Latest news with #contraband


New York Times
18 hours ago
- New York Times
Man Who Kicked Customs Dog Is Turned Away at D.C. Airport, U.S. Says
A man traveling on a tourist visa was arrested and kept from entering the United States this week after he was accused of kicking a trained detector dog at Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C., that had found more than 100 pounds of undeclared food in his luggage, the authorities said. The man, Hamed Ramadan Bayoumy Aly Marie, a native of Egypt, was arrested at the airport on Tuesday and pleaded guilty a day later to a misdemeanor charge of harming animals used in law enforcement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a news release. Mr. Marie, 70, was accused of kicking the agriculture detector dog, a 5-year-old beagle named Freddie, 'so hard that he was lifted off of the ground,' according to court records filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Mr. Marie was said to have reacted after the dog alerted its handler to possible contraband in a piece of luggage in the baggage-claim area, according to court records. A lawyer listed for Mr. Marie did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday. Customs and Border Protection said that a search of Mr. Marie's luggage found that he was carrying 55 pounds of beef, 44 pounds of rice, 15 pounds of eggplant, cucumbers, and bell peppers, two pounds of corn seeds and a pound of herbs. All the of items 'were prohibited from entering the United States and seized,' the agency said. According to court records, Freddie was taken to a veterinary emergency room after the kick. The customs agency said that the dog, who weighs 25 pounds, was found to have contusions to his right forward rib area. 'Being caught deliberately smuggling well over 100 pounds of undeclared and prohibited agriculture products does not give one permission to violently assault a defenseless Customs and Border Protection beagle,' Christine Waugh, the agency's director for the area port of Washington, D.C., said in the news release. Agriculture detector dogs play an important role in 'screening passengers and cargo to prevent the introduction of harmful plant pests and foreign animal disease,' Customs and Border Protection said, adding that plant diseases, invasive species and weeds 'have cost nations millions to billions of dollars in eradication measures and lost revenues.' Mr. Marie, who was traveling on a tourist visa and left the country on Thursday, was credited with time served on the misdemeanor charge, the agency said, and he was ordered to pay $840 in restitution as well as $125 in fines and fees.


CBC
a day ago
- CBC
How long to pay off $800K in illegal cigarette fines? 32,000 months, a judge calculates
Social Sharing Nova Scotia provincial court Judge Alain Bégin put a fine point on the absurdity of the situation with some quick math: it will take 32,000 months for the 68-year-old man he was sentencing on contraband cigarette charges to pay off the massive fines that, by law, had to be imposed. On Wednesday, David Barrie confirmed he was pleading guilty to two counts related to possessing unstamped tobacco, charges that stemmed from 650,000 illegal cigarettes discovered by RCMP in a van the man was driving two years ago near Truro, N.S. The violations were under the federal Excise Act and provincial Revenue Act, which prescribe formulas to determine the minimum fine amount, based on the number of cigarettes seized and the tax evaded. In Barrie's case, the calculation amounts to a whopping $886,296.80, an astronomical amount for a man the court was told is disabled, unemployed and lives on an Old Age Security pension. "What's your intention with regards to minimum payment?" Bégin asked him in a Truro courtroom. "Two hundred bucks a month? A hundred bucks a month? What are you gonna do? You pay $50 a month towards your $800,000 bill?" "He was hoping for maybe 25," Jim O'Neil, Barrie's lawyer, replied. "All right, $25 a month on your $800,000 bill," concluded Bégin, who out of curiosity did a quick calculation. "Yeah, 32,000 months to pay off your fine." In an interview, O'Neil said the minimum fines for illegal tobacco charges are set out in federal and provincial legislation, and judges have no discretion. It's an issue, he said, that has long bothered him when it comes to clients who are too poor to pay. In one case involving a single mother, O'Neil said, he sought to challenge the fine based on her poverty, but after researching the case law realized the argument would not succeed in charges involving contraband tobacco. When faced with such situations, he said, the only thing judges can do is "modify the impact" on the offender by ordering them to pay small monthly amounts, with no illusions the total fine will ever be paid off. "An awful lot of people who are involved in contraband tobacco are themselves addicted to tobacco or they're poor," O'Neil said. "For some reason, governments have singled out this particular offence for these huge fines and it's not proportionate to any other wrongdoings we may do as citizens." 'Nothing to show for it' Revenue from tobacco taxes has dropped significantly in Nova Scotia in recent years. Smoking rates have declined, but a provincial cabinet minister acknowledged this spring that contraband sales may also be eating into the government's bottom line. Provincial tobacco enforcement officers seized a record number of illegal cigarettes last year, although the statistics don't include seizures by police forces. Barrie was arrested on May 27, 2023, after police pulled over a Ford Econoline van at the interchange of highways 102 and 104 outside of Truro, according to an RCMP police release at the time. Officers obtained a search warrant and found the unstamped cigarettes. O'Neil told the court Wednesday that Barrie was only a courier for someone else. "That's even worse. He wasn't going to get the benefit" from the sale of the cigarettes, O'Neil said. "Or the most foolish part, perhaps," Bégin replied. "Worse or most foolish, taking all the risk, going to get the penalty, and nothing to show for it."


