Smuggling

Wednesday’s seizure of a rogue Russian-flagged tanker in the North Atlantic marked a significant escalation of U.S. efforts to shut down the dangerous “shadow fleet” of sanctions-defying invisible ships created by Russia, China, Iran, and other hostile powers – a fleet that poses serious threats to the environment, maritime safety, legitimate global shipping, and the world’s economic security.

The DOJ has unsealed charges against two Chinese nationals for allegedly conspiring with two Americans to smuggle Nvidia and HP chips to China, circumventing U.S. export laws and regulations.

Two men who allegedly admitted to being part of an international wildlife smuggling ring were caught with 81 monkeys stuffed in bags and methamphetamine in Thailand, according to authorities. 

Three Chinese research scholars affiliated with a University of Michigan laboratory have been criminally charged for allegedly conspiring to smuggle biological materials into the United States.

A city commissioner from the Texas border city of McAllen is facing federal money laundering and smuggling charges in connection with his used clothing business. As part of the operation, authorities also arrested his wife. Law enforcement agents carried out various raids at used clothing warehouses throughout the city, where agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement also arrested several migrants.

A Chinese national claiming to conduct research as a “visiting scholar” at a prestigious Michigan university finds herself facing a long prison term after pleading no contest to smuggling charges and making false statements to federal officers.

At least $1 billion worth of Nvidia’s advanced artificial intelligence processors were smuggled into China in the three months following the tightening of chip export controls by the Trump administration.

A Chinese alien has been arrested and charged with smuggling biological materials into the U.S. and making false statements.

Federal officials have charged a 30-year-old Russian-born scientist with trying to smuggle frog embryos into the United States.

A man was caught with over 100 live snakes in his pockets while trying to smuggle them into China from Hong Kong, customs officials said. 

Customs agents in Thailand found a trove of endangered animals hidden in luggage on Wednesday at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport.

Mexico’s southern border remains open not only for drugs, arms, and human smuggling but also for the illegal trafficking of commercial goods and even endangered species. Many times, goods are crossed right under the noses of Mexican federal authorities.

Officials have reportedly implemented updated rules to keep people from trying to smuggle drug-laced papers into Illinois’ Cook County Jail. 

The Colombian Defense Ministry announced on Saturday that cocaine seizures in 2022 added up to 671 metric tons, which was 1.7 tonnes more than the already record-setting total from 2021. 

Philippine lawmaker Stella Quimbo told an agriculture committee hearing on Thursday that secret cartels could be responsible for the sky-high price of onions, which cost about 457 percent more than the global average in the Philippines.

Taliban terrorists detained five men, three Afghans and two Chinese citizens, suspected of attempting to smuggle lithium across the Chinese border, the Afghan news outlet Khaama Press reported on Monday.

Filipinos visiting the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are packing their suitcases with an unusual souvenir: onions. Filipino cooking uses a lot of onions, and inflation is making them unaffordable back home, but the UAE sells them for a fraction of the price.

A Russian court sentenced American basketball player Brittney Griner to nine and a half years in prison on drug charges Thursday morning, renewing rumors that the Biden administration might trade Russian gun-running supervillain Viktor Bout – and perhaps even other high-value prisoners demanded by Moscow – in exchange for Griner’s freedom.

On Wednesday’s broadcast of the Fox Business Network’s “Evening Edit,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) stated that President Joe Biden pushed for gun legislation immediately after the Uvalde school shooting, but now that twice as many people died in

A 19-year-old people smuggler has been sentenced to seven years in prison for his role in the deaths of two Syrian illegal immigrants.

Miliary-grade weaponry in Ukraine is allegedly being sold on to international buyers on the encrypted messaging app Telegram, including some hardware made in the United States.

Federal officials seized parrots being smuggled across the border from Mexico into far West Texas. The five birds were packed in a shoe box.

Federal authorities stopped smugglers from illegally bringing undocumented packages of bologna into the United States. The incidents occurred in three separate border crossings in far West Texas and New Mexico.

North Korea banned South Korea’s international hit TV show Squid Game, but it still became popular with North Koreans thanks to bootleg video. Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported on Tuesday that the communist regime sentenced a man to death for smuggling USB flash drives containing Squid Game episodes into North Korea.

Police in the southern Guangdong province busted a wildlife-smuggling ring sitting on eight tons of pangolin scales worth about $62 million, among other illegal animal products, Chinese state media reported Wednesday.

Lora Ries said the left enables human trafficking across the U.S.-Mexico border because they view migrants as future Democrat voters.

Greek authorities say they have seized more than four tons of cannabis hidden in a shipment of industrial cupcake-making machines.

A man was arrested at the Kannur Airport in Kerala, India, this week when authorities reportedly discovered over 2 pounds of gold hidden inside his rectum.

General Robert B. Abrams, commander of U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), revealed in an interview Thursday that the communist dictatorship running North Korea issued “shoot-to-kill” orders on its border with China to prevent smugglers from infecting the country with Chinese coronavirus.

Police in the French commune of Villeneuve-Saint-Georges arrested 28 people believed to be smugglers of contraband cigarettes and who were also involved in a local gang war.

Laredo Sector Customs and Border Protection officers seized more than $45,000 in U.S. cash that an alleged smuggler attempted to take into Mexico. The seizure occurred on the international bridge from Laredo, Texas, to Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico.

The USS Normandy, a Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser, intercepted a small sailing vessel in the Arabian Sea over the weekend and found it loaded with Iranian weapons bound for the Houthi rebels in Yemen. The weapons included 150 anti-tank missiles and three surface-to-air missiles, plus a supply of components useful for maintaining unmanned aerial vehicles.

A Navy lieutenant has been indicted on charges related to conspiring to smuggle military-style inflatable boats and motors to China.

Laredo Sector Customs and Border Protection officers seized an unusual combination of contraband at a Texas-Mexico port of entry consisting of pork, poultry, and heroin.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced through state media on Monday that it has seized another ship near the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz. The IRGC accused the crew of smuggling diesel fuel to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Diverting border security resources to address the “humanitarian need” of migrants is leading to record-high levels of illicit drug smuggling across the U.S.-Mexico border, said James W. Carroll, director of the U.S. Office of Drug Control Policy.