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Smuggling

All articles tagged with #smuggling

Indian nationals charged in Florida over counterfeit Ozempic smuggling ring
health-and-legal10 days ago

Indian nationals charged in Florida over counterfeit Ozempic smuggling ring

The U.S. Department of Justice unsealed an indictment against two Indian nationals, Swapnadip Roy and Vicky Ramancha, for allegedly smuggling counterfeit Ozempic from China to U.S. distributors. The scheme, which ran from July 2023 to April 2024, continued even after the FDA seized fake units and issued public warnings. Roy was extradited from Italy to face charges in Florida, while Ramancha remains at large. If convicted, both face up to 71 years in prison.

via CNBC|
#counterfeit-drugs#doj#fda
Channel crossing disaster kills child and two women off northern France
world11 days ago

Channel crossing disaster kills child and two women off northern France

Three people, including a 10-year-old child, died after a small boat carrying 105 migrants encountered difficulties in the English Channel off northern France on Monday. French authorities confirmed the deaths, with initial findings suggesting trampling as the cause, while 102 survivors were rescued and taken to Calais. The incident highlights ongoing risks for migrants attempting the perilous crossing, which has seen a significant drop in numbers this year but remains deadly.

via bbc.com|
#english-channel#france#migration
Pair of American women arrested after alleged plan to smuggle $1M cannabis into Tokyo for a paid trip
japan28 days ago

Pair of American women arrested after alleged plan to smuggle $1M cannabis into Tokyo for a paid trip

Two American women were stopped at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport after customs found about 30 kg of dried cannabis hidden in their luggage, worth roughly US$1 million. One suspect admitted she joined a drug-courier scheme that purportedly would cover airfare and lodging to visit Japan; the other denies the allegations. In Japan, cannabis import is illegal and can carry up to seven years in prison, with possible decades-long entry bans for foreigners, and the justice system reports a high conviction rate, meaning their case will proceed under Japanese law.

via soranews24.com|
#cannabis#foreign-nationals#haneda-airport
Sock stash haul: 200 lizards seized from traveler at Haneda
world-news1 month ago

Sock stash haul: 200 lizards seized from traveler at Haneda

A 23-year-old Mexican man was arrested at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport after customs found about 200 lizards packed inside 22 pairs of socks in his luggage, including nine endangered Mexican alligator lizards. He allegedly bought the reptiles cheaply in Mexico and could sell them for hundreds in Japan. The incident underscores wildlife smuggling and raises questions about how border screenings detect illicit animal trade.

via New York Post|
#airport#endangered-species#japan
Spain-led sweep dismantles one of Europe’s largest smuggling rings
world2 months ago

Spain-led sweep dismantles one of Europe’s largest smuggling rings

European authorities, led by Spain and Europol, arrested 78 people in Spain and Algeria as they dismantled a cross-border network that moved MDMA from Spain/Portugal to Algeria and used ghost speedboats to smuggle migrants and weapons back to Spain and Ibiza. The cache included 18 fast vessels, firearms, and cash, with migrant profits alone estimated at over €24m. The operation covered 17 locations and linked the group to other crime networks, underscoring a diversified criminal enterprise spanning the Western Mediterranean.

via BBC|
#algeria#europol#migrants
Spain-Led Raid Cracks Major Western Mediterranean Smuggling Ring, 78 Arrested
crime2 months ago

Spain-Led Raid Cracks Major Western Mediterranean Smuggling Ring, 78 Arrested

A Spain-led operation with Europol and police from France, Portugal and Poland dismantled one of the Western Mediterranean’s largest migrant-smuggling networks, arresting 78 people (77 in Spain and 1 in Algeria) and seizing assets including 18 high-speed boats. The group operated two-way routes between Europe and Algeria, moved more than 2,000 migrants, and generated over €24 million in profits, charging up to €12,000 per person. The network offered a wide range of services to other criminals—storage, transport, refueling, maintenance, and counter-surveillance—while using informal hawala networks to move funds; authorities described it as among the most complex and dangerous criminal networks detected in the Mediterranean, with 17 locations searched across Spain and high-value targets among the detainees.

