Australia seizes 1.2 tonnes of Meth

Authorities in Western Australia have seized a record 1.2 metric tonne shipment of methamphetamine. The meth haul, worth 1.04 billion Australian dollars ($800 million), is the largest in Australian history.

The meth is believed to have originated in China.

After being transferred from a ship off the coast, the drugs were offloaded from a vessel, the Valkoista, in the early hours and were being packed into a white van in the Port of Geraldton, 400 km (around 250 miles) north of Perth. Agents swarmed the van and the ship simultaneously, arresting six Australians. Police seized 59 bags of meth, also referred to as ice in Australia, each weighing 20 kg (44 lb) from the van, as well as one additional 20 kg bag from the Valkoista. The total haul of 1.2 tonnes of the drug outweighed Australia's previous biggest methamphetamine seizure in Melbourne -- 903 kg -- at the beginning of the year

Baltimore Police Good and Corrupt

Antonio Shropshire

An investigation links Baltimore Detective Sean Suiter to the drug kingpin whose case brought down a team of Baltimore police officers. Antonio Shropshire stood trial in October with four others. A jury found all five guilty on federal drug charges. The Shropshire drug ring eventually exposed police misconduct. In March seven Baltimore City police officers were indicted for a racketeering conspiracy. The accused officers were robbing victims, filing false affidavits, and made fraudulent overtime claims while they vacationed and gambled at casinos.

Detective Sean Suiter was killed in November with his own gun, which was found at the scene.

Cops identified were Momodu Bondeva Kenton Gondo, Wayne Earl Jenkins, Evodio Calles Hendrix, Maurice Kilpatrick Ward, Jemell Lamar Rayam, Daniel Thomas Hersl and Marcus Roosevelt Taylor. All were suspended without pay and are in custody of the FBI. Hersl “readily admits” to “bad conduct” in taking money from arrestees. But his lawyer plans to argue to a jury that he had the legal authority to stop people and seize drugs, guns and money. Any money then “converted for personal use” is theft, not robbery or extortion. Hersl was featured in a 2014 story which examined police lawsuit settlements. He had amassed 29 complaints. From 2007 to 2010, the city paid $200k to settle three lawsuits against Hersl. He broke a man’s jaw and nose, broke a woman’s arm, and arrested a woman who was selling church raffle tickets.

Former Manitoba HA president Dale Sweeney denied parole - “risk to society”

Former president of the Hells Angels in Manitoba, Dale Sweeney, 47 has been denied parole. The Parole Board of Canada says he is a "risk to society." Sweeney was given a 11-year prison sentence for running a lucrative cocaine operation in Winnipeg in 2013. Sweeney admitted he ran the sophisticated drug dealing operation, which saw between one and two kilograms of cocaine being sold each month on Winnipeg streets. Sweeney bought cocaine from suppliers in British Columbia and then handed it off to the Redlined Support Crew, a puppet gang of the Hells Angels, who turned the cocaine into crack cocaine and sold it in smaller amounts through street dealers. The operation generated sales of more than $100,000 per month.

See ----->http://gangstersoutt.blogspot.ca/2017/01/crown-seeks-4-years-for-hells-angels.html

HA Robin Moulton and girlfriend Marie Bugay stay jailed

Full-patch Robin Moulton and Marie Antonette Bugay will spend Christmas behind bars. Both face numerous drug and weapons charges. Their matter was set to February 8th. Both have been in custody since August when they were arrested as part of an investigation into the Hells Angels in New Brunswick. Moulton is facing 12 charges, most relating to illegal firearms. Despite a lifetime weapons ban he is accused of possessing a high-powered rifle with a silencer and a loaded 9-mm handgun.

Marie Antonette Bugay covers her face as she leaves the Fredericton courthouse

Bugay is charged jointly with Moulton on seven of the offences, plus three of her own, including possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking. Bugay is known as the secretary of the Atlantic Confederation of Clubs and Independents. The ACC describes itself as a non-profit group that fights "biker discrimination and profiling."

