Irish ‘The Family’ gang boss Brian Grendon busted

Brian Grendon

‘The Family’ gang boss Brian Grendon was busted. The convicted drug dealer is one of six people who were arrested during raids. Around €30k in cash was seized at his Clondalkin home. 'The Family' is one of Ireland's largest drug dealing gangs. €700k in cash was seized along with 16 high value watches and eight vehicles.

CJNG drones attack

Esta política de abrazos está dando los resultados esperados, los criminales día a día con más tecnología y más violentos. Ataque con drones atribuido al CJNG en #Tepalcatepec #Michoacan, uno de los cuales los pobladores derribaron. pic.twitter.com/Bf7yNO8xFi — Maria Elena Morera (@MaElenaMorera) January 11, 2022

Video footage from a Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) narco drone dropping bombs as people scatter below has gone viral in Mexico. The images, taken from the drone after it was shot down, show homemade explosives floating down toward scurrying people in the western state of Michoacan. Weaponized drones have appeared in Mexico's drug war since at least 2017. In April, a drone operated by members of the CJNG or a rival dropped bombs on a local police headquarters near the town of Aguililla.

'Prolific offender’ Tyson Fust busted with a dozen catalytic converters

Tyson Fust, 27, faces a baker's dozen of charges after trying to evade cops in a stolen car containing a dozen catalytic converters. This isn't Fust’s first brush with the law. He was charged in Oct for theft of catalytic converters in Vancouver.

Fust has multiple charges of theft and mischief before the courts.

On Jan. 8, 2016, Fust walked into a community grocery store and demanded cash. He was carrying a fake gun and a large bag and had his face concealed with sunglasses and a medical mask. He was caught on camera during the hold-up, and the clear image was circulated online and through the media. In October 2016, Fust was sentenced to 2 years for a two-month crime spree in Abbotsford, Mission and Surrey. He had faced 30 charges. His offences included violently robbing an 81-year-old woman of her purse. See ----->Catalytic converter theft getting ridiculous

Cigarette bootlegger Giovanni Raimondi whacked

Giovanni Raimondi, 39, was whacked January 3 in Toronto. Raimondi was among seven GTA men charged with conspiracy in a cross-Canada contraband cigarette bust in June 2020. 11.5m contraband cigarettes and 1,714 pounds of pot were seized. The 16,000 cartons — collectively represented a federal, provincial and HST tax loss of $3.3m. Also seized were three handguns and ammunition, more than a kilogram of cocaine, $236,750 in cash and seven vehicles. “Project Cairnes” took place across Ontario, B.C., and Quebec. The project began as an investigation into a tobacco plant on Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation. Cops say that although the manufacturing facility was located on Six Nations Territory, it was operated by what is best described as a small organized crime outfit from the GTA.

A transport trailer loaded with $1.5m of contraband cigarettes freshly-made at a Six Nations factory would regularly head west to B.C. and then return east with B.C. Bud. Raimondi was charged with several tobacco related offences, including unlawful possession or sale of tobacco products and participation in a criminal organization. Miami-based Paul Embury, 70, was charged. Cops were pursuing him for allegedly selling cigarette manufacturing equipment, as well as moving tractor-trailer loads of cut rag tobacco from the U.S. into Canada.

See ----->6.5 years for US tobacco smuggler - contrebandier de tabac
See ----->Grand River Enterprises (GRE)

Dale Habib pleads guilty to gun charges

Dale Habib, former president of the disbanded Kelowna Hells Angels puppet club the Kingpin Crew, faced six firearms charges and one drug charge. After a plea deal Habib was handed a one-year conditional sentence, along with a 10-year firearms prohibition. In July 2017, Habib pleaded guilty to assault. David Joseph Habib.

The Kingpin Crew sold drugs from Kelowna's 'Liquid Zoo' nightclub for many years, including cocaine through major operator Kevin Van Kalkeren. At some point the Habibs and the Kingpin crew lost the support of the Hells Angels. David Habib tried to sell the nightclub and building to a numbered company. An investigation revealed that one of the new owners was to be Hells Angel President Damiano Dipopolo. The Branch refused to transfer the liquor licence and the sale was unwound. The Habibs used Dipopolo's lawyer for their legal needs.

