cocaine

DR national pleads guilty to possession of 630 kilos of cocaine whilst in US waters

Published

2 years ago

April 4, 2023

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Victor Reyes-Martinez, 40, of Nicaragua, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine while on board a vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, U.S. Attorney Delia L. Smith announced this weekend.

A sentencing date for Reyes-Martinez will be set by the court, and he will face a maximum of 20 years in prison. A federal district judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.

Reyes-Martinez made his plea before Magistrate Judge Emile A. Henderson, III.

According to court documents, on Sept. 11, 2022, while on routine patrol south of the Dominican Republic, a maritime patrol aircraft detected a go-fast vessel navigating northward approximately 80 nautical miles south of Bani, Dominican Republic. The USS Billings was dispatched to the area when crew members observed that the vessel had no flag flown, no registration numbers and no name painted on its hull. The Dominican Republic Navy later advised that the vessel was not registered with their country. The vessel was therefore treated as one without nationality thereby subjecting it to laws of the U.S. Onboard the vessel, the USS Billings boarding team detained Reyes-Martinez and another individual and located 18 bales of cocaine weighing approximately 630 kilograms, according to court documents.

The U.S. Coast Guard, Homeland Security Investigations and Drug Enforcement Administration investigated the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Evan Rikhye prosecuted it.

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cocaine

ABC (Australia News) Victorian men jailed over attempted ‘astronomical’ cocaine import into South Australia

Published

4 weeks ago

January 30, 2025

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In short:

Two men have been sentenced to three years’ jail with a non-parole period of 18 months for trying to import more than 100 kilograms of cocaine into South Australia.

The judge said the pair had followed the drugs from WA to SA on the instruction of their drug dealers in order to pay off drug debts they had accumulated.

What’s next?

The men’s sentences have been backdated to when they were first imprisoned last February and they will both be eligible for parole in August.

Two young Victorian men who were involved in the attempted importation of an “astronomical” amount of cocaine into South Australia have been labelled “muppets” and sentenced to three years’ imprisonment.

Rayn Sadik, 20, and Yousif Al-Asadi, 23, were sentenced in South Australia’s District Court on Wednesday after they each entered a guilty plea to one count of attempting to possess a commercial quantity of an unlawfully imported border controlled drug last year.

The maximum penalty for that offence is life imprisonment or a fine of $2,347,500.

More at

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-01-29/victorian-men-sentenced-over-attempt-to-import-100kg-of-cocaine/104870476

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Military-trained narcos arrested in three tonne cocaine bust in south of Spain: Kalashnikov assault rifles among weapons seized

Published

1 month ago

January 18, 2025

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NEARLY three tonnes of cocaine and four military-grade weapons have been seized in a major drug bust along the Guadalquivir River in Sevilla.

Spanish police reported that the men had ‘paramilitary training’ and were armed with what appeared to be Kalashnikov assault rifles.

The presence of such weapons suggests a level of organisation and capacity for violence far beyond typical drug smuggling operations.

Military-trained narcos arrested in three tonne cocaine bust in south of Spain: Kalashnikov assault rifles among weapons seized

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Shipment of grapes entering Canada hid massive stash of suspected cocaine

Published

4 months ago

November 3, 2024

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More than 600 kilograms of suspected cocaine — roughly the weight of a concert grand piano — was discovered inside a shipment of grapes intercepted by border officers earlier this month.

The seizure took place on Oct. 15 at the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ont.

A spokesperson for the Canada Border Services Agency says an investigation is underway with law enforcement partners.

The agency declined an interview and said it doesn’t comment on the status of ongoing investigations.

CBSA hasn’t provided an estimate of the street value of the 615 kilograms, but earlier this year estimated the value of a cocaine seizure less than half this size at $6.5 million.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/ambassador-bridge-cocaine-grapes-1.7368639

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