http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/smuggling/ en-us Thu, 31 Dec 2009 00:27:32 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2418023/posts NOGALES — A sinkhole found two days before Christmas revealed a tunnel beneath International Street just west of the Dennis DeConcini Port of Entry. The discovery of the sinkhole prompted city of Nogales officials to contact the Border Patrol Station to investigate. Meantime, city crews placed a steel plate over the hole as a temporary fix to facilitate street traffic during the pending holiday. Agents discovered the street had caved in over a portion of a “sophisticated tunnel,” still under construction with two-by-four wood shoring and plywood floors, walls and ceilings, according to a Border Patrol news release. It measured... SIERRA VISTA Herald/Review http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2418023/posts#comment Thu, 31 Dec 2009 00:27:32 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416744/posts Condemned Briton's 'Heartbroken' Family Beg For Compassion from China The family of Akmal Shaikh, the British man condemned to death in China, have made a last-minute appeal to the Chinese authorities to show mercy. By David Eimer in Beijing 28 Dec 2009 Akmal Shaikh, a British national who is facing the death penalty in China for possession of heroin Photo: AFP/GETTY Mr Shaikh is due to be executed in Urumqi at 10.30am Tuesday morning local time for heroin smuggling. "We're here to plead for clemency and we hope the Chinese government shows compassion. His life is in their hands now,"... Telegraph(UK) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416744/posts#comment Tue, 29 Dec 2009 04:26:07 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410373/posts DECEMBER 17, 2009 Officials Probe Auckland Firm's Role in Seized Arms Cache By PATRICK BARTA, DANIEL MICHAELS and SIMON LOUISSON New Zealand officials are investigating whether an Auckland-based company has links to a weapons-filled plane from North Korea that was detained in Bangkok last week. Investigators are still unsure where the plane -- carrying 35 tons of missiles, explosives and other armaments -- was heading or who coordinated the flight plan. Its five-member crew, from Kazakhstan and Belarus, remains in detention in Bangkok and all five have denied knowledge that there were weapons onboard. Officials in Kazakhstan and the Republic... WSJ http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410373/posts#comment Fri, 18 Dec 2009 14:43:51 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410124/posts /begin my excerpts Thai Jet Fighters Forced down the Plane Carrying N. Korean Arms Kwon Kyung-bok 2009.12.18 04:19 A Russian daily reports. The IL-76 freighter plane of Georgian registry which got caught while transporting N. Korean arms did not land on Thailand for refueling, but was forced down to land by Thai fighter planes after entering Thai airspace, according to Dec. 17 report by Russian daily Kommersant. The paper reported that, as soon as the IL-76 plane which left Pyongyang entered Thai airspace, two Thai jet fighters intercepted the plane and order it to land on Don Muang Airport in... Chosun Ilbo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410124/posts#comment Fri, 18 Dec 2009 03:17:49 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2409406/posts Caveats:1) The streaming video, located on THIS Japanese news web page, may only be up for a half day or so. The link could go dead, or could link to another, new story.2) Not all computer systems might be able to play the video. You might need Microsoft Silverlight installed, but probably most can see the short stream.3) Go to the link and hit the photo with the white triangle and stream. Now for the explanation of this important video taken today of photos of the cargo of an aircraft seized in Bangkok which was heading from North Korea... NNN (Nihon Television) Network, Japan (Evening News) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2409406/posts#comment Thu, 17 Dec 2009 11:52:27 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2408505/posts God Bless those enterprising, digging Japanese journalists and their film crews.A hot one in North Korean black weapons smuggling case was captured for all of Japan to see last night at the 11 p.m. TV news on NNN Network.The pushy and curious Japanese journalists and cameramen with their long lenses (and fluent Farsi and Korean speaking investing staff in Tokyo), discovered some VERY interesting things about the North Korean aircraft stopped this week in Thailand with Ukranian crew flying weapons in violation of US sanctions. The flight crew has been very tight lipped, but the Japanese journalists nevertheless caught some... NNN (Nihon Television) Network, Japan (Evening News) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2408505/posts#comment Wed, 16 Dec 2009 