Latest news with #customsofficers
BreakingNews.ie
07-07-2025
- BreakingNews.ie
Man (32) jailed after being caught with €400k of cannabis at Dublin Airport
A chef caught with €400,000 of cannabis at Dublin Airport has been jailed for two years. James Fuery (32) of Brookview Grove, Tallaght, Dublin 24, pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis for sale or supply on September 25th last year. Advertisement He has eight previous convictions at the District Court for road traffic, theft and public order offences. Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard evidence that customs officers at Dublin Airport stopped Fuery, who had arrived on a flight from Ibiza, after a drugs detection dog showed interest in the suitcase he was carrying. €404,520 of cannabis, weighing slightly less than 22.5kg, was found in 45 vacuum-sealed packets in this suitcase. Fuery was co-operative and identified the suitcase as the one he'd brought to the airport. He told gardaí that this was the first time he had brought drugs into the country. Advertisement Fuery outlined to gardaí his difficulties with cocaine and cannabis, and how he had relapsed into addiction. He said he built up a drug debt of €15,000 and was under pressure. Imposing the sentence on Monday, Judge Elma Sheahan said this was a serious offence because of the damage the illegal drugs trade brings to our society day in and day out. She noted that Fuery was at the low end of the scale in this enterprise. She noted the 10-year mandatory minimum sentence applicable to this offence but said that with the early plea and circumstances of the case, the court could depart from that. Advertisement Judge Sheahan took into account testimonials handed into court and that Fuery has the support of a pro-social family. She also noted the efforts he has made towards rehabilitation. She set a headline sentence of four and a half years, before setting a three-year term and suspending the final 12 months on strict conditions, including that he avail of drug treatment. The investigating garda agreed with Gerardine Small SC, defending, that her client was co-operative, entered an early guilty plea and has no previous convictions for drug offences. It was further accepted that Fuery told gardaí that he realised bringing the suitcase was wrong and that he was scared. Advertisement The garda agreed that Fuery said he was told that he had to have the money in 24 hours or go and get the suitcase and was apologetic. It was also accepted that Fuery had no proprietary interest in the drugs and had no trappings of wealth. Ms Small told the court her client had previously experienced homelessness due to his addiction issues and underwent rehabilitation. Fuery later relapsed into addiction and had built up a debt when he was asked to take this suitcase. Counsel said Fuery was genuinely concerned for himself and his family A number of references were handed in, and members of Fuery's family were in court to support him. Fuery has a good work history and is working as a chef while in custody. A governor's report was handed to the court. Ms Small asked the court to take into account her client's early guilty plea, noting that his previous convictions are of a different nature, and to show as much leniency as possible for her client.
Daily Mail
03-07-2025
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE The unlikely suburban HQ of a cocaine smuggling kingpin: How friendly dog-walking pensioner was hiding secret life as an international drug baron who imported £120m of narcotics into UK
With its neatly tended lawn, solar panels on the roof and potted petunias lining the garden path, this suburban bungalow could hardly look any less like the HQ of an international drug smuggling operation. But it was here that Peter Lamb, 66, oversaw a vast criminal conspiracy to import £120million worth of cocaine into Britain - all without raising a flicker of suspicion from his trusting neighbours. The father of three was regularly seen pottering in the back garden of his modest home in Gateshead, and would often stop to pass the time of day by walking his dogs, a placid German shepherd and a springer spaniel puppy. However, unknown to locals on his quiet street of housing association homes occupied mostly by retirees, Lamb had become a major player in organised crime responsible for smuggling one-and-a-half tonnes of cocaine over just a year. In another suburban twist, his chosen method was to hide these drugs in rolls of artificial grass brought in by two garden supply companies that served as fronts for his operation. His downfall came in May 2024, when customs officers in Holland searched two consignments of fake turf and found £13m of cocaine hidden inside the empty plastic tubes at the centre of each roll. Lamb was then covertly photographed on a forklift truck carrying rolls of fake grass from a lorry into one of two warehouses he used to store the narcotics. Soon afterwards, raids on the depots in Stockton-on-Tees and Newcastle found abandoned turf rolls from 18 previous consignments and another kilo of cocaine that officers believe had been left behind accidentally. The NCA believe the total street value of all the drugs he imported was £120million. Lamb's underworld activities were a mystery to his neighbours, who were shocked when his home was raided by police. They remained equally stunned when MailOnline spoke to them this week after he was sentenced to 17 years in prison. 'It goes to show that you can have no idea who you're living next door to because if anyone had told me that Peter was mixed up in drug smuggling I would have laughed,' one said. 'He lived on his own apart from his two dogs and he liked to spend a bit of time in the back garden and he'd often be out walking the dogs. 'He would always stop to say hello and no one ever had a cross word with him, he was a nice bloke who had lived in the area for a while. 'He was a Cockney and his daughters seem to have Irish accents so he was clearly someone who had moved around. I wondered if he was ex forces or something like that. 