cocaine

UK – Kent: Paddock Wood cocaine supplier must repay £78,000

Published

1 year ago

February 13, 2023

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Kent Police Press Release

A drug supplier who arranged high value deals using a heavily encrypted messaging service has been ordered to pay back £78,000.

Marcus Brookfield was jailed for eight years in March 2022 after investigators found he had been using the EncroChat mobile phone platform to purchase blocks of cocaine worth tens of thousands per kilogram.

The 48-year-old’s offending came to light when law authorities in France and the Netherlands cracked the illegal service, allowing them to capture data from thousands of devices from across Europe that they then shared with the National Crime Agency.

Further investigation by detectives from the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate established the extent of the offences committed by Brookfield, who went by the alias ‘Cosmic Samurai’.

A review of Brookfield’s finances established he had benefitted by nearly half a million pounds from his criminal conduct and had assets totalling around £78,000 that he had available to pay back. This includes a share of equity in a house, cash and other items seized such as watches and gold coins.

The assets were made subject of a confiscation order at Maidstone Crown Court on Friday 10 February 2023 meaning Brookfield, formerly of Forest Road, Paddock Wood, now has three months to pay the money back or will spend a further year in prison and still have to pay.

Justice

Detective Inspector David Godfrey of the Economic Crime Unit said:

‘Marcus Brookfield may have referred to himself as a samurai but he had a less than fighting chance of keeping the identified assets earned through the harmful sale of class A drugs.‘This result does not signal the end of our interest in his finances, as the Proceeds of Crime Act allows us to continue to seize any further assets he comes into possession of in the future until the entire half a million pounds he earned is paid back.‘Drugs ruin people’s lives and Brookfield made a significant amount of money off of their misery. We take a very dim view of such offending and will not hesitate to bring offenders like him to justice.’

https://www.kent.police.uk/news/kent/latest/policing-news/paddock-wood-cocaine-supplier-must-repay-78000/

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Lebanese authorities seize 8kg of cocaine at Beirut airport

Published

4 months ago

December 31, 2023

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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/

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

Published

6 months ago

November 13, 2023

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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

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cocaine

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

Published

6 months ago

November 8, 2023

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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.

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