Customs finds almost a half-ton of cocaine in shipping container of Colombian coffee

October 13th, 2009 BOGOTA - Police seized two tonnes of cocaine in a ranch in northwestern Colombia and arrested a minor who was guarding the load, the authorities said Tuesday. The raid took place over the weekend in a rural area in the municipality of Necocli, in the province of Antioquia.

September 30th, 2009 DomRep extradites Colombian cocaine suspect to USSANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — A Dominican official says an alleged Colombian cocaine trafficker arrested in the Dominican Republic has been extradited to the United States. The official says Luis Alberto Santacruz Echeverri, known by the nickname "Lucho," was extradited Monday to New York to face drug trafficking charges.

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 9th, 2009 Colombia seizes $11M cash from shipping containerBOGOTA — Colombian customs agents say they seized $11.3 million in cash from a shipping container in the nation's largest cargo port. National customs director Nestor Diaz says it is the most cash ever seized by police at a port in Colombia, which is a major source of cocaine trafficking.

September 8th, 2009 Ecuador police bust half-ton of processed cocaineQUITO, Ecuador — Police in Ecuador say they have seized a half-ton of processed cocaine disguised as a shipment of fertilizer. The nation's anti-drug chief, Col.

August 25th, 2009 Peru police seize cocaine sewn inside live turkeysLIMA, Peru — Peruvian police expecting to find a shipment of cocaine hidden in a crate holding two live turkeys were surprised to discover the drug surgically implanted inside the birds. Acting on a tip, officers stopped a Turismo Ejecutivo SRL bus outside the city of Tarapoto in the central jungle state of San Martin, officials said Monday.

August 24th, 2009 DPA HANOI - Vietnamese customs inspectors have discovered more than two tonnes of elephant tusks hidden in a shipping container full of snail shells from Kenya, an official said Monday. Bui Hoang Duong, head of the customs inspection department at the northern port of Haiphong, said inspectors opened the container Friday as part of enhanced scrutiny of shipping from Tanzania, due to recent cases of ivory smuggling.

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.

July 28th, 2009 5 killed in attack on Colombia coca eradicatorsBOGOTA — Colombian authorities say three soldiers and two civilians have been killed in a rifle and grenade attack on a boat carrying coca eradication workers. They say six people also have wounds and six more are missing.

June 18th, 2009 Mexico: almost 1 ton of cocaine found in sharksMEXICO CITY — Mexico says it found nearly one ton of cocaine hidden inside frozen shark carcasses. Prosecutors says hundreds of packages stuffed in the bellies of dozens of dead sharks seized in the Gulf port of Progreso contained 1,965 pounds (893 kilograms) of cocaine.

June 16th, 2009 Guatemala seizes 9.9 million pseudoephedrine pillsGUATEMALA CITY — Guatemalan authorities confiscated nearly 10 million pseudoephedrine pills worth $33 million on Tuesday — the country's biggest seizure of the methamphetamine precursor, police said. The 9.9 million pills were seized from a shipping container at Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala's main port on the Pacific coast, said police spokesman Donald Gonzalez.

June 3rd, 2009 3 Colombians charged in US visa fraud caseWASHINGTON — Three Colombian citizens have been arrested on charges of alien smuggling — accused of coaching more than 100 people how to lie to obtain visas to travel to the United States. The three were arrested Tuesday in Bogota after being indicted in federal court in Washington.

June 2nd, 2009 Colombian paramilitary member sentenced in TexasHOUSTON — A member of a Colombian paramilitary group has been sentenced in a Texas federal court to 7 1/2 years for plotting to acquire anti-aircraft missiles and other powerful weapons in exchange for cocaine. Diego Alberto Ruiz Arroyave (AH'-roe-jah-veh) pleaded guilty in October to conspiring to provide material support to the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, or AUC.

May 11th, 2009 Venezuela seizes 2 tons of cocaine, arrest 3CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuelan authorities have seized nearly two tons of cocaine and arrested three suspects in their largest drug bust in months, the country's top counter-drug official said Monday. Police and soldiers discovered 4,370 pounds (1,983 kilograms) of cocaine during a raid on a ranch in central Miranda state on Saturday, said National Anti-Drug Agency director Nestor Reverol.

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.