Colombian customs officials seize over $11 million in cash, call it biggest such bust at port

October 5th, 2009 Man jailed for one of UK's biggest cash robberiesLONDON — A British man has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for his role in a robbery nearly three years ago of 53 million pounds (about $85 million). Paul Allen's sentence was handed down Monday at a London court.

September 30th, 2009 US, Colombian, Mexican officials seize $41 millionWASHINGTON — U.S. and Colombian authorities seized $41 million in suspected drug money over the past two weeks — one of the largest seizures in the history of the countries' joint efforts, law enforcement officials said Monday.

September 11th, 2009 Mexico police find over $5 million cash in cargoMEXICO CITY — Mexican authorities say they have found at least $5 million hidden in a shipment of ammonium sulfate at a Pacific coast port, and are still counting the cash. Authorities earlier said the estimated amount was at least $5.4 million.

September 11th, 2009 Mexico police find over $5.4 million cash in cargoMEXICO CITY — Mexican authorities say they have found at least $5.4 million hidden in a shipment of ammonium sulfate at a Pacific coast port, and are still counting the cash. The Mexican navy says the bundles of cash were hidden in large sacks of the granular chemical, most commonly used as a fertilizer.

September 10th, 2009 Drug kingpin pleads guilty to traffickingTAMPA, Fla. — A Colombian drug kingpin reputed to be one of the largest cocaine traffickers in the world has pleaded guilty to trafficking charges in three federal cases.

September 8th, 2009 BUENOS AIRES - Argentina's customs service seized a number of fossils from a US researcher who was attempting to take them out of the country, authorities have said. The confiscated material, a total of 45 rocks containing fossil remains, were about to be taken "illegally from the country by a US citizen with a scientific research group from the University of California", the customs service said in a communique.

August 21st, 2009 Venezuela helps US seize cocaine-laden shipCARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela says its collaboration with U.S. authorities led to the seizure of about a ton of cocaine aboard a ship in the Caribbean Sea.

August 13th, 2009 Argentina seizes over 4 tons of meth ingredientsBUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Argentine customs officers have seized more than four tons of a chemical that can be used to make methamphetamine during an investigation into drug traffickers with ties to Mexico. Mario Crespo, director of investigations for the customs service, says a total of 4.2 metric tons (4.6 tons) of pseudoephedrine was confiscated at several government warehouses at the port in Buenos Aires on Wednesday.

July 30th, 2009 Feds seize heroin worth $17 million in CaliforniaSACRAMENTO, Calif. — Authorities say federal drug agents have broken up a narcotics ring responsible for importing heroin valued at $17.5 million into California from Mexico.

July 11th, 2009 Wanted: Late Colombian drug lord's escaped hipposBOGOTA — One fugitive hippo down, two to go. Colombian bounty hunters with orders to kill are seeking the two remaining hippopotamuses that escaped from the famous menagerie of fallen Colombian drug baron Pablo Escobar.

July 10th, 2009 Colombian coffee comes with smuggled cocaineNEW ORLEANS — Customs agents discovered an extra ingredient in a shipment of Colombian coffee: nearly a half-ton of cocaine. U.S. Customs officer Troy Simon said Thursday it was his agency's biggest cocaine find at the Port of New Orleans since more than two tons turned up in a transformer shipment about 10 years ago.

July 5th, 2009 Drug bust nets heroin stuffed in Build-A-Bear toysNEW YORK — A dozen people have been arrested, and 33 pounds of heroin worth $30 million and stuffed inside Build-A-Bear toys has been seized in a drug bust in the Bronx. The arrests late Friday afternoon were announced Saturday by the New York office of the Drug Enforcement Administration along with city and state police.

June 23rd, 2009 Customs officer, wife plead guilty in drug caseTUCSON, Ariz. — A federal customs officer at the San Luis Port of Entry and his wife pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery and to import the drug Ecstasy.

April 30th, 2009 BOGOTA - Eight Colombian soldiers have been killed in a clash with leftist rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in the northeastern Perija mountains on the Venezuelan border. 'Unfortunately eight military officers died today in the province of La Guajira.

April 30th, 2009 Elderly man arrested in Italy for coke in orangesROME — The elderly man claimed he needed the oranges in his suitcase to keep up his vitamin C level, but Italian police soon realized the "C'' stood for cocaine. Customs officers in Rome on Thursday arrested a 76-year-old Dutch man who tried to smuggle in more than 13 pounds (six kilograms) of cocaine packed into oranges that had been emptied of their pulp.