CTV News
2 days ago
- CTV News
Lockdown, search ended at Dorchester Penitentiary
A multi-week lockdown put in place at a federal correctional facility in New Brunswick has ended. Correctional Service Canada (CSC) says the medium security unit at Dorchester Penitentiary was locked down on June 9 to allow staff members to conduct a search of the prison. 'The institution has resumed its normal operations and visits have resumed,' reads a news release from CSC. 'During the exceptional search, contraband and unauthorized items were found.' The lockdown came after officers seized more than half a million dollars of contraband at the penitentiary on June 2. CSC said officers found a package containing the contraband on the perimeter of the prison. Officials said the items seized included methamphetamine, marijuana, shatter, nicotine patches and tobacco, with an estimated institutional value of $534,100. They suspect the contraband was dropped by a drone. CSC says it is strengthening measures to prevent the entry of contraband into its institutions and is working with police to take action against those who attempt to have contraband brought into correctional institutions. For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.


The Sun
4 days ago
- The Sun
Corruption & bribery behind bars exposed as ex-con reveals lags pay £500 for KFC & how inmates have sex with guards
PRISONERS are paying guards up to £500 to smuggle in a KFC bargain bucket. And they will shell out as much as £200 for a pack of Rizla fag papers to be sneaked into jail. 6 6 The bribery behind bars is revealed in a documentary that also lifts the lid on how lags get their hands on booze and drugs — and have sexual relations with warders. UK Prisons Exposed: Sex, Drugs and Corruption, which is available to stream on Channel 4 from tonight, is presented by ex-inmate David Navarro. He has spent a decade in and out of custody so knows the dodgy dealings that go on — with officers often turning a blind eye, or up to their necks in it. The documentary even features footage secretly shot by cons to show off their often sizeable stashes of contraband — known in the trade as 'bird'. Weed is heaped in a cell, along with a pile of mobile phones, bottles of high-end Ciroc vodka, Courvoisier brandy, Wray & Nephew rum and boxes of Krispy Kreme doughnuts, plus KFC, Nando's, McDonald's and Chinese takeaway feasts. 'That bird just keeps on coming,' a man can be heard chuckling. Another adds: 'It's like Carphone Warehouse.' Bringing things in, that's their (officers) bread & butter. It might be a pack of Rizlas for £200. I've seen it so many times on different occasions Nathan But officers not earning big money will often stand back and do nothing. In one clip, a warder smells drugs but just says: 'I told you, open the f***ing window.' A prisoner called Nathan, wearing a balaclava as a disguise, claims that many staff — who are on about £33,000 a year — are wide open to bungs. Prisoner who had sex with female guard is violently attacked while holding baby in family visit – fracturing tot's skull He reveals: 'I have seen it so many times. 'It could have been a Nando's from outside or a KFC. 'It could be phones, it could be drugs. 'It could be anything.' Asked how much prisoners pay for deliveries, Nathan adds: 'That all depends on the officer. Secret affair 'If she wants to say to you, '500 quid' and you really want it, then you're gonna pay 500 quid for a KFC bargain bucket. 'That's an expensive KFC.' He adds of the guards: 'Bringing things in, that's their bread and butter. 'It might be a pack of Rizlas for one hundred, two hundred quid.' Big-money backhander payments are often processed by someone on the outside. But prisoners also blackmail officers into bringing them banned items, by amassing personal text messages to use against them. Nathan says of getting guards to play ball: 'You've got to build up slowly, slowly, build up your relationship on the wing, test the waters or be flirty — do what you gotta do until you secure the bag. 6 6 'If there are text messages . . . I've got you under my thumb.' Meanwhile, another jailbird reveals how lusty lags get it on with prison visitors as well as officers. In a video call made on an illegal phone, he says: 'We call it patterning up with them. 