Latest news with #narcotics
The Independent
7 hours ago
- The Independent
Bella May Culley: Pregnant British teenager tells court she was ‘forced' to smuggle drugs into Georgia
A British teenager currently imprisoned in Georgia has said she was 'tortured' into smuggling drugs into the country. Bella Culley, 19 from Billingham, Teesside, is in police custody in the former Soviet republic accused of purchasing, possessing and trafficking a large quantity of narcotics, including marijuana. She has pleaded not guilty to all charges. She had been travelling in Asia in April and May before she was arrested in Tbilisi International Airport on 10 May, where police seized 11kg of marijuana and around 400g of hashish from a travel bag. Ms Culley was refused bail at a pre-trial hearing at Tbilisi City Court on Tuesday. Malkhaz Salakaia, representing Ms Culley, said she had been threatened with a hot iron to coerce her into travelling with the suitcase filled with drugs, according to the BBC. Ms Culley stood in front of the judge in the courtroom and showed her scarred right wrist. Speaking in court, the teenager claimed she had been forced into the drugs trade. 'I did not want to do this. I was forced to do this through torture,' she said. "I just wanted to travel. I am a good person. I am a student at university. I am a clean person. I don't do drugs." Mr Salakaia said the teenager was not aware of what was in her suitcase, telling the court she tried to inform customs officers in Thailand 'but nobody paid attention', the BBC reported. 'She was instructed to fly to Georgia - she did not even know where Georgia was located geographically,' he added. He also told the court that Ms Culley was 18 weeks pregnant. The teenager's family was ready to pay the 50,000 georgian lari for bail money to get her out of prison, Mr Salakaia said. Her father, aunt and grandfather were reportedly in attendance at the courtroom. Judge Lela Kalichenko denied Ms Culley bail and remanded her into custody until the next court hearing, which is scheduled for 10 July. The teenager had decided to travel to southeast Asia after finishing her course at Middlesbrough College. Her mother told Teesside Live that her daughter flew to the Philippines after Easter with a friend and was there for three weeks. Ms Culley went to Thailand on 3 May, reportedly to meet friends she had made on a previous trip that her mother did not know. She vanished in Thailand before resurfacing at Tbilisi International Airport. The Georgian interior ministry has said the teenager is facing up to 20 years in jail or life imprisonment. A statement read: 'B.K, born in 2006, is charged with illegally purchasing and storing a particularly large amount of narcotics, illegally purchasing and storing the narcotic drug marijuana, and illegally importing it into Georgia. The committed crime envisions up to 20 years – or life imprisonment.'
CBS News
a day ago
- CBS News
San Jose police seize 62 pounds of meth, arrest 2 following traffic stop
Police in San Jose have arrested two people on probation and have seized drugs, cash and other items following a traffic stop in South San Jose last week. Officers said Tuesday that the department's Street Crimes Unit pulled over a suspected stolen vehicle on the 6100 block of San Ignacio Avenue on Thursday. During the stop, police located 44-year-old Michael Mendoza and 38-year-old Anita Quiroz, who were determined to be on probation. (L-R) 44-year-old Michael Mendoza and 38-year-old Anita Quiroz, who were arrested following a traffic stop in San Jose on June 26, 2025. San Jose Police Department A probation search of the vehicle yielded several items, including a stolen disabled person parking placard, stolen documents, stolen credit cards and illegal narcotics, police said. Officers also conducted a probation search of a hotel room linked to the suspects. During the hotel search, officers said they found 62 pounds of methamphetamine, 2 pounds of heroin and evidence of narcotics sales. The search also yielded a loaded and unregistered handgun, $28,000 in cash, burglary tools and evidence of identity theft documents. Items that San Jose police said were seized in connection with a traffic stop on June 26, 2025, including suspected methampetamine, heroin and cash. Two people were arrested in connection with the case. San Jose Police Department Mendoza and Quiroz were booked into the Santa Clara County Jail on suspicion of illegal narcotics sales and possession, firearm possession, stolen vehicle and identity theft. Jail records show Mendoza is being held without bail, with a court appearance scheduled for Tuesday.
