-from canada.com-

By Matthew Ramsey

Seizure of 61.5 kilos of cocaine from Mexico linked to Hells Angels

An Air Canada employee is at the centre of an international investigation after authorities at Vancouver International Airport seized a large quantity of cocaine before Christmas.

Paula Shore of the Canada Border Services Agency said yesterday officers seized 61.5 kilograms of the drug “in the early hours of Dec. 23.”

RCMP sources told The Province they believe the drugs originated in Mexico and that investigators were looking at a “strong link” to B.C. members of the Hells Angels.

The drugs were found in unaccompanied suitcases, the RCMP source said, adding that the people behind the shipment had “inside help.”

Police would not say if the bust is connected to two earlier seizures at YVR this year and last year, in which cocaine was found in suitcases that arrived on flights from Mexico.

Shore said she’s not aware of any arrests in the latest bust and that she did not have information on the origin of the drugs.

The border agency is working with the RCMP and international law-enforcement groups to trace the source of the drugs, she said.

“Seizing a shipment of contraband is great because it takes it off the streets, but also we work with agencies around the world to try and find the individuals responsible for bringing illegal contraband into Canada.”

Air Canada spokesman John Reber confirmed that an airline employee has been suspended.

The airline declined to release any information on whether the employee works aboard planes or is a member of the Air Canada ground team, or about the employee’s experience on the job or gender.

Reber said the employee’s colleagues at Air Canada were “instrumental in bringing this matter to the attention of the authorities.”

“The employee was suspended, pending further police investigation,” Reber said.

“Air Canada has been co-operating fully with this investigation from the outset.

“It is a police matter so we don’t have any additional information to provide.”

A 2003 RCMP report identified Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto airports as so heavily infiltrated by organized crime that the facilities had become a primary gateway for smuggling drugs into Canada.

Drug trafficking through the airports was so problematic then that airport seizures accounted for 92 per cent of the heroin, 90 per cent of the ecstasy, 40 per cent of the cocaine and 40 per cent of the liquid hashish seized in Canada in 2002, the report noted.

Border agency officers at YVR seized 54 kg of cocaine on a flight from Mexico in September. The drugs were packed in four suitcases.

Another 50 kg of cocaine was found in two suitcases on a flight from Mexico in 2006.

Officers also seized two kilos of heroin at the airport in 2006, arrested one man trying to fly 20 kilos of marijuana to Ontario in 2004 and arrested two men trying to smuggle 65,000 ecstasy pills into Canada from Europe in March 2003.

Border agency officials at the airport seized 19 kilos of opium in three shipments in 2003.

Customs officials arrested an Aeroflot pilot in 2005 and charged him with trying to smuggle 20,000 bogus anti-impotency pills from Moscow to Toronto.

YVR officials found 706 grams of cocaine and 369 grams of hash in the wing of a Boeing 767 in 2004.

In 2000, six Air Canada cleaners were charged with smuggling

$8-million worth of cocaine and hashish into Toronto’s Pearson Airport from Jamaica over the course of a year.

Also that year, police in Winnipeg seized drugs concealed in the walls of Air Canada jets eight times over six months.

A Canada 3000 flight attendant was fired in 1999 for smuggling at least $1 million in ecstasy pills into Canada from Europe.

-from action3news.com-

By Jen Kucirek

Omaha, NE - Suspects in a major metro meth bust could be headed to federal court. The bust would mean double trouble for the accused.

Don’t let the small size of the house at 1717 Martha fool you. Investigators say it used to be home to one of Omaha’s largest meth distributors. According to court records, police found more than five pounds of meth hidden inside the house on December 21st.

A neighbor says, “It’s normal to know that there is meth down in the hood, but to know that it is that much right next door to you is kind of scary.”

Two doors down from the scene of the bust, Richard Hernandez says any meth is a concern raising a 13-year-old. He says he’s worried about, “Him getting his hands on something like that or just being around that or walking next to it and not even know it is there. That’s surprising.”

The amount of meth seized isn’t the only scare factor about the bust. Location also plays a major factor. It’s less than 100 yards from a school.

Noel Washburn says, “Double fine and everything. I can’t believe they had the gall to bring that much here.” Washburn lives next door to the suspects and inside the “Drug Free School Zone” for a reason. “I got two kids of my own,” Washburn says, “and I am in the house with them all the time.”

At least six people went to jail for keeping and dealing the meth. The owner and landlord stopped by the house during our visit. He refused to answer the door and drove off without answering our questions.

-from geelongadvertiser.com.au-

By Lauren Pike

PRESCRIPTION drugs and pharmaceutical products have been seized in Corio following a covert police operation targeting drug thieves.

Corio police arrested three people after they were involved in an alleged attempted burglary at a medical waste disposal premises in Broderick Rd, Corio.

A 30-year-old Corio man was arrested at the facility at 3.40am on Friday after leading police on a short foot chase. He was later charged with three counts of burglary, three counts of theft, one count of attempted burglary, assaulting police and going equipped to steal.

He was bailed to appear before the Geelong Magistrates’ Court on February 18.