See ----->http://gangstersoutt.blogspot.ca/2017/08/hells-angels-mc-nomads-nb-member.html
See ----->http://gangstersoutt.blogspot.ca/2017/07/motorcycle-association-speaks-out.html

Quebec Hells Angels oppose Fentanyl - Report

Traffickers in the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve neighborhood, who cut their drugs with fentanyl to boost their profits, "ate a lot" of hired thugs sent by the bikers according to a report from sources, both from the policing community, and close to the underworld. The Hells message has spread like wildfire in the network of hard drug dealers in the city. The Hells say they do not want to know anything about fentanyl and they don't touch it. But the fact remains that it is still sold on 'their' territory say police. The Hells Angels control the provincial drug market like never before in 40 years in Quebec.

The Hells responded after heroin and cocaine traffickers were labeled with "low-scale" biker relations after busts that saw 80 dealers charged. Many of these defendants remain in pretrial detention or have been released on stringent bail conditions while awaiting trial. As a result, the number of fentanyl overdoses decreased significantly in Montreal. The SPVM and the SQ had made fighting fentanyl one of their priorities after seven fatal overdoses occurred in a single day in Montreal on August 18th.

Thai Hells Angels under siege

34-year-old Luke Joshua Cook and his Thai wife Kanyarat Wedphitak were arrested at Bangkok's main airport on Saturday for attempting to smuggle half a tonne of crystal meth into Thailand in 2015. Cook's arrest comes amid a widening crackdown against the Hells Angels, who have chapters in Bangkok and Pattaya.

Cook is believed to have helped Australian Antonio Bagnato, 28, escape to Cambodia after the murder of Wayne Schneider.

Authorities describe the HA as a "big transnational crime organisation which is escalating its operations in Thailand" The Australian Hells Angels are notorious for prostitution, racketeering, drugs and arms trafficking, and they have expanded operations into Thailand as authorities tighten the noose on their home soil.

See ----->http://gangstersoutt.blogspot.ca/2017/12/oz-hells-angels-bikie-arrested-for.html
See ----->http://gangstersoutt.blogspot.ca/2017/12/hells-angels-busted-in-pattaya-thailand.html
See ----->http://gangstersoutt.blogspot.ca/2016/11/bagnato-pleads-not-guilty-in-thai.html

Seven NY wise guys indicted

John 'Johnny Boy' Ambrosio

Seven members of two of New York's most notorious crime families have been arrested on a slew of charges which include racketeering, drug trafficking, loansharking and illegal gambling. The men are members of the Gambino and Bonnano families and are accused of contributing to each's criminal empire in Long Island between 2014 and 2017. The oldest is John 'Johnny Boy' Ambrosio, a captain in the Gambino family, who is 74. Frank 'Frankie Boy' Salerno, 43 is a soldier in the Bonnano family whereas all the others are associates or members of the Gambino family.

Anthony Saladino

Five of the men are accused of drug trafficking offenses for selling cocaine, marijuana and Xanax in large quantities. Prosecutors say Salerno and Saladino sourced the drugs in kilograms then sold it to the others to be distributed. Between February and June 2016, one undercover agent claims to have bought almost a kilogram from them in 12 different sales. In an exchange caught on tape, Saladino told a victim: 'If you don’t give me my fucking money… I don’t know if you know who I am and where I come from, but I promise you, you will never walk again.' The Gambino family boss, rumored to be Frank Cali, was not included in the indictment nor was Michael 'The Nose' Manusco, the suspected head of the Bonnano family.

Michael "Mikey Nose" Mancuso

The UK's Cocaine Glut

There are signs of change in Britain's cocaine market. Though overall use has not increased, supply has soared and dealers are offering a purer product. Data on small-scale drug busts show that cocaine purity rose steadily from 26% in 2011 to 44% in 2015.

It was reported in July that a European branch of Mexico's Sinaloa cartel had formed an alliance with a Romanian criminal group in order to smuggle narcotics into the UK. The Netherlands and Spain are the principal transit hubs for cocaine moving to the UK. Upwards of 100 metric tons of cocaine is shipped to the UK each year. Surprisingly, street prices have not budged, even as wholesale prices fall. That is partly because cocaine has a known street price of £40 ($53) per gram. Raise it, and users go elsewhere; lower it and they suspect an inferior product.

