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cocaine posts
Bolivia campaigns to legalize coca
Jan 20th, 2011 at 10:30AM:
Four Loko, meet Coca Colla. CNN reports that Bolivia has launched a campaign to legalize coca, a native plant that has been used for medicinal purposes and as a mild stimulant by the indigenous peoples of the Andes for thousands of years. And yes, coca does contain trace amounts of cocaine. The leaves are used in purified forms of the narcotic, which is what led the United Nations to ban coca ...
Fake pilots try to smuggle cocaine through airport
May 10th, 2010 at 2:30PM: Spanish police have arrested two men who tried to smuggle cocaine through Madrid's Barajas airport while dressed as pilots.
The two men boarded a flight from Bolivia and then changed into pilot uniforms. So far, so good, but once they landed in Madrid they joined the queue with the rest of the passengers. This struck the airport police as a wee bit suspicious. When asked for ID, they produced ...The rebirth of Medellin?
Mar 30th, 2010 at 11:30AM: You've probably already heard of the Colombian city of Medellin, but not as a tourist attraction. Once the infamous stomping ground of "Cocaine Kingpin" Pablo Escobar, this Colombian city boasted a murder rate of 380 per 100,000, earning it a reputation as the most violent in the world. But as the writers at Blackbook recently discovered, these days Medellin's tourist prospects are looking up.
...Greyhound driver tips off cops to half million in coke
Mar 25th, 2010 at 11:00AM: When's the last time a Greyhound passenger had half a million dollars' worth of anything? Usually it's a tattered duffle bag and maybe an iPod. Well, police in Sherman, Texas, acting on a tip from a Greyhound driver, discovered $500,000 in cocaine in a passenger's unmarked suitcase. The police officer was waiting at the bus stop, thanks to the info. After sniffing around, so to speak, he found 12 ...Dulles customs agents arrest man for his coke and chicken smuggle trick
Dec 5th, 2009 at 1:00PM: Washington Dulles customs agents arrested a man last week for trying to smuggle cooked chicken into the US stuffed with cocaine. The haul was just 60 grams, but that is still worth $4,300 on the street.
While smuggling cocaine isn't too rare, customs officials do come across new methods every week.
Of course, smuggling your stash in cooked chicken is particularly stupid, as department of ...Pablo Escobar's Hacienda popular with tourists
Nov 11th, 2009 at 1:30PM: Visiting the former home of a famous person is pretty common. Tourists flock to Elvis' Graceland and who wouldn't love a look inside the creepy world of Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch? But exploring the former compound of a Colombian drug lord....well that seems a little less likely. Yet aparently Pablo Escobar's Hacienda Napoles, located outside of Bogota, Colombia, is a hit with tourists.
...American Airlines employees busted for drug-smuggling
Sep 16th, 2009 at 10:00AM: 22 people were arrested Tuesday amidst allegations of smuggling drugs from Puerto Rico into the US on American Airlines planes. Nine of the people arrested were employees of the airline, who allegedly sent over 9,000 kilograms - almost 20,000 pounds - of cocaine to US destinations that included Miami, Orlando and New Jersey. According to the US Justice Department, the ring has been operating since ...Drug tourism and cocaine bars
Aug 21st, 2009 at 6:00PM: What fun is travel without a little excitement? Rest and relaxation is a given, but excitement? That you have to look for, and it appears excitement for many is found in drugs.