'It's a mixture of male and female. 'It could even be your healthcare worker, it could be your education teacher, it could be anybody.' A former warder who gives her name as just Rachel, was a married mother of four when she began a secret affair with an armed robber serving a ten-year sentence. Rachel, 29, says about her old job: 'The hours were ridiculous, the overtime was ridiculous, it ruined my marriage because I was never there. 'We hit rock bottom, I took my ring off.' An inmate then started coming on to her at work. She recalls: 'He approached me wanting help, we had a few conversations. 'There was banter, inappropriate comments — then I shared photos and a sexually explicit letter. Storeroom romp 'As soon as I'd given it to him, I said, 'You need to flush it away'. He told me had.' But the images were found, and in 2022 Rachel was convicted of neglecting her duties, got a suspended sentence and community service — and was fired. She insists: 'There had been no storeroom romp.' But at her trial, the judge said 'CCTV footage shows the two of you together and you were in a room privately, together. Intimacy must have taken place.' Another ex-officer, called Moses, reveals goings-on such as this are common. 6 He says: 'Female prison officers get a lot of attention from prisoners, it's bound to happen. 'If they are not strong-minded they get drawn in. 'If they are smart and keep their mouth shut it can go on for a long time. 'But when it moves to exploitation — getting the officer to bring in phones, [synthetic cannabis substitutes] spice and black mamba, all the illegal substances, it becomes too big to manage. 'From the prisoners' perspective it's just business. 'He's trying to bring in illicit items, and sell them.' But former prisoner Beatrice, who did time for money laundering, says guards also make moves on inmates. While the vast majority of prison staff are honest, we are catching more of the small minority who break the rules, through our Counter-Corruption Unit A Prison Service spokesman She reveals: 'An officer would regularly comment on my appearance. 'He suggested he would want to come in my cell or meet up when I was released. 'He would say things like, 'I'm all yours'. 'Other members of staff recognised his behaviour was creepy but if you make a complaint the staff are going to protect each other. 'I heard other allegations that officers had relationships with women on the drug-addiction wing, it's common knowledge that this happens all the time.' A Prison Service spokesman said: 'While the vast majority of prison staff are honest, we are catching more of the small minority who break the rules, through our Counter-Corruption Unit. 'Where officers fall below our high standards, we take robust action.'

CTV News
20-06-2025
- CTV News
Border patrol finds tunnel from Tijuana to San Diego
It's believed the tunnel was used to transport large amounts of contraband. Border Patrol/KRDO via CNN Newsource SAN DIEGO, California (KRDO) -- U.S. Customs and Border Patrol says they found an intricate tunnel leading from Tijuana to San Diego. Border Patrol says the tunnel featured electrical wiring, lighting, and ventilation systems. It's believed the tunnel was used to transport large amounts of contraband. According to the agency, the San Diego Sector Tunnel Team found the tunnel while it was still 'actively under construction.' Even though the tunnel was not yet complete, officials say at its current stage, it was estimated to be about 2,918 feet long. Border Patrol believes it was intended to have an exit point near a California commercial warehouse space. Border Patrol, Homeland Security, and Mexico officials were able to locate the entrance point, which they way was at a Tijuana residence. After serving a warrant, officials say they found that the tunnel entrance had been covered up with a freshly-laid tile floor. According to Border Patrol, there have been 95 tunnels located and decommissioned in the San Diego area since 1993. By Celeste Springer