qais
05-09-03, 09:00 PM
Police 'seize $6bn' in drugs raid
LONDON, England -- British police have smashed an international drugs trafficking ring, seizing more than $6 billion worth of suspected U.S. bonds.
The seizure will go down as the biggest in criminal history if the bonds are genuine.
Cars, houses and furniture worth about £7 million ($11 million) were seized in two raids in July and August. Officers also unearthed 55,000 Ecstasy tablets, Ecstasy powder and 15 kg (33lb) of amphetamine powder, a pill press, and a small amount of cocaine and cannabis.
"We went in there looking for drugs, searching for drugs -- anything other than that is a bit of a bonus," a spokeswoman for the National Crime Squad said. "We are still conducting inquiries as to whether the bonds are genuine or not,"
Nine men charged with conspiracy to import cocaine and conspiracy to supply Ecstasy appeared in court over the summer. All nine are from Britain although one has a house in Columbia.
Although the raids were conducted over the last two months the case came to light late Thursday night after Colombian authorities announced details. British police passed on information to their Colombian counterparts and a joint operation was set up, leading to the arrest of two people in Columbia on Friday.
Two people were arrested in Ecuador as part of the same investigation.
Guillermo Anibal Ortega, director of the Colombia's attorney general's office investigative unit, told Britain's Press Association: "This is a very important victory, because it represents the most overwhelming blow against drug trafficking and money laundering."
The ring allegedly sent drugs from Colombia to Europe via countries like Ecuador and Mexico.
Ortega did not disclose the name of drug cartel affected by the arrests.
The wealth of former Colombian drug baron Pablo Escobar was estimated by Fortune Magazine in the late 1980s at $2 billion.
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there goes my future ...out of the window
LONDON, England -- British police have smashed an international drugs trafficking ring, seizing more than $6 billion worth of suspected U.S. bonds.
The seizure will go down as the biggest in criminal history if the bonds are genuine.
Cars, houses and furniture worth about £7 million ($11 million) were seized in two raids in July and August. Officers also unearthed 55,000 Ecstasy tablets, Ecstasy powder and 15 kg (33lb) of amphetamine powder, a pill press, and a small amount of cocaine and cannabis.
"We went in there looking for drugs, searching for drugs -- anything other than that is a bit of a bonus," a spokeswoman for the National Crime Squad said. "We are still conducting inquiries as to whether the bonds are genuine or not,"
Nine men charged with conspiracy to import cocaine and conspiracy to supply Ecstasy appeared in court over the summer. All nine are from Britain although one has a house in Columbia.
Although the raids were conducted over the last two months the case came to light late Thursday night after Colombian authorities announced details. British police passed on information to their Colombian counterparts and a joint operation was set up, leading to the arrest of two people in Columbia on Friday.
Two people were arrested in Ecuador as part of the same investigation.
Guillermo Anibal Ortega, director of the Colombia's attorney general's office investigative unit, told Britain's Press Association: "This is a very important victory, because it represents the most overwhelming blow against drug trafficking and money laundering."
The ring allegedly sent drugs from Colombia to Europe via countries like Ecuador and Mexico.
Ortega did not disclose the name of drug cartel affected by the arrests.
The wealth of former Colombian drug baron Pablo Escobar was estimated by Fortune Magazine in the late 1980s at $2 billion.
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there goes my future ...out of the window