I came across an article yesterday that made me cringe. The world's first cocaine bar, it read. And while I have to admit it picqued my interest, I must also say the thought of sitting in a bar with nearly everyone high on ...Harnessing Honduras: the Central American underdog
Jun 28th, 2009 at 4:00PM: Honduras usually isn't the first place that people think of when they think of vacationing in Central America. Big players in the market like Costa Rica, Cancun and Cozumel consume the majority of the market, while many think that other countries in the region are unsafe or unstable. It's true that Central America hasn't got the best record for safety in the world -- the government of Honduras ...Freighter busted with a ton of cocaine hidden in dead sharks
Jun 17th, 2009 at 12:00PM: Cocaine shark? Has a new meaning. There's a new way to smuggle cocaine into the U.S. from Mexico: put it in a dead shark. I have to give them credit. It's a brilliant scheme. You could be all like "oh gosh, officer, I don't know why the shark did so much coke -- looks like that's what killed him, though. Oh well. Mystery solved. He was kinda talkin' my ear off. I need to take him to Miami to be ...Spanish air contains cocaine
May 15th, 2009 at 1:30PM: Next time you visit Madrid or Barcelona, breathe deeply. Along with the car exhaust, you'll be getting a whiff of cocaine, according to a recent study. The Superior Council of Scientific Investigations tested the air in various barrios in the two cities where drug use is popular, and found trace particles of cannabis, amphetamines, and a host of other drugs besides the ubiquitous Bolivian Marching ...TSA agent caught running a drug business on the side
Apr 10th, 2009 at 1:00PM: Look, we all know the economy is a little sour at the moment, so what do creative people do? They try and make a little extra cash on the side! That is what entrepreneur Timothy Monroe did when his job as a TSA checkpoint agent didn't pay enough. So, Mr. Monroe picked a second job in a pretty stable kind of market - selling drugs. During the daytime, Mr. Monroe protected our airports from deadly ...Coolio caught with crack cocaine at the LAX airport checkpoint
Mar 7th, 2009 at 11:00AM: Someone needs to tell Artis Leon Ivey Jr. (a.k.a. Coolio) that the workers at the airport checkpoint are on the lookout for more than just guns, bombs and terrorists. When they go through your stuff and discover crack cocaine, the will haul you off to jail. And not the good "Gangsta's paradise" jail, they'll lock you away in the dirty jail, with all the other naughty people. Coolio posted a ...A week at the Dulles customs area - cocaine, porn and $35,000
Feb 27th, 2009 at 1:00PM: Traveling often sucks - but a sure way to make the end of your trip even worse, is to get one of those cryptic red messages scribbled all over your customs form when you pass through the immigration line. I've been selected for a closer look at my belongings about 20 times, and it can be a massive pain in the backside. Customs officials usually go through every single item in my bags, going so ...South African flight crews know how to get high
Feb 18th, 2009 at 2:00PM: If you're having trouble staying awake or just like to party, book your next flight on South African Airways. The UK Border Agency arrested 15 SAA crew members – nine men and six women – at Heathrow Airport. Why are they now guests of the Queen? This crew was caught trying to slip 11 lbs of cocaine into the country. The episode is just another example of poor timing. The drugs are ..."No Reservations" season 4, episode 12: Colombia
Jul 15th, 2008 at 3:00PM: Location: This week Anthony is in Colombia, a country that finds itself the setting of one of South America's most remarkable transformations. In the 25 years since the death of Pablo Escobar, one of the world's most notorious drug lords, this once war-torn country has emerged like a phoenix from the scars of the past. Colombia offers Tony a tantalizing mix of cultures, delicious food and ...British woman caught smuggling a kilo of cocaine in her wig
Jun 19th, 2008 at 4:30PM: I know what you are thinking, but no. The British woman in question is not Amy Winehouse. Although, I always wondered what the eccentric English singer keeps stuffed in that hairdo. An average-size cat was my guess. It honestly never even dawned on me that one could smuggle stuff in their hair. That's probably because I can barely hide a bobby pin in mine. People get so creative. Check this one ...Want to make $120,000 on your next beach vacation?
Feb 11th, 2008 at 9:00AM: Bluefield, Nicaragua isn't in any travel guides. After all, the bars and beaches aren't anything you couldn't find in more American-friendly outlets like neighboring Cancun. Which is why you're really missing. You see, even though 85% of the 50,000 people who live in this beach-side town are unemployed, you'll find lush mansions and pimpin' cars. Why? It all comes down to location, location, ...One for the Road: Our Dumb World - Onion's Atlas
Oct 26th, 2007 at 9:24AM: I just finished listening to some short clips from the audio book version of the Onion's new atlas of planet earth, aptly titled Our Dumb World. After a short introduction, it begins: "Here are audio clips from some of the countries that matter - France: One nation above God." It goes on to share important facts about France that you really ought to know. For example, that the leading cause of ...Good Bye, Cocaine. Hello Coca!
Sep 26th, 2007 at 8:30AM: Bolivia, the world's third largest cocaine producer, has escaped US drug sanctions because it met the counter-narcotics commitment of eradicating at least 5,000 hectares (12,360 acres) of coca crop. According to Reuters, cocaine seizures were up 17 percent to 11 tonnes in Bolivia from October 2006 to May 2007, while coca leaf seizures increased by 48 percent. However, this could paradoxically be ...
