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Airline
Industry Information
April
20, 2006
HEADLINE: Police officers detained
at Mexican airport over cocaine
discovery
Police
officers at Caudal del Carmen
airport, a small airport in Mexico,
have been detained for possibly
being involved in a cocaine haul.
The cocaine was reportedly found in
an empty passenger aircraft.
According to local Mexican media at
least five police officers had been
held for questioning while other
staff are being investigated. The
employees were allegedly trying to
stop the aircraft from being
searched. Other police officers were
said to have disappeared after
5.5 tonnes of cocaine was found
in a DC-9 from Venezuela. The
aircraft had landed at the airport
on 11 April. The drug haul is
estimated to be worth about USD100m.
17 March
2006
UNODC
Compliments Ecuador on Seizure of
5.5 Tons of Cocaine
VIENNA,
17 March (UN Information Service) -
The Executive Director, United
Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC),
Antonio Maria Costa, congratulated
Ecuador on the seizure of more than
5.5 tons of cocaine in the port of
Guayaquil, Ecuador.
The
cocaine, with a street value of
around US$556 million in North
America or Europe, was uncovered in
a joint operation by police and
customs, working together in a new
Joint Port Control Unit set up with
the support of UNODC.
"This is
a stunning success by a major UNODC
project," said the UNODC Executive
Director. "Guayaquil has for decades
been a haven for contraband. This
massive seizure is a powerful shot
across the bows of the drug
traffickers."
Ecuadorean
police and customs found 5.562 tons
of cocaine in a container loaded
with bed sheets which arrived on a
ship from the Colombian port of
Buenaventura in December 2005. They
became suspicious after the
container had lain in the port for
several months, as the cargo did not
have the necessary certificates of
origin.
The
cocaine, mixed with plaster and
glue, had been packed in the
corrugated channels of cardboard
dividers placed between different
layers of sheets.
Athens
News Agency
August
30, 2004
HEADLINE: MASTERMIND OF MAJOR
COCAINE SHIPMENT ARRESTED IN
GERMANY, PROCEDURES SET IN MOTION
FOR EXTRADITION TO GREECE
A Greek
businessman, believed to be the
mastermind of an international drug
smuggling ring reportedly behind the
shipment of 5.5 tons of
cocaine seized off Gibraltar in
mid-July was arrested Monday morning
in Germany
According to sources, Angelopoulos,
known in the drug racket as "the fat
man", was arrested by German police,
acting on an international arrest
warrant, raided the hotel near
Stutgart airport at around 4:00 a.m.
local time as Angelopoulos was
sleeping.
The
Greek authorities have been informed
of the arrest, and procedures have
been set in motion for Angelopoulos'
extradition to Greece.
ANSA
English Media Service
June 16,
2004
HEADLINE: VENEZUELA: POLICE ANNOUNCE
RECORD DRUG HAUL
DATELINE: CARACAS
(ANSA) -
CARACAS, June 16 - Police seized
about 5.5 tonnes of cocaine
of very high purity in in three
agricultural establishments in the
state of Guarico, central
Venezuela.
According to local press, three
Colombian drug traffickers were
killed during the police operation
and nine were arrested.
Nationwide News Pty Limited
Sunday
Mail (SA)
July 25,
2004 Sunday
HEADLINE: $154m haul in drug raids
COLOMBIAN police have seized 5.5
tonnes of cocaine with a US
street value of $154 million in the
biggest haul of the illegal drug for
years.
BBC
Monitoring Latin America - Political
Supplied
by BBC Worldwide Monitoring
October
25, 2003, Saturday
HEADLINE: Bolivia: Special
Anti-Narcotics Force reports record
drug seizures
La Paz,
22 October (ABI Bolivian government
Information Agency ): The Special
Anti-Narcotics Force (FELCN) seized
21.1 tons of cocaine in 5,177
anti-drugs operations between August
2002 and 11 October 2003.
The
final report of the time in office
of former Deputy Social Defence
Minister Ernesto Justiniano notes
that the FELCN also destroyed 1,854
cocaine factories in 5,177
operations and confiscated 716,000
lbs of coca leaves. The FELCN
recorded its largest number of drug
seizures, 48 per cent more than the
number achieved in 2002.
In the
report the results of Operation
Moonlight stand out. It is described
as the most important operation
since the creation of the FELCN,
with the seizure of 5.5 tons of
cocaine that was going to go out
to the European market.
Agence
France Presse -- English
May 30,
2002 Thursday
HEADLINE: US, Colombian coastguards
seize 5.5 tonnes of cocaine
DATELINE: BOGOTA, May 30
The US
and Colombian Coast Guard have
seized 5.5 tonnes of cocaine
aboard a fishing boat that was
heading to the United States,
officials said. Nine crewmembers
were arrested Wednesday aboard the
Colombian-flagged vessel "Punta del
Este," some 1,200 kilometers (745
miles) northwest of the Galapagos
islands, after leaving Colombia's
major Pacific port of Buenaventura.
Associated Press Worldstream
February
19, 2001; Monday
HEADLINE: Spanish police seize 5
tons of cocaine in high-seas raid
DATELINE: MADRID, Spain
Spanish
customs police seized some 5 metric
tons (5.5 tons) of cocaine,
with an estimated street value of
dlrs 285 million, on a fishing ship
in one of Spain's biggest anti-drug
operations in recent months.
The ship
Abrente, flying a British flag of
convenience, was boarded early
Monday some 350 miles (560
kilometers) west of Spain's Canary
Island archipelago.
