Lidcombe and Homebush arrests

Police arrested three men at homes in Lidcombe and Homebush, where they found the drugs as well as three firearms, a silencer, ammunition and magazines, precursor chemicals allegedly used in the manufacture of illegal drugs, and a number of MDMA tablets.
All three were charged with possession of prohibited drugs and/or firearm offences.
The arrests followed a joint operation involving officers from New South Wales and South Australia yesterday which resulted in the arrest and charging of two men and a woman at Adelaide Airport. Have been charged in relation to the seizure of cocaine and ice with an estimated street value of $1.3 million.
Drugs with an estimated street value of $700,000 were allegedly detected in the luggage of a female passenger travelling on a flight from Sydney.

Twenty people have been banned from visiting NSW prisons

Twenty people have been banned from visiting NSW prisons and some could face criminal charges following a crackdown on jail contraband.
It's alleged the visitors tried to smuggle in weapons, drugs, cash and mobile phones.
Justice Minister John Hatzistergos says they don't want to limit visits, but to make sure the prisons remain safe.
“It’s important to sustain them whilst they’re in custody, particularly over the holiday period and also to assist them in maintaining their relationships to support them following release.”
“What we can’t tolerate is those visits being used as an opportunity to compromise the safety and security of the system

Religious books = Coke

Drug smugglers used couriers to smuggle cocaine into Canada in religious books during the Christmas period have been smashed by customs officers at Pearson airport.
Two drug mules were arrested in separate incidents this month after more than $850,000 in drugs were found in holy books packed in luggage entering the country on flights from the Caribbean, Customs officials confirmed. A 21-year-old visitor from Barbados was arrested after four kilograms of coke worth $550,000 was found in the binding of a Bible and other books. Another 21-year-old man, who claimed to be visiting from St. Vincent, was arrested a day later arriving from Guyana with 2.5 kilos of coke worth about $310,000 inside a Bible and in the false bottom of a suitcase.

Air Canada members of the Hells Angels Connection

Police believe the drugs originated in Mexico and that investigators were looking at a "strong link" to B.C. members of the Hells Angels.Air Canada spokesman John Reber confirmed that an airline employee has been suspended.Drug trafficking through the airports was so problematic then that airport seizures accounted for 92 per cent of the heroin, 90 per cent of the ecstasy, 40 per cent of the cocaine and 40 per cent of the liquid hashish seized in Canada in 2002, the report noted.
Border agency officers at YVR seized 54 kg of cocaine on a flight from Mexico in September. The drugs were packed in four suitcases.
Another 50 kg of cocaine was found in two suitcases on a flight from Mexico in 2006.
Officers also seized two kilos of heroin at the airport in 2006, arrested one man trying to fly 20 kilos of marijuana to Ontario in 2004 and arrested two men trying to smuggle 65,000 ecstasy pills into Canada from Europe in March 2003.
Border agency officials at the airport seized 19 kilos of opium in three shipments in 2003.

Rolando Equihua-Estrella , Patricia Esquivel-Guerra

Agents arrested Rolando Equihua-Estrella inside the house. All three are suspected of drug trafficking.Federal drug agents have three people in custody for their alleged possession of 46 pounds of cocaine and $14,000 in cash that investigators believe to be the proceeds of drug sales, court records show.
On Dec. 28, state police troopers arrested Javier Esquivel-Guerra and his wife, Patricia Esquivel-Guerra, after they allegedly were found with 11 pounds of the drug in the dashboard of a car in Livonia.
That prompted a search of their 124th Avenue house in Allegan County's Clyde Township the next day. Inside the residence, authorities allegedly discovered 33 pounds of cocaine in a kitchen cabinet and another two pounds in the laundry room.

Kenneth Baker

Kenneth Baker, of the 6200 block of 12th Street Court East, who goes by the name “Dro,” sold an undercover officer crack for $100.
As Baker was being searched, authorities say they found a baggie of leafy material that field tested as marijuana in the suspect’s front pants pocket.
Baker was arrested on charges of sale of cocaine as well as possession of coke, pot and paraphernalia.

Mac Arthur Dingess

A Belington man Mac Arthur Dingess is finally behind bars for selling crack cocaine after a three year long investigation.Sheriff Departments from three different counties all came together to bring down 65 year old Mac Arthur Dingess.
On Saturday, Dingess was arrested for delivery of a controlled substance and possession with intent to deliver.
Authorities from Barbour, Taylor and Tucker Counties were able to search his home after he sold crack to a confidential informant earlier this month.