05:54:27 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2407942/posts NZ link to plane seized with North Korea weapons Liam Baldwin | Tuesday December 15 2009 - 03:42pm A New Zealand company has been linked to a cargo plane seized in Thailand suspected of smuggling North Korea arms this week, possibly to the Middle East. Agence France Presse (AFP) quoted Georgian officials linking New Zealand registered company SP Trading to renting the plane – an Ilyushin-76 aircraft – to deliver its cargo. The plane was seized at Bangkok’s Don Mueang airport late last week during a refuelling stop. It was discovered that it contained 30 tonnes of weapons from North... Nationa Business Review (New Zealand) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2407942/posts#comment Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:28:40 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2407169/posts Officials Seek Destination of North Korean Arms By THOMAS FULLER and DAVID E. SANGER BANGKOK, Thailand — A shipment of arms and apparently sophisticated missiles from North Korea seized here on a tip from American intelligence agencies has set off a series of investigations, as officials try to determine whether the cargo was headed to South Asia or the Middle East. The Obama administration welcomed the interception by the Thai authorities as evidence that it had scored a success in its effort to enforce a United Nations Security Council resolution banning weapons exports by the North Korean government, an attempt... NYT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2407169/posts#comment Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:33:24 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406986/posts Shipment bound for Middle East Crew deny knowing plane carried weapons * Published: 14/12/2009 at 12:00 AM * Newspaper section: News The crew of the aircraft held in Bangkok after it was found to be carrying a large stock of war weapons say they planned to offload part of their cargo in Sri Lanka and the Middle East, investigators say. A police source said some of the suspects admitted after more than six hours of questioning that they planned to unload part of "the goods" on their way back to Ukraine. But they refused to name the buyers or locations,... Bankok Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406986/posts#comment Mon, 14 Dec 2009 05:47:58 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2406331/posts NEW YORK — A New York City woman who was caught smuggling monkey meat through Customs has been sentenced to probation. Mamie Manneh was arrested in 2006 after agents seized a shipment of dozens of primate parts hidden in a batch of smoked fish. AP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2406331/posts#comment Sat, 12 Dec 2009 23:44:22 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406111/posts Thailand detains plane with weapons cache from N.Korea Sat Dec 12, 7:06 am ET BANGKOK (AFP) – Thai authorities have detained five people who landed in Bangkok in an east European cargo plane full of heavy weapons that originated in North Korea, officials told AFP Saturday. The plane's pilot requested to land at Bangkok's domestic Don Mueang airport Saturday morning, said government spokesman Panitan Wattanayakorn, and on inspecting the aircraft Thai authorities found the cache. "An eastern European airline asked to land this morning at Don Mueang airport to refuel its tank. When Thai authorities examined the aircraft they found... AFP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406111/posts#comment Sat, 12 Dec 2009 16:18:03 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2400613/posts STERLING, Va. - A close inspection by Customs and Border Protection officers at Dulles International Airport turned up something unexpected. Inside a fully-cooked chicken they found cocaine with an estimated street value of $4,300. The 60.4 grams (2.3 ounces) of coke was found inside two small, clear plastic bags inside the chicken's cavity. Officers discovered the white powdery substance during a secondary inspection after a flight from El Salvador arrived shortly after midnight Saturday. It tested positive for cocaine. "CBP officers have seen many unique narcotics concealment methods, and they all present the same challenges to discover them. Our officers'... WTOP.