cocaine

USA: VA senator introduces legislation to eliminate federal cocaine sentencing disparity

Published

2 years ago

February 25, 2023

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Virginia Senator Tim Kaine, alongside his colleagues, has introduced the Eliminating a Quantifiably Unjust Application of the Law (EQUAL) Act. The bipartisan legislation aims to eliminate the federal sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine and apply it retroactively to those already convicted or sentenced.

Currently, statutory criminal penalties for crack cocaine are harsher than those for powder cocaine, despite there being no pharmacological difference or scientific evidence that suggests that crack cocaine is more addictive or dangerous. The EQUAL Act would ensure that both substances carry the same penalties.

The disparity in cocaine sentencing dates back to 1986 when Congress passed legislation mandating harsher minimum sentences for individuals convicted of distributing or possessing crack cocaine compared to powder cocaine. A person convicted of distributing 5 grams of crack cocaine served the same mandatory minimum prison sentence of five years as someone convicted of distributing 500 grams of powder cocaine, creating a 100:1 sentencing disparity.

Learn more at

https://wset.com/news/local/virginia-senator-tim-kaine-introduces-legislation-eliminating-quantifiably-unjust-application-law-equal-act-eliminate-federal-crack-cocaine-sentencing-disparity-february-2023

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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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