence.
Mr McCabe, 36, is facing two charges.

A warrant for his arrest was issued yesterday after he failed to show up to court.

His solicitor Gordon Elliot yesterday told the court that McCabe was in Cambodia.

The hearing before Magistrate Pat O’Shane continues.

-from memphisflyer.com-

While Memphis was making headlines as the nation�s second most-violent city, 150 law enforcement officers from local and federal agencies were shutting down six Memphis brothels that brought in prostitutes from New York, the Dominican Republic, Colombia, and Mexico.

United States Attorney David Kustoff announced the arrest and indictment of ten Hispanic men charged with running the prostitution ring between May, 2004 and October 13, 2006, when the arrests were made.

The women charged $30 for 15 minutes of sex, according to the indictment, which also states that customers were given a bead or poker chip to signify that payment had been made.

Kustoff made the announcement at a press conference Monday along with FBI Special Agent in Charge My Harrison and Memphis Police Director Larry Godwin.

Godwin said police make prostitution arrests all the time, but he was �totally taken aback� at the international scope of the prostitution ring.

Authorities said 150 law enforcement personnel were involved in the case. The women were not charged but they are expected to testify against the men who ran the operation