'When the police turned up there was absolute shock when we discovered what they were investigating.' Lamb registered two garden supply companies on Companies House under the same name, Lomax. Neither filed any accounts and have both been dissolved. Another one of his neighbours recalled how he had previously mentioned his business in casual conversation. 'I knew he had a business of some kind, something to do with gardening, but he seemed as though he was semi-retired, he liked to be at home with the dogs and in his own back garden,' they said. 'It's hard to imagine that he was the leader of this thing, it must have been something he got caught up in. He's going to be inside for a long time, he'll be 83 when he gets out.' A third person living on Lamb's road said he had always considered him as nothing more than a 'nice old bloke'. 'He was friendly and said he'd set up a turf business,' they said. 'He even offered me a roll for my garden at home. I'm quite glad now that I didn't take him up on it.' When Lamb first started renting a unit on Sandy Lane Autoparc in Gosforth, Newcastle, no one batted an eyelid. But when, after a year of trading, no one had seen a single customer arrive or leave, people in neighbouring businesses began to wonder exactly what the nature of his import business was. One tradesman on the estate said: 'Foreign trucks would pull up on the business park and he would unload all the rolls of turf on his forklift and put them into his unit. 'There were loads of rolls of turf going in, but none of them ever seemed to come out. 'Someone else pointed out as well that when they were being carried over in the fork lift the rolls were stiff in the middle but flopping down at the ends. 'It seems obvious now with hindsight that they had something pushed into the centre of them but no one suspected a thing. 'Most of the businesses on here are well established and everybody knows each other, but he didn't mix. 'He'd arrive early to unload the turf from lorries and then he would be off, he didn't stop to chat.' Officers who analysed Lamb's phone learned that he had made several trips to the Netherlands to organise the drug shipments. Realising the game was up, he admitted drug smuggling and was handed his hefty jail term. Judge Gavin Doig told him: 'You played a crucial role in the importation into this country of nearly a tonne and a half of cocaine.' The judge added it was a 'significant conspiracy' involving people who were not as easily linked to the drugs as Lamb. The court heard Lamb has significant health problems and admitted he had been an 'idiot' to get involved in something he was unable to get out of. NCA senior investigating officer Al Mullen said: 'Artificial grass is one of the more unusual concealments I've seen used to smuggle cocaine but no matter what tactics criminals use, the NCA will find both the drugs and the importers. 'We caught Lamb red-handed and uncovered his year-long conspiracy to flood UK streets with one-and-a-half tonnes of the drug. 'Cocaine destroys communities and lives, but this joint operation with officers in the Netherlands has disrupted its supply in the UK.'
Yahoo
30-06-2025
- Yahoo
Plane Passenger Caught Carrying 16 Live Snakes in Luggage
Customs officers in India discovered a plane passenger attempting to carry on more than a dozen snakes in their luggage "Customs officers ... foiled yet another wildlife smuggling attempt, 16 live snakes ... seized from a passenger returning from Thailand," customs officers said Most of the snakes were nonvenomous or not dangerous to humans, including garter snakes, a rhino rat snake, a Kenyan sand boa and moreCustoms officers in India were in for a surprise when they discovered a plane passenger flying with more than a dozen wriggling snakes in their luggage. According to a statement from customs agents in Mumbai, a passenger arriving from Thailand was stopped at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSIA) on Sunday, June 29, after officers found 16 wild animals in their bag. "Customs officers ... foiled yet another wildlife smuggling attempt, 16 live snakes ... seized from a passenger returning from Thailand," customs officers said on X. Many of the snakes found stowed away were nonvenomous or not dangerous to humans, including garter snakes, a coastal banded California king snake, a rhino rat snake, an albino rat snake, a Kenyan sand boa and more. The passenger was arrested and customs said that an investigation is underway. According to CBS News, many of the species found in the suspect's luggage are often sold in the pet trade. Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. This incident marks the third seizure of live animals in Mumbai in one month, according to CBS. In early June, authorities said they arrested another passenger coming from Thailand who had attempted to bring 44 Indonesian pit vipers concealed in their checked-in baggage, as well as three venomous Spider-tailed horned vipers and five Asian leaf turtles. Just days later, another passenger was stopped as they were trying to smuggle in 100 live animals, many of them endangered, including lizards, sunbirds and tree-climbing possums. is now available in the Apple App Store! Download it now for the most binge-worthy celeb content, exclusive video clips, astrology updates and more! India isn't the only country where passengers have attempted to bring live animals through customs or security. In March, a Pennsylvania man was caught trying to smuggle a red-ear slider turtle through security at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey by stuffing it down his pants. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) shared in a press release at the time that the discovery came after an alarm on a TSA body scanner was activated in the man's groin area. 