Colombia’s government announced Sunday it is working towards extraditing the country’s most-wanted drug trafficker “Otoniel” to the United States, a day after he was captured in a major operation in the jungle.Colombia’s most-wanted drug lord and head of the Gulf Clan, Dairo Antonio Usuga, is seen in Bogota after his capture, in a photo released by the Colombian Police “There is an extradition order against Otoniel, and this extradition order… remains in progress,” Defense Minister Diego Molano told the daily El Tiempo newspaper in an interview. “This is the path for all those who commit transnational crimes,” Molano told reporters … Continue reading Colombia prepares to extradite drug lord ‘Otoniel’ to US

Bavarian customs officers have found a large shipment of khat bound for the US market. Smugglers had hoped to trick officials into thinking the narcotic plant leaves were an ordinary domestic adornment.The shipment was labelled so it appeared as innocuous as possible Munich airport officials on Tuesday said they had seized a bumper haul of illicit khat leaves that was on its way to the US. The 1.2 metric ton haul a record amount for the airport, was headed to the United States from Dubai, through Germany. Customs officials at Munich airport discovered the leaves in a cargo shipment that had been … Continue reading German officials seize 1.2 tons of banned stimulant khat

Portuguese authorities said Monday they had seized a 5.2-tonne haul of cocaine from a Spanish-registered sailing ship, arresting two Spanish citizens and a Peruvian.Judicial police chief Luis Neves said it was ‘the biggest narcotics haul in Portugal in 15 years’. Showing off 183 bales of the drug at a navy base outside Lisbon, judicial police chief Luis Neves said it was “the biggest narcotics haul in Portugal in 15 years”. “This is a heavy blow for those who want to flood Europe with cocaine,” he told reporters. Investigators pounced on the ship as part of an operation dubbed “White Tide”, … Continue reading Portugal seizes 5.2 tonnes of cocaine from sailing ship

If at first you don’t succeed, maybe don’t try again. A Colombian man has been sentenced to federal prison after being caught for the second time in five years driving a homemade, semi-submersible vehicle known as a “narco-submarine” carrying thousands of pounds of cocaine. Federal prosecutors say Jose Rosario Segura Balentierra, 35, was one of four men caught aboard the low-slung craft when it was intercepted by a Coast Guard cutter in the Pacific Ocean in August 2020. When first encountered several hundred miles out to sea off the Mexican coast, prosecutors say Coast Guard officers ordered the vehicle to … Continue reading Man imprisoned after being caught driving ‘narco submarine’ for the second time

Two suspects were charged last week after an enormous quantity of the elephant tranquilizer carfentanil was seized by authorities in Riverside County, California.Tablets thought to have been laced with fentanyl at the Drug Enforcement Administration Laboratory. Carfentanil, a synthetic opiate, is the most potent fentanyl analog found in the U.S. Typically used in a veterinary capacity to anesthetize large animals, the drug is 10,000 times more powerful than morphine and 100 times more powerful than fentanyl. According to a news release from the Riverside County’s District Attorney’s office, the arrests and arraignments of 30-year-old Andres Jesus Morales and 27-year-old Alyssa … Continue reading Authorities seize enough synthetic opiate to kill 50 million people in massive drug Bust

Indian anti-smuggling intelligence officials have seized nearly three tonnes of heroin, reportedly worth around $2.7bn (£1.9bn) – in a major bust at a port in Gujarat state. Forensic testing is still underway to determine the exact value of the seized drugs, officials said. Two people have been arrested and several others are being investigated, a statement said. The shipment originated in Afghanistan, where it was declared as talc stones. And it was shipped to Gujarat’s Mundra port from Iran. The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) said that it received intelligence that a shipment from the Bandar Abbas Port in Iran … Continue reading Jeez: Nearly three tonnes of heroin seized at Gujarat port

A house where drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman narrowly avoided arrest was scooped by a mystery winner in a special lottery held by the Mexican government on Wednesday.This house that belonged to Mexican cartel boss Amado Carrillo Fuentes was among the prizes in a special Mexican lottery The home in Culiacan in the northwestern state of Sinaloa was among 20 impounded properties raffled off in a National Lottery grand draw. The winning ticket number for the house of the former cartel kingpin serving a life sentence in a US prison was 1,438,619, but the new owner’s identity was kept … Continue reading Mexican lottery winners scoop drug lord homes

A Mexican court has sentenced former drug lord Vicente Carrillo Fuentes, who headed one of the country’s leading cartels, to 28 years in prison, prosecutors said Tuesday.Mexican former cartel boss Vicente Carrillo Fuentes, seen here after his arrest in 2014, has been sentenced to 28 years in prison The 58-year-old, known as “El Viceroy,” is the brother of the founder of the Juarez cartel, whose turf wars with enemies were blamed for thousands of deaths. Amado Carrillo Fuentes, known as “The Lord of the Skies,” was considered one of Latin America’s biggest drug traffickers until he died during plastic surgery … Continue reading Mexican ex-cartel boss jailed for 28 years

An Australian man in his 60s has been charged with allegedly dealing prohibited drugs from his retirement home, police and local media said Monday. Police said they arrested the man on Thursday after finding methamphetamine and cannabis during a vehicle stop. They later searched his home in a retirement village in Dural, Sydney and uncovered LSD, more cannabis and a baton, the statement added. The drug investigation began in June, police said. Sydney’s Daily Telegraph said the investigation was sparked when fellow residents at the retirement village raised concerns about the man’s behaviour and visitors, with the newspaper reporting he was accused … Continue reading Australian man charged with dealing drugs from retirement home

One of the notorious Arellano Felix brothers from Mexico has been rearrested on his arrival in his homeland after being deported from the United States after serving most of a 15-year prison sentence. Prosecutors in Mexico said Eduardo Arellano Felix was on Monday handed over to the Mexican federal authorities at a border crossing in Matamoros, across from Brownsville, Texas. He faces organized crime and drug trafficking charges in Mexico. He was one of several brothers who founded the Tijuana-based Arellano Felix cartel that moved hundreds of tonnes of cocaine and cannabis from Mexico and Colombia into the US. Known … Continue reading Mexico arrests drug cartel leader expelled by US

The Swedish government is being obligated to return roughly $1.5 million or (£1 million) worth of bitcoin to a drug dealer after the value of the digital asset appreciated while he was in custody, according to a report by Telegraph. The unusual turn of events was caused by the fluctuating price of the world’s largest cryptocurrency. Two years ago, when the Swedish Enforcement Authority seized 36 bitcoins from the drug dealer, the coins were cumulatively worth around $136,000, according to Telegraph. This puts each bitcoin at roughly $3,700 per piece. At that time, Prosecutor Tove Kullberg successfully argued in court that the … Continue reading Strange: How a drug dealer’s bitcoin got $1.5 million more valuable while he was in prison

A convenience store owner in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Tuesday for conspiring to sell cocaine out of his market. According to a Justice Department press release, Senior United States District Judge Arthur J. Schwab, who imposed the sentence said Tuesday that the sentence was “sufficient but not greater than necessary to comply with the goals of sentencing.” Prosecutors built their case around the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration wiretaps and surveillance footage that revealed Woogie’s Market, located on Chartiers Avenue near the Greenway Projects in the West End of Pittsburgh, … Continue reading Pittsburgh man gets 10 years for conspiring to sell cocaine from his convenience store