Mark Anthony Eggerson

Mark Anthony Eggerson , 23, of Utica, Minn., was booked into Winona County Jail on Friday after police allege he sold cocaine in a controlled buy. Prior to that, he’d been there for a litany of charges, including drunken driving and selling cocaine .
Eggerson was charged Monday with four felonies that allege he sold cocaine to a police informant on four occasions in the past three months. The most serious of those charges carries a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison and a $500,000 fine. He was also charged with a lesser felony possession charge and obstructing the legal process by resisting an officer.
According to police and court documents, police arrested Eggerson on Friday afternoon immediately following a controlled buy in the parking lot of a restaurant on Center Street. At about 1:15 p.m., a Winona narcotics investigator stood inside the entrance of the restaurant overlooking the parking lot, where a police informant waited for Eggerson to sell her cocaine.Eggerson also sold 0.27 grams of crack cocaine to a police informant on Oct. 30. The transaction took place in a vacant apartment in the 600 block of East Fifth Street while a police officer hid in one of the apartment’s bedrooms. The apartment is located near the Hope Lutheran High School, which aggravates the charge.
On Nov. 19, an informant purchased 1.04 grams of crack-cocaine from Eggerson near another restaurant on Center Street. On Dec. 27, an informant bought 0.69 grams of cocaine in Eggerson’s driveway in Utica, court records allege
According to the criminal complaint, Eggerson was seen getting into the informant’s car, sold her 0.85 grams of cocaine for $100 and returned to the restaurant about two minutes later. When he opened the door, the investigator was waiting:

John Irizarry

John Irizarry, 44, of Schenectady, N.Y., and Leonard Rios, 37, of Brooklyn were arrested about 1:50 a.m. Saturday. State troopers working out of the Haverstraw barracks stopped them on traffic violations and found various drugs in the vehicle, police said. The two were driving a red 2003 Chevrolet minivan and heading northbound on the Thruway in Clarkstown when they were stopped. A subsequent investigation revealed the two had about two ounces of cocaine, one ounce of heroin and a small amount of marijuana in the vehicle. Both were charged with two counts of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, felonies. Irizarry, the driver, also was charged with tampering with physical evidence, a felony; driving while ability impaired with drugs, a misdemeanor; an unlawful possession of marijuana, a violation. Both men were arraigned Saturday morning in Clarkstown Town Court. Rios was committed to county jail in lieu of $10,000 bail, and Irizarry was committed on no bail.

Patrick Toal

Patrick Toal, 20, of New City was arrested about 12:05 a.m. Saturday. He was stopped for a traffic violation while driving westbound on Route 202 in Haverstraw and was discovered with various drugs in his possession, police said. Following the stop, troopers from the Haverstraw barracks found about 2.5 grams of Psilocybin, commonly known as hallucinogenic mushrooms, 33 Vicodin tablets, a digital scale and a small quantity of marijuana. Toal was charged with third- and fourth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, felonies; second-degree criminal use of drug paraphernalia, a misdemeanor; and unlawful possession of marijuana, a violation. He was arraigned Saturday morning and released after posting $1,000 bail. He is scheduled to appear at 10 a.m. Thursday in Haverstraw Town Court.

Justin Rouse

Justin Rouse, 19, of Hudson Falls, N.Y., was arrested about 10:30 p.m. Saturday. State troopers from the Haverstraw barracks stopped the vehicle he was in for a traffic violation and found more than 1.5 ounces of cocaine and a small amount of marijuana, police said. Rouse was charged with third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a felony, and unlawful possession of marijuana, a violation. He was arraigned in Clarkstown Town Court yesterday morning and was committed to county jail in lieu of $20,000 bail. Rouse was a passenger in Michael Ramos' red 2002 Dodge sedan, which was traveling northbound on the New York State Thruway in Clarkstown when troopers stopped it. Ramos, 25, of Fort Edward, N.Y., was issued two traffic citations and an appearance ticket for unlawful possession of marijuana. He was released to appear in Town Court at a later date.

