cocaine

Argentine Customs create Uruguay River task force to tackle cocaine trafficking

Published

1 year ago

March 7, 2023

admin

Argentina’s Customs General Directorate created a department within its structure to monitor drug trafficking through the Uruguay River, it was announced Friday. The new task force will increase controls on regional transshipments where various containers featuring cocaine have been detected recently.

Customs Director Guillermo Michel held a meeting with Federal Judges Pablo Andrés Seró (Concepción del Uruguay); Federico Martín (Victoria), Hernán Viri (Gualeguaychú), Analía Ramponi (Concordia), who have jurisdiction concurrent with that of the new Uruguay Coast Drug Trafficking Sector (Waterway Region) office. Also present at the meeting was Gualeguaychú Federal Prosecutor Pedro Rebollo.

“We have created an area specifically dedicated to the surveillance of the Uruguay River coasts, with headquarters in Gualeguaychú, Concepción del Uruguay, Colón, and Concordia. This will mean greater presence, better intelligence, more dogs, and more technology to combat drug trafficking,” Michel said while underlining the importance of joint work among state agencies. “We must work in coordination with the security forces, [and] the Judiciary, generating risk perception and reacting quickly to highly dynamic organizations,” he added.

Customs intelligence has been trailing the transshipment of cocaine to larger ships headed for Europe and Africa. Argentine customs sources explained that drugs from Paraguay arrive in Uruguay through transshipment containers, light aircraft, and land cargo vehicles.

In recent months, cocaine has been found in lorries bound for Uruguay, the first such case dating back to Sept. 8 in Colón, when 31.36 kilos of cocaine were seized. All the other cases were found in Concordia, in the Argentine Province of Entre Ríos in increasing quantities: On Nov. 18, 56.6 kilograms; on Dec. 8, 77.65 kilos, and on Jan. 30, 89.15 kilos.

These maneuvers were believed to be linked to cocaine trafficking consolidating in the port of Montevideo, Argentine Customs also noted. Hence the importance of tackling smuggling through the Uruguay River with a focus on the Gualeguaychú-Fray Bentos, Colón-Paysandú, and Concordia-Salto on border crossings as well as at Ibicuy on the Paraná River and the export plants in that area to “encircle” illegal traders.

Source: https://en.mercopress.com/2023/03/04/argentine-customs-create-uruguay-river-task-force-to-tackle-cocaine-trafficking

Source link

cocaine

Lebanese authorities seize 8kg of cocaine at Beirut airport

Published

5 months ago

December 31, 2023

admin

Officials detain suspect who had previously served a six-year sentence for drug smuggling

Lebanese authorities said they had detained a man caught with about 8kg of cocaine at Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport.

The man, a Brazilian national with Lebanese origins, had sought to conceal the drugs in a hidden compartment in his suitcase.

He had previously served a six-year sentence in a Lebanese prison on drug trafficking charges and was released in 2022.

Drug busts are relatively common at Lebanon’s only international airport, with authorities stepping up efforts to crack down on the trade in recent years amid pressure from countries in the Gulf.

In January, airport authorities stopped two Brazilian travellers who had ingested 2kg of cocaine in more than 150 capsules.

https://www.thenationalnews.com/mena/lebanon/2023/12/30/lebanese-authorities-seize-8kg-of-cocaine-at-beirut-airport/

Source link

cocaine

Malta: Racehorse tests positive for cocaine and other drugs after winning Marsa race

Published

6 months ago

November 13, 2023

admin

A racehorse tested positive for cocaine and other drugs after it won a race last month.

Six-year-old mare Halina Jibay was found with cocaine in its body when it outperformed nine other horses on the Marsa racecourse on October 1, tests carried out in a French doping laboratory revealed.

In a decision issued by the Malta Racing Club this week, the mare’s owner was suspended from all races for two years and fined €350.

A doping test result issued by the Laboratoire des Courses Hippiques and seen by Times of Malta confirms a urine sample taken from the horse on the day of the race contained cocaine, stanozolol (a synthetic steroid), ketamine (a form of tranquilliser), and methamphetamine (a stimulating drug), among other similar substances.

At least two of the substances – including cocaine – constitute among the most serious rule breaks according to the Malta Racing Club’s regulations, and the rules state such cases must also be reported to the police since the possession of these substances is illegal.

The Malta Racing Club last night said the horse owner was given until today to contest the findings and present a counter-analysis.

Should the owner not contest the findings, then the case will be reported to the police.

https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/racehorse-tests-positive-cocaine-drugs-winning-marsa-race.1066917

Source link

cocaine

East Boston man arrested after police find 240 grams of fentanyl in home

Published

6 months ago

November 8, 2023

admin

An East Boston man is facing a slew of drug charges after police found a stockpile of fentanyl, cocaine, marijuana, psychedelic mushrooms and thousands of dollars in his home, Suffolk DA Kevin Hayden announced Sunday.

“Fentanyl is a death drug, plain and simple,” Hayden said in a release. “The amount seized here — 240 grams of fentanyl, plus sizeable quantities of other drugs — represents a tremendous amount of potential human devastation.”

After months of investigating, police executed a search warrant for the apartment of Robert Ciampi, 63, on Orleans Street in East Boston on Nov. 1, according to the release.

Read the rest of this story on BostonHerald.com.

Source link