Police also arrested a 33-year-year-old Corio woman who was in a white Ford sedan a short distance from the medical facility. She has been interviewed in relation to drug use and possession.

A third person, a 28-year-old man from Hoppers Crossing, was released pending further inquiries.

The arrests and seizure of three garbage bags and two boxes of stolen prescription drugs and outdated pharmaceutical products comes after a week-long operation.

Corio CIU detectives have conducted covert surveillance on the premises following a series of thefts in the past week.

-from wktv.com-

By Susan Campbell

SCHUYLER - New York State Troopers made a big drug bust on the thruway. State Police say that as far as drug busts go, this one is pretty significant. That’s because they confiscated more than $20,000 worth of heroin that was en route to Utica from Brooklyn

Yesterday afternoon, two troopers from the State Police barracks in Schuyler were making a routine traffic stop on I-90 for dark tinted windows.

When the driver and his passenger started telling inconsistent stories, the troopers got suspicious. A K-9 partner smelled narcotics, so the troopers started looking for drugs.

They found a modified canister hidden in the vehicle’s engine compartment. Inside the canister there were 1,320 individual packets of heroin. To put that in perspective, that adds up to about 4 ounces, or $20,000.

Troopers arrested the driver and his passenger, and both were arraigned in the Town of Little Falls Court. The driver - Jaime Garcia Jr., 30, of Utica, is being held in the Herkimer County Jail on $50,000 cash bail.

His passenger -Alejandro Medrano, 47, is believed to be here in the United States illegally on an expired work Visa. He’s being held in the Herkimer County Jail without the possibility of bail on an immigration detainer.

U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, as well as the New York State Police Community Narcotics Team assisted with the arrest.

Both suspects are facing felony drug charges.

-from suburbanchicagonews.com-

Under a negotiated plea, a 32-year-old Mexican man was sentenced to 10 years in prison Friday in Lake County Circuit Court on drug charges.

Alegandro Bolla-Gonzales who lived in Zion previously until his arrest Sept. 12, 2006, was warned by Judge Fred Foreman that he could face deportation after serving his sentence because he is not a U.S. citizen.

Represented by attorney John Stergiou and speaking through an attorney, he pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine with intent to deliver.

Bollas-Gonzalez was arrested after he tried to sell to an undercover agent one kilogram of cocaine for $20,000 at a Burger King parking lot off Green Bay Road near Grand Avenue, according to Assistant State’s Attorney Scott Hoffert.

An argument resulted as he and the agent challenged each other as to who should produce the drug or the money first, said Hoffert. A search of his car yielded 987 grams of cocaine in the shape of “a white brick.”

Bollas-Gonzalez did not have a previous criminal record other than some traffic violations, Hoffert said.

-from deseretnews.com-

Two Hispanic businesses in West Valley City were apparently selling a little more than what was displayed on the stores’ main floors.

Acting on a tip, the Salt Lake City Police Department’s narcotics unit with assistance from West Valley police served search warrants at about 2 p.m. Thursday at Los Dos Gallos, 1870 W. 3500 South, and Tropical Ritmo, which is next door. Nine grams of cocaine, packaging material, a handgun, a magazine full of ammunition and $30,000 cash was seized, said Salt Lake City police detective Jeff Bedard.

The owner of the stores, Marco Antonio Vargas-Perez, 36, was arrested for investigation of drug possession with intent to distribute and a restricted person in possession of a firearm.

Vargas-Perez also admitted to investigators to being in the United States illegally, according to a Salt Lake County Jail report.

-from wkyt.com-

Police in Whitley County hoping to track down shoplifters end up making a drug bust.

Corbin Police responded to a call of a man stealing a coat from JCPenney. They say the man ran off, but police caught up with a woman who was with the suspect. Officers say while questioning Melissa Summers, they noticed a bag of prescription pills in her purse. When police searched Summers’ purse, they say they found more pills and cash.

Summers now faces several drug charges.

The man she was with was later found and arrested too.

-from alamogordonews.com-

A 20-year-old Alamogordo resident is now behind bars after police surveillance led to his arrest on drug-related charges Wednesday.

A news release from the Department of Public Safety states Derrick Tyrell Harris, 20, of 3106 Abbott, was arrested and charged with felony trafficking cocaine by possession, felony tampering with evidence and possession of forfeitable property.

He was arrested when DPS detectives and narcotics unit agents, along with state police narcotics officers, served a search warrant at approximately 2:30 p.m. Wednesday. Police seized 4.9 grams of crack cocaine, with an estimated street value of $1,250.

Police had received numerous tips about potential drug sales at the residence and police had Harris under surveillance.

The tampering charge resulted after Harris allegedly tried to prevent police from searching his pockets. He also allegedly tried to dispose of some of the crack in the back seat of the squad car.

According to court files, Harris was furloughed from jail Dec. 10, where he had been incarcerated to await sentencing on charges of burglary, two counts of larceny, receiving or disposing of stolen property and bribery of or retaliation against a witness. His sentencing is set for Jan 14 on those charges.

He was furloughed to allow him to spend time over the Christmas holiday with his grandparents, according to police.

Harris is now at the Otero County Detention Center on $35,000 bond.