Britain’s import boom has been fuelled by Colombia's increased production of coca, from 49,000 hectares in 2012 to 146,000 in 2016. The collapse in 2014-15 of the Colombian peso against the dollar made exporting that much more profitable. More and better cocaine will only lead to more people getting hooked faster say experts.

Fentanyl found in 999 of 1,208 B.C. overdose deaths

The B.C. Coroners Service says the latest death figure of 1,208 compares with 683 during the same period last year. Fentanyl was detected in 83% of the confirmed and suspected deaths so far in 2017, an increase of 136 per cent from the same period last year.

Narco sub with 3,800 pounds of cocaine intercepted near Texas

A vessel carrying 3,800 pounds of cocaine was recovered by the U.S. Coast Guard near Texas on Nov. 13. The drugs were found in a self-propelled, semi-submersible narco sub, each of which can cost $750,000.

Oz Hells Angels bikie arrested for smuggling 'ice' in Pattaya

A member of the Pattaya Hells Angels and his Thai wife have been charged with smuggling a large amount of crystal methamphetamine into the country. Luke Cook, 34, and Kanyarat Wechapitak, 40, were arrested after arriving at Suvarnabhumi airport on Saturday evening on a flight from Australia. According to police the couple bought 500 kilos of crystal meth from a Chinese supplier in international waters. They encountered a patrol boat, dropped the drugs into the sea and escaped. Officials later found 50.45kg of "ice" washed ashore on Mae Ramphueng beach in Muang district of Rayong.

Authorities searched nine locations in Pattaya and Bangkok. The seized assets worth about 20 million baht ($ 650k), including luxury cars, motorcycles, condominiums and houses. The arrests come on the heels of 8 foreign Hells Angels being deported from Thailand.

See ----->http://gangstersoutt.blogspot.ca/2017/12/hells-angels-busted-in-pattaya-thailand.html

Bangladesh minister good and POed after $ 80m CyberHeist

Bangladesh's finance minister has said he wants to "wipe out" the Philippines bank linked to a cyberattack that left the country's central bank $81 million out of pocket. The Bangladesh government is considering lodging a court case against Rizal Bank, which was used to funnel the proceeds stolen from the Bangladeshi Federal Reserve Bank of New York bank account.

Abul Maal A. Muhith said "We will discuss the case with Bangladesh Bank. We want to wipe out Rizal Bank from earth." In February last year, a hacker group used stolen SWIFT credentials to make over three dozen large money requests from the bank account to entities in the Philippines. While the group attempted to steal $850 million, they managed to make off with $81 million before a small typographical error in a transfer request brought the scam down. Security experts have linked the heist to Lazarus, a threat group linked to attacks on entities including manufacturing companies, media, and financial institutions in at least 15 countries worldwide.

The Bangladesh bank may file the case against Rizal Commercial Banking Corp (RCBC) to retrieve the stolen proceeds.

RCBC was fined $20m in 2016 for failing to prevent the flow of fraudulent cash being sent. RCBC has filed money laundering charges against a former RCBC manager and four individuals who owned the bank accounts the money was sent to.

Six tonnes of cocaine seized in Spain

Almost six tonnes of cocaine have been found hidden among bananas on board a ship in the port of Algeciras, in southern Spain. The seizure by police and customs officers is one of the largest of the drug to be made in Europe in the last two decades. The stash is estimated to be worth at least $249m.

In 2016, 171kg of cocaine were found inside fake bananas in the same port but this time the cocaine was hidden among real bananas.

The find is the second largest cocaine seizure to be made in Spain. In 1999, 7.6 tonnes were found aboard a trawler.

Quebec Hells Angels celebrate 40 years

It has been 40 years since the Popeyes de Sorel officially became the Hells of Montreal. It was the first location of the famous biker group in the country.

In addition to a big party on Saturday night, some members will attend a mixed martial arts event tonight at the Bell Center for the TKO 41 event. After SharQc in 2009, the Hells took a few years to reorganize. They have now regained virtual complete control of the drug market in Quebec and are as strong as ever.