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Cocaine seizure from shipment of Apples, Pineapples and Mangoes leads to arrests


TORONTO, Feb. 6, 2012 /CNW/ - As a result of a joint investigation between the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Drug Enforcement Section and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), in the Greater Toronto Area, four (4) people were arrested for cocaine related offences.

Last week, an RCMP investigation assisted CBSA officers at the Toronto Pearson International Airport in discovering cocaine concealed in an air freight shipment. The cocaine was located in hollowed out star apples. In total, twenty (20) kgs of cocaine was seized from the fruit contained in 17 boxes. The star apples were part of a larger shipment that included pineapples and mangoes. The shipment was sent by air freight from Guyana to Toronto. It was addressed to a falsified Toronto area business.

Police rapidly deployed a team of investigators to identify those responsible for sending and receiving this shipment. RCMP investigators identified the Canada-based subjects involved in this criminal enterprise and their co-conspirators in Guyana and the USA.

"CBSA officers are the first line of defence and are trained to stop narcotics at the border," said Goran Vragovic, Regional Director General, Canada Border Services Agency, Greater Toronto Area Region. "I want to congratulate the officers involved in this seizure for helping to keep our community safe. The successful results of this investigation show the great benefits of partnering with other law enforcement agencies."

"We have successfully interdicted several cocaine shipments in recent months," stated Superintendent Rick Penney, RCMP GTA Drug Enforcement Commander. "As we identify and stop methods employed by organized crime groups they will, no doubt, come up with new ways to bring illicit drugs into Canada. For this reason we must remain diligent and continue to build partnerships within Canada and the international law enforcement community to combat organized crime."

The following people were arrested and charged with drug related offences:
â€Ē Susan Geneva O'NEIL (age 28) of Scarborough, ON
â€Ē Basil Barnett BLAIR (age 63) of Toronto, ON
â€Ē Metussala Madela MANNINGS (age 27) of Toronto, ON
â€Ē Kenneth Arthur WONG (age 38) of Ajax, ON

They appeared on February 2nd, 2012 at Brampton Courthouse for bail hearings.

http://www.newswire.ca/en/stor...oes-leads-to-arrests

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Well, they are thinking they are dealing with Guyana CORRUPT Bastards in the Police Force.
quote:
Originally posted by cain:
quote:
Originally posted by Nehru:
Yeah right. yippie You living at Ajax, right??? partybanana
quote:
Originally posted by cain:
I haven't had me a star apple in a long long time.



caught! Big Grin Bana, those people are crazy to be involved in that crap.
Nehru
Another batch of cocaine has been seized in a shipment of fresh fruit from South America — this time in hollowed-out star apples.


RCMP announced Monday that police and Canada Border Services Agency investigators seized 20 kilograms of cocaine from a star apple shipment at Toronto's Pearson International Airport. The star apples were part of a larger shipment from Guyana that included pineapples and mangoes.


RCMP Staff Sgt. Kevin Nicholson said there was no concern of the fruit entering the food chain. Much of it was "mush" by the time it arrived in Canada, he said.


The shipment raised flags because Guyana is not known to export a lot of fruit to Canada, Nicholson added.


However, a federal government website says that in 2008, Canada imported $225 million in goods from Guyana, including "precious stones and metals, beverages, mineral ores, fish and seafood, and fruits and nuts."


Several Ontario residents were charged with drug-related offences: Susan Geneva O'Neil, 28, Basil Barnett Blair, 63, and Metussala Madela Mannings, 27, all of Toronto. Also charged was Kenneth Arthur Wong, 38, of nearby Ajax, Ont.


The seizure comes on the heels of an announcement late last month that authorities had seized 28 kilograms of cocaine — with an estimated street value of $3.5 million — in two shipments of hollowed-out pineapples from Guyana at the port in Saint John, N.B.


The drugs were discovered using X-ray technology and drug-sniffing dogs.


Now that authorities have caught on to the use of fresh fruit to smuggle cocaine, it is likely that suppliers will move on to another technique, Nicholson said.


In December, CBSA officials announced that 310 kilograms of cocaine — with an estimated street value of $14 million — had been concealed in a shipment of sunflower oil bottles from Bolivia.


Dquan@postmedia.com

http://www.vancouversun.com/ne...s/6110226/story.html
Sunil
quote:
Originally posted by Sunil:
quote:
Originally posted by Mr.T:
quote:
Originally posted by Sunil:
I thought Star apples were purple in colour.

You sure you Guyanese?


I lived a whole 7 years in Guyana Big Grin the one I remember is http://www.capetrib.com.au/starapple.htm


There was tree in our yard. The Star Apple was of the green variety. The ones with the sheen were the ripe ones ready to be picked.
Mitwah

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