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2400613/posts#comment Fri, 4 Dec 2009 23:53:26 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2400030/posts Arms smuggling heightens Iran fears U.N. BAN IS DEFIED Tehran may be building arsenal, helping militias By Joby Warrick Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, December 3, 2009 SHARJAH, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES -- The warning came almost too late. The freighter ANL Australia had already fired its engines for a 70-mile dash to Iran when customs agents here were alerted to a possible hidden cache of weapons on board. Inspectors from the United Arab Emirates quickly swarmed the ship and uncovered a truck-size container packed with small arms made in North Korea. Concealed deeper in the ship was the real find:... WP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2400030/posts#comment Fri, 4 Dec 2009 10:26:53 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2397441/posts A UN investigation has concluded that North Korea is continuing to export weapons, and using the hard currency obtained to import luxury items for the ruling elite of the communist police state. The UN report detailed North Korean use of false documents and the switching of cargo containers to different ships to throw off investigators. The North Koreans have also had to come up with a large array of subterfuges to get around growing restrictions on their use of the international banking system. The North Koreans are still getting the weapons out, and the money back. But they are increasingly... The Strategy Page http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2397441/posts#comment Tue, 1 Dec 2009 06:56:36 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2393266/posts Malaysia denied Tuesday any role in the illegal export of nuclear weapons to Iran but confirmed the involvement of a national in the export of potential military and explosive components. Deputy foreign minister A. Kohilan Pillay told AFP Malaysia was not a centre for nuclear weapons shipments to Iran. "Our country is not a centre for nuclear components or weapons or other weapons trans-shipments to Iran or anywhere else. We do not condone such activities," he said. Kohilan however confirmed Malaysian Brian Kaam and Iranian Majid Seif, who lives in Malaysia, along with two local companies, were among eight people... Space War http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2393266/posts#comment Tue, 24 Nov 2009 08:45:39 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2391113/posts STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Swedish police have arrested two North Korean diplomats on suspicion of smuggling 230,000 cigarettes into the Nordic country, the Swedish Customs Office said Friday. The pair, a man and a woman who have diplomatic status in Russia, were stopped by Swedish customs officers Wednesday morning as they drove off a ferry from Helsinki, the Finnish capital. Customs officials discovered Russian cigarettes in the car driven by the couple, Swedish Customs spokeswoman Monica Magnusson told Reuters. The two North Koreans claimed diplomatic immunity. "They were accredited as diplomats in Russia, but had no accreditation in Sweden," she said.... Reuters on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2391113/posts#comment Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:24:06 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2383654/posts /begin my excerpts [Weekly Chosun] Sino-N. Korean 'Intel War' /snip In October, 2006, when N. Korea did their first nuclear test, there were spies who sneaked in from Chinese fishing boat off the shore of Hwa-dae(near the test site.) They wanted to install GPS system in Hwa-dae and tried to obtain samples from N. Korea's nuclear test, but N. Korean State Security got them. N. Korea made no announcement to the outside about this incident. They nabbed the entire team and executed them without trial. According to a N. Korean defector, he was told by a security agent, "We found... Chosun Ilbo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2383654/posts#comment Wed, 11 Nov 2009 07:29:52 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2378904/posts Smugglers In Iraq Have A New Trade: Corpse by QUIL LAWRENCE EnlargeJoseph Eid/AFP/Getty Images A tomb at the cemetery of Najaf in 2008. The Wadi al-Salam, or Valley of Peace, in Najaf is one of the largest cemeteries in the world. Millions of Shiite Muslims over the centuries have been brought here for burial from all over the world. text sizeAAANovember 4, 2009 Iraqi and U.S. officials have expressed concerns about the traffic of weapons and drugs across the country's porous borders, but there is also an older and more surprising commodity being smuggled into Iraq — cadavers. For centuries,... NPR http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2378904/posts#comment Thu, 5 Nov 2009 04:25:17 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1034983/posts A tip from an Albuquerque aircraft charter company led Moriarty Police to an airplane with an unusual cargo— suitcases full of more than $1 million in cash. Moriarty Police Chief Bobby Garcia said the two currency-filled suitcases seized from an airplane at the city's airport on Nov. 27 weighed more than 300 pounds. They contained $1,169,896, Garcia said Wednesday. No arrests have been made in the ongoing investigation. The events that led to the cash seizure