Al Arabiya
2 days ago
- Al Arabiya
Saudi-Lebanese mission foils attempt to smuggle over 5 mln amphetamine pills
Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Interior revealed Monday that it helped Lebanese Customs thwart an attempt to smuggle more than five million amphetamine pills, as part of the Kingdom's continued efforts to combat cross-border narcotics trafficking. The Kingdom provided critical intelligence that enabled Lebanon's Customs to seize a massive shipment of amphetamine pills, in a proactive move to disrupt international drug trafficking operations, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported. Security spokesperson for the Saudi Ministry of Interior, Talal al-Shalhoub, reportedly said the successful operation was the result of close coordination between Saudi Arabia's General Directorate of Narcotics Control and Lebanese authorities. 'As part of proactive security monitoring of criminal networks involved in drug trafficking, the Ministry of Interior, represented by the General Directorate of Narcotics Control, provided intelligence that enabled Lebanon's Customs to foil an attempt to smuggle more than 5,000,000 amphetamine pills,' al-Shalhoub was quoted as saying. The narcotics were found concealed in glass and porcelain tableware inside a container that had been shipped from a third country to Lebanon, he added. Al-Shalhoub praised Lebanon's authorities for their cooperation and added that 'the Kingdom remains committed to combating criminal activities targeting its security and youth with narcotics, and to arresting those involved.' The operation highlights growing regional collaboration to tackle the illicit drug trade, particularly amid a rise in amphetamine smuggling attempts aimed at Gulf countries. Saudi Arabia has stepped up efforts in recent years to intercept drugs at their source and strengthen international intelligence-sharing to dismantle transnational criminal networks.
Arab News
2 days ago
- Arab News
5m amphetamine pills seized after Saudi authorities tip off Lebanese customs
RIYADH: An attempt to smuggle over 5 million amphetamine pills into Lebanon was thwarted after Saudi authorities provided intel to their Lebanese counterparts who intercepted the container where the pills were concealed inside glass and porcelain tableware. Talal bin Shalhoub, spokesman of the Saudi Ministry of Interior, said that intel shared with the Lebanese Customs falls within Saudi Arabia's proactive security follow-up of the activities of drug smuggling criminal networks. He commended cooperation with relevant authorities in Lebanon in monitoring and seizing narcotic substances, stressing that the Kingdom continues to monitor, confront, and thwart criminal activities targeting the Kingdom's security and youth through narcotics, and to arrest those involved.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Mexican authorities find 20 bodies, some decapitated, in Sinaloa state
Twenty bodies, several of them decapitated, have been found on a highway bridge in the northwestern state of Sinaloa, Mexican authorities say, as rival drug cartel factions fight one another in the area. The Sinaloa state prosecutor's office reported a grisly scene on Monday: Four headless corpses were found on a roadside, 16 bodies were discovered inside an abandoned vehicle near the state capital, Culiacan, and five human heads were found inside a bag. Sinaloa has been gripped by months of violence fuelled by rival drug traffickers vying for control of routes used to produce and transport narcotics, including fentanyl, that are often destined for the United States. The groups are split between members loyal to Sinaloa Cartel co-founders Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman and Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada. The violence peaked after the arrest in July of Zambada, who is on trial in the US. Last year, the US announced it had arrested 76-year-old Zambada and 38-year-old Joaquin Guzman Lopez, 'El Chapo' Guzman's son, at an airport near El Paso, Texas. Zambada accused Guzman Lopez of kidnapping him in Mexico and flying him to the US in a private plane against his will. 'El Chapo' has been serving a life sentence in the US for drug trafficking since 2019. Later in July, Guzman Lopez pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking and other charges in federal court in Chicago. In September, Zambada pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking, murder and other charges in a New York court. The violence in Sinaloa has killed more than 1,200 people, according to official figures. Criminal violence, most of it linked to drug trafficking, has claimed about 480,000 lives in Mexico since 2006 and left more than 120,000 people missing.
