cocaine

“The Cocaine Buttons” Story…How a small town Canadian grandmother ended up in a Hong Kong prison

Published

2 years ago

March 7, 2023

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It was such an implausible story. How did a grandmother of six from Barrie, Ont. get caught up in an international scheme that ended with her behind bars, potentially for the rest of her life?

The short answer is: loneliness, naivete and a desire for love. The long answer is more complicated.

Five years after she became a widow, 64-year-old Suzana decided to try to find love online. She was flattered by all of the attention she received. She quickly fell in love with a man who, over the course of a few months, drained her of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

They never met in person.

Her friends and family believe that same man then re-entered her on-line life, using a new name and a new photo. But instead of trying to get money from her, this time he had another plan.

He paid for her to fly to Ethiopia, ostensibly to meet him. But he never showed. So he had some friends drop off presents: new clothing and a new suitcase. He then bought her a ticket to meet him in Hong Kong, where she now sits behind bars.

It turns out those gifts were loaded with cocaine inside the buttons of the clothes.

Our investigation, “The Cocaine Buttons,” spans from Canada to Ethiopia and Hong Kong where lawyer Michael Arthur says Suzana’s only hope is to prove that she was caught up in an international crime syndicate.

“There are pretty severe sentences here. She is looking at serious jail time,” he told W5.

Her case isn’t expected to even go to trial for another two years. In the meantime, Suzana only gets one 10-minute phone call a month.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/w5/how-a-small-town-canadian-grandmother-ended-up-in-a-hong-kong-prison-1.6298110

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cocaine

Shipment of grapes entering Canada hid massive stash of suspected cocaine

Published

3 weeks 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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UK: Drug dealer caught with imitation gun and cocaine after swearing at passing police car

Published

1 month ago

October 19, 2024

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Miguel Mota, 18, was stopped by neighbourhood police officers after he shouted abuse at them and then tried to run. In the video above, the officer can be heard saying “You’re bringing attention to yourself by saying ‘f**k you’ as we drive past you”.

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Dad of Brit facing 60yrs in US prison for ‘trying to smuggle £3.5m in cocaine’ insists she is ‘only guilty of stupidity’

Published

1 month ago

October 15, 2024

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THE DAD of a Brit beautician facing up to 60 years in jail in the US after allegedly smuggling £3.5million worth of cocaine has insisted she is “only guilty of stupidity”.

John Hall, 59, defended his daughter Kim, 28, after she was detained at Chicago’s O’Hare airport as she was waiting for her connecting flight to Manchester.

The dad said she was offered the free holiday by people she met on an earlier trip to Portugal.

And he insisted all she is guilty of is “stupidity and naivety” as they desperately wait for news.

John said that she is “petrified” – and that at first she could barely speak to her family through floods of tears after the arrest.

The dad is convinced that Kim would have been “forced” to carry the drugs “without a shadow of a doubt”.

John told The Sun: “She’s not a drug smuggler.

“She was told that it would be money she was carrying. They got her phone and threatened her family and that’s why she did it.

“She’d been to Portugal with a friend and met people over there who contacted her when she was back saying they were into real estate in Mexico and she could go for a free holiday.

“Her friend declined but she said she would go.

Read more stupidity

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/31038866/dad-brit-drug-mule-cocaine-prison/

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