Banana splits reveal half a tonne of cocaine smuggled in from Brazil

A Forestville man has been arrested over an alleged plot to import 552 kilograms of cocaine concealed in bags of banana pulp from Brazil.

The large shipment was intercepted by a joint Australian Federal Police-Australian Border Force operation when it came into Sydney in September, following a tip from US Homeland Security about the suspicious cargo.

The cocaine, with an estimated street value of up to $248 million, was hidden inside 275 boxes of banana pulp in a larger shipment of almost 2000 boxes of fruit pulp.

AFP investigators removed the cocaine and reconstructed the shipment, sending it onwards in October to its planned delivery address, a storage facility in south-west Sydney.

Mark Rene De Hesselle, 68, was subsequently arrested at his home in Forestville on Friday morning.

Police will allege Mr De Hesselle collected 139 boxes of the banana pulp in the two weeks after the package was delivered, searching through the bags for the cocaine.

During the operation, officers seized mobile phones, a laptop, bags of banana pulp, a case of green stones suspected to be emeralds, and five one-kilogram silver ingots.

The man has been charged with attempting to import a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug and attempting to possess a commercial quantity of unlawfully imported border controlled drugs. The offences carry maximum penalties of life in prison.

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/banana-splits-reveal-half-a-tonne-of-cocaine-smuggled-in-from-brazil-20201016-p565v0.html

Four Human Smuggling Stash Houses Busted in Texas near Border

Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents joined local and federal law enforcement partners to raid four human smuggling stash houses. Despite the threat of the Coronavirus pandemic, cartel-connected human smugglers continue to put lives at risk by packing migrants into houses and tractor-trailer rigs without masks or other personal protection equipment.

McAllen Station agents received information about a possible human smuggling stash house in the border town of Donna, Texas. Border Patrol agents teamed up with Hidalgo County Constables Office (HCCO) Precinct 2 to help with the investigation, according to information obtained from Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol officials.

Law enforcement officials arrived at the house and observed several people attempting to flee from the residence through windows. The agents and deputies apprehended the fleeing migrants and found more people locked inside the home. In total, agents apprehended 61 people from the house.

Agents conducted an initial medical screening and immigration interview. They identified the 61 illegal immigrants as citizens of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico, officials reported.

At about the same time, agents received information about an additional human smuggling stash house located in a mobile home in Pharr, Texas. Federal agents with ICE Homeland Security Investigations and HCCO Precinct 4 deputies assisted in the investigation.

Officials knocked on the door of the mobile home and several people fled through the back door, the report states. Agents and deputies rounded up the fleeing subjects and made entry into the residence. Inside the agents found several more people.

Border Patrol agents identified the illegal immigrants as residents of Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico, officials stated.

Later that day, HCCO Precinct 2 deputies learned about an additional human smuggling stash house in Donna. Border Patrol agents joined in the raid and found seven from El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua.

Agents found a fourth stash house in Edinburg, Texas, holding 30 additional migrants. Officials did not disclose the nationality of those migrants.

In total, agents apprehended 111 illegal immigrants from at least five different countries.

“Even with the spread of the COVID-19 virus, human smugglers continue to try these brazen attempts with zero regard for the lives they endanger nor to the health of the citizens of our great nation,” Rio Grande Valley Sector officials said in a written statement. “The U.S. Border Patrol agents of the Rio Grande Valley Sector will continue to safeguard the nation and community against these criminal elements.”

https://www.breitbart.com/border/2020/10/15/four-human-smuggling-stash-houses-busted-in-texas-near-border/

https://twitter.com/AOECOIN/status/1317308825121091585

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