via Al Jazeera|
#crime#europe#europol
The V2 Heist: How Allies Extracted Hitler's Rocket from Nazi-Occupied Poland
world2 months ago

The V2 Heist: How Allies Extracted Hitler's Rocket from Nazi-Occupied Poland

In 1944 Allied agents covertly evacuated key V-2 rocket components from the Nazi test site at Blizna in Poland, smuggling them through Warsaw in sacks hidden under vegetables and loading them onto a Dakota aircraft after a mud-bound effort to take off. The mission, codenamed Most III, delivered 19 suitcases of fragments and documents to Britain, enabling scientists to study the weapon and confirming it had no guidance system, a discovery that helped shape early countermeasures before the V-2 could strike London.

via BBC|
#operation-most-iii#poland#smuggling
The Price of Survival: $250,000 and a Gaza Family's Fight to Stay Alive
world4 months ago

The Price of Survival: $250,000 and a Gaza Family's Fight to Stay Alive

Saleh Abu Shamala, a 34-year-old Palestinian living in London, has spent more than $250,000 sending money to his Gaza family to cover food, medicine and shelter as Israel’s blockade and restrictive import controls drive prices skyward. A shadow economy of brokers, middlemen and security-linked traders at border crossings has inflated costs, while a privatized aid system and limited humanitarian access left Gazans relying on donations and debt. The family faced displacement, medical crises (Kamal’s stroke and pacemaker needs), and tragedy (Raji’s death) as Saleh pursued costly and often unreliable evacuation options. By 2025, his monthly transfers, once over $10,000, dropped to about $2,500, illustrating how wartime policy choices and profiteering have transformed daily life and survival in Gaza.

via The New York Times|
#aid#blockade#economy
Two government scientists charged with smuggling deactivated mpox into the U.S.
health4 months ago

Two government scientists charged with smuggling deactivated mpox into the U.S.

Two virologists at a U.S. government lab were charged in Detroit with smuggling vials of deactivated mpox from Africa into the United States and lying to investigators after being stopped at Detroit Metropolitan Airport; the samples were not declared and proper authorization was lacking, with NIH cooperating in the ongoing case and the defendants slated to appear in Missoula, Montana.

via ABC7 Los Angeles|
#biosafety#deactivated-virus#federal-charges
U.S. lab scientists charged with smuggling deactivated mpox into the country
science4 months ago

U.S. lab scientists charged with smuggling deactivated mpox into the country

Two scientists at Rocky Mountain Laboratories, Vincent Munster and Claude Kwe, were charged in a Detroit federal court with smuggling vials of deactivated mpox into the United States from Africa and lying to investigators after being stopped at Detroit Metropolitan Airport; tests showed they carried deactivated mpox without declaration or proper permission, despite Munster’s claim that the documents were on his laptop. They are due to appear in federal court in Missoula, Montana.

via statnews.com|
#fbi#kwe#mpox
Cocaine hidden in Skims shipment earns Polish driver 13½-year sentence
crime4 months ago

Cocaine hidden in Skims shipment earns Polish driver 13½-year sentence

UK authorities uncovered 90 packages of cocaine worth about €7.2 million ($8.4 million) concealed in a false rear-door compartment of a Skims cargo truck at the Port of Harwich. Polish driver Jakub Jan Konkel pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 13 years and six months. The Skims shipment was legitimate and the company says it had no knowledge of the crime. Investigators say organized crime exploited legitimate freight routes to move drugs across borders.

via USA Today|
#cocaine#crime#hidden-compartment
Six migrants die of heat in a Texas container, triggering a smuggling investigation
us-borderimmigration5 months ago

Six migrants die of heat in a Texas container, triggering a smuggling investigation

Authorities say six people believed to be migrants died of hyperthermia after being found inside a shipping container at a Union Pacific rail yard near the Texas–Mexico border in Laredo; a seventh body found near San Antonio may be connected. Autopsies are underway, with officials treating the incident as a potential human-smuggling event and noting IDs suggesting origins in Mexico and Honduras. The case is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the Laredo Police Department, and Texas Rangers, with Union Pacific cooperating.

via The Guardian|
#border-security#heatstroke#immigration