'A TSA officer administered a pat-down of the area of the man's body where the alarm was triggered and in doing so, determined that there was something concealed in the area of the man's groin,' the release read. Officials added, 'When asked if there was something hidden in his pants, the man, a resident of East Stroudsburg, Pa., reached down the front of his pants and pulled out a live turtle that was wrapped in a small blue towel.' In November last year, security officials at Jorge Chavez International Airport in Lima, Peru, stopped an alleged smuggler, a 28-year-old South Korean man, because his stomach appeared abnormally swollen while he was passing through security. Peru's National Forest and Wildlife Service (SERFOR) said in a press release at the time that the man was asked to lift his shirt, revealing two belts that had been adorned with camouflaged bags and packages containing tarantulas and other bugs, according to the wildlife service. Specialists with the government agency later tallied the concealed critters, counting 35 adult tarantulas, 285 juvenile tarantulas, 110 centipedes and nine bullet ants. Read the original article on People
Daily Mail
27-05-2025
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Aussie shares 'degrading' and 'traumatising' experience of travelling to the US
An Australian woman has warned travellers after US border officials made unfounded accusations she was a prostitute before hauling her into a private area and trawling her phone for 'proof'. Sydney woman Everlyn 23, said she went to Los Angeles in October last year but her holiday was derailed when she was subjected to the 'beyond degrading' ordeal from customs officers at the airport. The young woman said she was singled out by Transport Security Administration (TSA) agents as soon as she arrived at the airport. One female agent was 'extremely hostile' when asking about the 23-year-old's job and lifestyle. The agent then appeared skeptical when she told her she worked in the public service for a branch of the Australian government. 'They accused me of being a sex worker from the outset, before they had even checked my phone or any documentation,' she told Daily Mail Australia. She said she waited in a secluded area of the airport, before an agent arrived and asked her directly, 'do you have sex for money?'. Everlyn informed him she had never done such a thing in her life. She said the agents must have stereotyped her. 'They were making assumptions and treating me in a humiliating manner whilst completely unfounded,' Everlyn said. Unsatisfied with her answers, officials made her wait at the back of a line before taking her to a detention area where she had to undergo an even more humiliating ordeal. Officials searched through her phone for 'proof' of her supposed double life. One agent had searched the word 'sex' in Google and forced the 23-year-old to open her private messaging and banking applications. Everlyn's stomach began turning when authorities discovered personal messages and explicit photos she had shared privately with her boyfriend. 'I wasn't made aware that they were looking through such personal content, and they were showing these photos to the other male agents in the back,' she said. 'It was beyond invasive and degrading. There were multiple men in the room, and I felt completely violated. After the invasion was over officials tried to convince her to admit to conducting sex work, even trying to coax Ms T into talking to him like a friend. 'Obviously the answer was still 'no'.' The officials at one point threatened to fly her back to Australia. The ordeal lasted two to three hours, she estimated, as she opened up about the experience to 'help others avoid such a traumatic experience'. Everlyn said she believed officials targeted her because she was travelling alone. 'I do think the main reason they made such an absurd assumption is because I was traveling alone as a young woman,' she said. 'It felt like they saw 'solo female traveler' and immediately jumped to conclusions, completely disregarding anything else.' The tourist, who goes by evrlynbb on TikTok, shared a clip yesterday telling part of the story. The video amassed tens of thousands of views, and garnered more than one hundred comments. Many women shared the same things had happened to them or their friends. 'This exact thing happened to me too!! I missed my connecting flight it was horrible,' one woman said. 'Why must they do this?' 'This has happened to so many Australian girls I know, especially if they're flying into LAX and solo,' another added. 'Some customs officers seem to show misogynistic bias by assuming that pretty women must be escorts. That's sad,' a third commenter wrote. In a later comment, the Sydney-sider said she felt denigrated by the episode. 'Two to three hours and I got sl*t-shamed by a female TSA agent when I didn't do anything,' she wrote. In June 2023 TSA agents were caught on surveillance video at Miami International Airport stealing from passengers as they went through security. The shocking footage showed Labarrius Williams, 33, and Josue Gonzalez, 20, working together to steal money from passengers' bags at security checkpoint E on June 29. Video provided by the Miami-Dade County State Attorney's office showed Williams shifting around items in a bin and then walking away while Gonzalez puts his hand on the item. Gonzalez was then seen gripping something in his hand while removing it from the bin, then immediately dropping something in his pocket before returning to the conveyor belt. Another clip showed Gonzalez starting to unzip a purse as the bin works its way down the belt. On July 6 of that year, Williams, Gonzalez and a third TSA agent Elizabeth Fuster were arrested for allegedly removing $600 from a passenger's wallet while they were going through security.
CBC
13-05-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Conferences relocating to Canada over harsh new U.S. border measures
As Canadian travel to the U.S. continues to drop, CBC News has found several professional conferences relocated to Canada to avoid harsh new U.S. border security measures. One sociologist describes being grilled by U.S. customs officers who searched his phone and wallet.