began when a private plane requested an emergency landing at the Moriarty Municipal Airport due to engine problems around noon on Thanksgiving. Garcia said... ABQ journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1034983/posts#comment Sat, 6 Dec 2003 04:16:14 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2369689/posts U.S. Border Patrol agents discovered a smuggling tunnel under the border in Nogales, Ariz., on Wednesday. It was the first passageway agents have found in the Tucson Sector in nearly four months. The 30-foot tunnel, 150 yards east of the DeConcini Port of Entry, was fortified on the Mexican side with shoring, but on the American side it appeared unfinished, U.S. Border Patrol spokes-man Mario Escalante said. The tunnel was not connected to the drainage system. Escalante said there was no evidence as to who was using the tunnel. "They already had an opening on the north side at the... Arizona Daily Star http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2369689/posts#comment Sat, 24 Oct 2009 00:15:29 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2361257/posts LAREDO, Texas -- A Texas Highway Patrol trooper found 5,408 lbs. of marijuana inside a school bus after pulling over the vehicle north of Laredo, Texas Department of Public Safety officials said. The driver fled on foot from the scene. The bus was marked to resemble a United Independent School District bus. DPS officials estimate the marijuana is worth more than $1.7 million. DPS continues to investigate leads in the case. KVIA http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2361257/posts#comment Tue, 13 Oct 2009 13:27:33 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2357513/posts A shiny green Volkswagen, standing out among the rattletraps on Gaza's dilapidated roads, is the latest hot item to come out of the besieged territory's smuggling tunnels. Cars are brought in piece by piece from Egypt, which only opens its sole crossing point into Gaza for humanitarian purposes, because of an embargo imposed by Israel two years ago. A handful of the hundreds of smuggling tunnels in the Rafah border area are dedicated solely to the auto operation that started a few years ago. The entrepreneurs who run them say they've managed to bring in 30 to 40 vehicles in... Al Arabiya News Channel http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2357513/posts#comment Thu, 8 Oct 2009 13:46:31 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2326990/posts SAHL SINJAR, Iraq, Aug. 28, 2009 – Marine Corps snipers and designated marksmen have been operating across the vast Iraqi deserts since the outbreak of hostilities in 2003. As with all units operating in Iraq, past and present, they have found themselves evolving to meet the changing needs of the Iraqi military and political landscape. Small teams of snipers are finding reasons to venture into the constantly shifting environment that exists in a place referred to simply as “outside the wire.” “Working with previously gathered information, we gather additional intelligence and conduct operations watching over possible insurgent hot spots, caches... American Forces Press Service http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2326990/posts#comment Fri, 28 Aug 2009 23:09:00 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2314072/posts The girlfriend of actor Cameron Douglas was arrested Monday for allegedly trying to smuggle heroin to him in an electric toothbrush, court papers show. Kelly Sott was busted after passing the toothbrush to Douglas while he was under home detention following a court hearing on his drug charges. She was arrested at the Hotel Gansevoort in Manhattan where she was staying. Douglas, 30, the son of actor Michael Douglas, was arrested at the same hotel last week and faces a methamphetamine-dealing charge. Douglas had been on house arrest at the New York home of his stepmother, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and went... People http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2314072/posts#comment Wed, 12 Aug 2009 12:33:29 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2310080/posts Human traffickers beware: The state of Texas has given law enforcement agencies and children advocacy groups more tools to come after you. That was the message given Wednesday morning at City Hall during a meeting hosted by Children at Risk, a Houston-based children advocacy group focused on bringing an end to human trafficking. "Texas has become the hub of human trafficking; Brownsville has become a gateway for human traffickers taking their victims to large cities like Houston and Dallas," said Bob Sanborn, the president of Children at Risk. "Now the Valley is the frontline in the fight against human traffickers."... The Brownsville Herald http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2310080/posts#comment Fri, 7 Aug 2009 00:27:53 GMT