Agence
France Presse -- English
August
21, 2000, Monday
HEADLINE: More than five tonnes of
cocaine seized in Venezuela
DATELINE: CARACAS, Aug 20
Venezuelan authorities have broken
up a major drug trafficking ring and
seized 5.5 tonnes of cocaine
as part of an international
anti-drug operation involving eight
nations, the National Guard
announced Sunday.
As many
as 173 packages of cocaine were
seized on Muasinoina Island, in the
delta of the Orinoco River, in the
east of the country as part of
operation "Orinoco 2000," said
National Guard General Gerardo
Briceno.
He
described the raid on the
traffickers' base as the largest
cocaine seizure so far in Venezuela.
The
Associated Press State & Local Wire
May 26,
1999, Wednesday, PM cycle
HEADLINE: Years-old drug tunnel
beneath border finally found
DATELINE: NACO, Ariz.
A
transborder tunnel believed to have
been used for years to smuggle drugs
is the third found in Arizona this
decade. It may not be the last.
"If I
were a betting man, I'd say there
are probably quite a few more," said
Thomas Raffanello, special agent in
charge of the Drug Enforcement
Administration for Arizona.
Authorities had suspected the
existence of this one since seizing
5.5 tons of cocaine in a
Tucson warehouse in December 1996
InfoLatina S.A. de C.V.
August
30, 1998
HEADLINE: Engulfed In Controversy,
Debernardi Resigns Biggest Cocaine
Bust This Year
In a
major joint operation, authorities
finished unloading on Wednesday
approximately 2.5 metric tons (about
5.5 tons) of cocaine discovered
on a ship off the Guerrero coast on
Monday, according to a joint press
release from the Federal Attorney
General's Office (PGR) and the
secretaries of Defense and Navy.
In what
was the biggest cocaine seizure this
year, officials in Mexico acted on
information provided by a
U.S.-backed hemispheric
reconnaissance system to track and
search a ship moving in
international waters off the west
coast.
The
National Secretariat of Defense
detained two suspects who tried to
flee once the ship, named Lady Douna
had been detained. During the
inspection, officials discovered 84
packets of cocaine, each weighing a
combined total of 2.559 tons.
Orlando
Sentinel (Florida)
April 4,
1999 Sunday, METRO
HEADLINE: 5.5 TONS OF COCAINE SEIZED
IN VENEZUELA
CARACAS, Venezuela -Venezuelan
authorities seized 5.5 tons
of cocaine, equivalent to 70 percent
of last year's total seizures,
narcotics officials said Saturday.
Agence
France Presse -- English
March
08, 1994 11:24 Eastern Time
HEADLINE: Ringleaders escape the net
after record drugs seizure
DATELINE: TURIN, Italy, March 8
The
bosses of a major drugs ring escaped
arrest after a record seizure of
5.5 tonnes of cocaine aboard a
truck here, with only intermediaries
arrested, police officials admitted
Tuesday.
The
cocaine, smuggled in on a boat from
Colombia in a banana cargo, was
seized overnight Saturday. Police
announced its seizure on Monday.
United
Press International
November
17, 1994, Thursday, BC cycle
HEADLINE: Sting nets 5.5 tons of
cocaine
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES, Nov. 17
Federal,
state and local law enforcement
officers have arrested 14 suspected
drug smugglers and seized 5.5 tons
of cocaine worth $500 million in the
largest undercover cocaine bust in
U.S. history. More than 100 law
enforcement officers raided a posh
Riverside County ranch earlier this
week and several other Southern
California sites in making the bust
that reaped 5.5 tons of cocaine and
nearly a dozen firearms, including
several semiautomatic weapons
Agence
France Presse -- English
March
07, 1994 16:40 Eastern Time
HEADLINE: Huge cocaine seizure in
Italy sets European record
DATELINE: TURIN, Italy, March 7
Italian
police confiscated 5.5 tonnes of
cocaine aboard a truck in
Europe's largest drug seizure yet,
officials said Monday.
The
cocaine, smuggled from Colombia and
with a street value of around 300
million dollars, was found when a
truck was stopped on a road in
northern Italy overnight Saturday,
police in Turin said.
SEATTLE
POST-INTELLIGENCER
May 10,
1993, Monday , FINAL
HEADLINE: SHIP SEIZED WITH 5.5
TONS OF COCAINE
DATELINE: Florida
A ship
seized in the Pacific Ocean after
authorities said it was carrying
about 11,000 pounds of cocaine along
with its cargo of fish meal arrived
in Miami Beach yesterday.
The
225-foot Sea Chariot was spotted
April 22 by a Navy helicopter in
international waters about 300 miles
south of Panama, Coast Guard
spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Jim Howe said.
Journal
of Commerce
November
21, 1989, Tuesday
HEADLINE: MARITIME BRIEFS
BYLINE:
Wire and Staff Reports
NO
ILLICIT DRUGS FOUND IN PHILA.
SHIPMENT
PHILADELPHIA - U.S. Customs Service
and Drug Enforcement Agency
personnel in Philadelphia searched
through roughly 4,300 barrels of
sodium hydroxide but found no
illicit drugs, according to
officials from both agencies.
The
barrels of the chemical, commonly
known as lye, were part of a
shipment off-loaded at Philadelphia
by Senator Linie. Barrels from the
same shipment were sent to New York
City, and subsequently were found to
contain about 5.5 tons of
cocaine.
"We
came up with a goose egg," said
Steven Knox, district director for
Customs in Philadelphia. Customs and
the DEA will pursue their
investigation of imports brought
into the country by Arenal Inc., a
company apparently created by drug
traffickers, according to Customs
and DEA officials.
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