See ----->The Habib Brothers and the 'Kingpin Crew'
See ----->Kevin Van Kalkeren pulls 16 years

Jail for 4 Russians smuggling cocaine through Argentina embassy

A former employee of the Russian embassy in Argentina, Ali Abyanov, was handed 17 years. An Argentinian cop was among those arrested.

A Russian court has sentenced four men to long jail terms for trying to smuggle 400kg (880lb) of cocaine in suitcases from the Russian embassy in Argentina in 2018. Mastermind Andrei Kovalchuk was sentenced to 18 years.

After authorities confirmed that there were drugs inside the 16 pieces of luggage, they devised a plan to catch the criminals, swapping the cocaine for flour and placing a GPS to track the luggage. The case caused controversy in Russia at the time, when media questioned contradictory official accounts.

Port of Rotterdam - 'Cocaine Extractors'

The port of Rotterdam is the primary entry point for cocaine into Europe. This year authorities arrested over 450 so-called “drug extractors” at the port – young men hired to remove cocaine from containers. This was up from 280 extraction incidents reported in 2020. The extractors are smuggled into the port inside “hotel containers,” which are declared empty but contain basic living amenities. The extractors are usually young men, and are usually not hardened criminals with records. They are paid around 2,000 euros per kilo of cocaine collected. Until recently penalties were light, with small fines the norm.

That changed after a two-week period in September, where 110 were caught, several multiple times. A new law, that came into force on January 1, 2022, means any person found at the port without reason can face up to a year in jail. Authorities are also seeking to crack down on corruption inside the port that allows extractors to access the site. A CEO of a company operating at the port said his staff had been threatened to cooperate with drug extractors and some had even quit as a result. The problem is not unique to Rotterdam. Last year 13 people were busted at Belgium’s Antwerp port removing cocaine from a container.

See ----->4,178 kilos of cocaine landed in the Port of Rotterdam
See ----->Record year for cocaine at port of Rotterdam

TO cops land 80kg of cocaine - fully auto glock

Toronto cops landed 80 kg of cocaine, 2 kg of fentanyl, 5 kg of meth and 500 grams of heroin. Also seized was a Kel-Tec subcompact handgun with a laser sight, a Glock 26, and a Glock 19 modified for automatic fire.

Shaan Tareen was charged with 24 offences including possession for the purpose of trafficking, possession of a prohibited firearm and conspiracy to traffic a controlled substance. Rizwan Gharda was charged with 25 similar offences. A Toronto woman, 27, was charged with three offences related to drugs and proceeds of crime.

U.K. man goes away for cocaine cutting agent business

James Beeby, 51, was jailed for six-and-a-half years for running an operation supplying materials to dilute cocaine. Beeby, of West Sussex, was sentenced after being convicted in November. 320 kilos of the cutting agent were recovered by cops. More than 1,370 kilos passed through his hands. Beeby tried to portray himself as a legitimate businessman selling the chemicals for legal uses. He supplied cutting agents to clients in the UK, the US and Canada. Substances used to cut cocaine are adulterants or substitutes. Adulterants like baking soda and laundry detergent are used to get more doses.

Substitutes, such as lidocaine and procaine, produce effects similar to cocaine at lower cost.

Niger seizes record 200kg of cocaine from mayor's car

A local mayor and his driver have been arrested in a desert in northern Niger with more than 200kg (440lbs) of cocaine in their vehicle. The two suspects were said to be transporting the drug to Libya after it had been smuggled into the country from Mali. It is the largest quantity of cocaine ever seized in the West African country. 199 bricks of cocaine weighing a total of 214kg was found in a vehicle belonging to the mayor's office in Fachi. Drug smuggling and police seizures are becoming more common in the region.

The vehicle had left Fachi and was heading towards Libya and the town of Dirkou when it was stopped. Fachi is an oasis in the Tenere desert about 400km (250 miles) north of the town of Agadez. It is known as a trading centre for salt and dates.

The region is used as a route for multiple types of trafficking, including illegal migrants.