Nine arrested during gun and drug inquiry in west - The Irish Times - Wed, Jun 02, 2010: "arrested men are members of the Traveller community and are part of a wider Galway-based crime syndicate that gardaí believe is led by two brothers.
The investigation into the gang’s activities has been going on for six months, but the men’s arrests were hastened by the arrest of a man in Belfast at the weekend for drug smuggling offences. That man is a suspected member of the Galway-based gang. He was detained by the PSNI at the weekend in Belfast after he was found to be in possession of cocaine with a value of €60,000 having disembarked a flight from Spain.
The arrests of the nine other gang members in Galway yesterday occurred during a series of co-ordinated searches of 21 addresses that began at 7am. The operation, led by Asst Commissioner John O’Mahony, involved gardaí from across Galway and members of the Organised Crime Unit, Criminal Assets Bureau and the Armed Regional Support Unit.
Garda sources said the Galwaybased gang of settled Travellers has links to other drug gangs in Sligo and Limerick. They are believed to deal not only in drugs and guns but are also suspects for burglaries across the west and for armed robberies, including attacks on cash in transit vans. The gang is also believed to be behind an extortion and intimidation racket where those being targeted were threatened with extreme violence"
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Man arrested in seizure of 343 kilos of cocaine in Halifax - thestar.com: "Montreal man was arrested Tuesday after Canada Border Services agents found 343 kilograms of cocaine in a shipping container in Halifax last November.
“The drugs were found in a container originating from Venezuela that was on its way to Montreal,” said Andrew LeFrank, the agency’s Nova Scotia director.
“Officers using X-ray technology were able to detect the drugs concealed in ceramic tiles.”
RCMP Staff Sgt. Alan Harding said Michel Safar, 47, will face charges of possession for the purpose of trafficking.
“Our investigation led us to believe that the drugs were destined for the Montreal area. Further arrests may be made,” said Harding.
Each tile, which was covered with a fibreglass backing, contained two packages of cocaine weighing about 520 grams."
SDPD: 7 Arrested After Caught Unloading 2 Tons Of Pot - San Diego News Story - KGTV San Diego: "LA JOLLA, Calif. -- Drug smugglers were caught early Tuesday, unloading about 2 tons of marijuana from a boat in La Jolla, and 13 illegal aliens were arrested on Dog Beach in Ocean Beach about an hour later as a crowd scattered from another boat that came ashore there, police said.
The drug-smuggling boat at Wind and Sea Beach, near Neptune Place and Palomar Avenue, was reported at 1:23 a.m., San Diego police Sgt. David Jennings said.
Police said Border Patrol agents were watching the boat and saw the smugglers unload it, then run off into a residential neighborhood. Border Patrol agents, along with SDPD"
Canadians in drug-smuggling case due in court | lansingstatejournal.com | Lansing State Journal: "Two Canadians accused of helping a pilot smuggle drugs into the U.S. at a small Michigan airport are scheduled to return to court for a guilty plea.
Authorities say Matthew Moody and Jesse Rusenstrom met the Cessna at the Sandusky, Mich., airport in November. A border agent flying a Black Hawk helicopter was suspicious and used a spotlight to keep track of their SUV.
Agents recovered at least 100 pounds of marijuana and possibly 500,000 ecstasy tablets worth $1 million to $2 million.
Records show Moody and Rusenstrom are expected to appear Tuesday in federal court in Ann Arbor. The Ontario men have been in custody since their capture 90 miles northeast of Detroit. The Cessna plane got away."