Sabrina Brown

Sabrina Brown, of Albert Terrace, Middlesbrough. fingerprints linked her to almost 200g of cannabis found at a Middlesbrough home.Brown admitted possession of a Class C drug

Marinaok Griffiths

Marinaok Griffiths, 39, admitted possession of the 184g of cannabis with intent to supply. She also admitted an identical charge for 208.6g of cannabis from July 28 last year, also relating to a search at her Parliament Road home.

Elizabeth A. Watts

Elizabeth A. Watts, 29, was arrested on a Pulaski Circuit Court warrant. She was lodged in the Pulaski Detention Center on a $5,000/10 percent bond.

Tina S. Dye

Tina S. Dye, 40, of Janlyn Drive, Somerset, had originally received probation on a first-degree, first-offense drug trafficking charge.

Trenda S. Brumley

Trenda S. Brumley, 38, of Harvey Street, Nancy, was cited for second-degree possession of a controlled substance and for possession of a controlled substance not in a proper container.

Pamela M. Jones

Pamela M. Jones, 29, of WTLO Road, Somerset, was cited for possession of marijuana, third-degree possession of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance not in a proper container and operating on a suspended driver’s license.

Jeffery L. Hudson

Jeffery L. Hudson, 45, of Dry Branch Road, was charged with trafficking.

Vertrees Brown

Vertrees Brown, 61, of Breezy Hill Drive, was charged with two counts of trafficking and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Budimir Kujović

The leader of the gang, Serbian citizen Budimir Kujović, considered a major drug trafficker in the Balkans. He was said to have been involved in several drug laboratories and trafficking rings arrested in Bulgaria aged 39, was detained on December 30 in Plovdiv. He resisted arrest and a policeman was injured in the fight.
custom officers at the Kapitan Andreevo border checkpoint at the Bulgarian-Turkish border, found 59.35kg of high quality heroin in the floor of a vehicle stopped for a check, an Interior Ministry media statement said.During an operation on December 29 and 30 2007, police in Bulgaria arrested a drug trafficking ring from Turkey through Bulgaria to former Yugoslavia and Western Europe.Stara Zagora deputy regional prosecutor Dicho Atanasov said the gang had been neutralised and its members were detained. The group included three Bulgarians, aged between 41 and 53. One of the Bulgarians was a former custom officer, who provided unimpeded border crossing of the deliveries.Police seized various identity documents from the arrested.

Henry Polanco

10 airline workers at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, appeared in federal court Tuesday on international drug smuggling and distribution charge
Authorities say they've arrested 18 people in connection with a drug smuggling ring at JFK airport.The drugs were hidden in luggage on international commercial flights from the Dominican Republic to JFK, the complaint alleges.Once the luggage arrived, it was relocated to a "safe" area, hidden from law enforcement, it says.While the diversion was taking place, the defendants used lookouts to watch for law officers
The leader of the defendants was Henry Polanco, who dealt with the drug suppliers in the Dominican Republic, according to the complaint.
He used employees from Delta, American Airlines and food-services company Aramark to help smuggle the drugs into the United States, the complaint says.
The charges are a result of a two-year investigation, during which federal agents found 46 kilograms (101 pounds) of cocaine, 25 kilograms (55 pounds) of heroin and 3 kilograms (6 pounds) of MDMA (ecstasy), according to a Justice Department news release.

Umi Azlim Mohamad Lazim sentenced to death

Umi Azlim Mohamad Lazim has been sentenced to death by the Guangzhou High Court in China for trafficking in 2,983 grammes of heroin.Her mother, Umi Slaia Ibrahim, 45, said the family who did not get any news from her for one year and were shocked to receive a letter dated July 12 from Wisma Putra that her daughter was being held in China since Jan 19. She was sentened to death on May 15 and has two years from the date of conviction to lodge an appeal.We did not hear from her for months and suddenly we received news that she was held in China and has been sentenced to death. This is so distressing."I was told the drugs were received in Bangkok and to be given to a Nigerian known as 'UG' on her arrival at Shantou," Umi Slaia said at her home at Kampung Tok Kamis here Monday.The drugs were found hidden in her luggage on arrival at Shantou.Umi Azlim is a University Malaysian graduate.

Man has been arrested following the death of Kevin Greening

A man has been arrested following the death of radio presenter Kevin Greening.The man, in his 50s, was held at the address in Wandsworth, south London, where Greening's body was found.
He has been questioned on suspicion of possessing and intending to supply Class A drugs, and has been bailed until March.