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The Politics of Contraband (from Gangster Planet)
On June 17, 2019, a massive 20-ton cocaine bust went down at the port of Philadelphia aboard a container ship calling at the port. Today is the one-year anniversary of that drug bust, the second largest in American history, and one of five covered in “Gangster Planet.” Agents from a multi-agency Federal task force swarmed…
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Is JPMorgan the ultimate plug?
If you don’t know what a “plug” is, you probably don’t spend much time at Lipstick Alley. Your plug is your supplier, basically your drug dealer, according to the Urban Dictionary. More precisely, your big time drug dealer. A ‘plug’ supplies the ‘connects’ with large quantity of drugs, which the ‘connects’ in turn distribute to dealers. Like…
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GangsterPlanet2: Learning to spot the ‘tells’
“The massive 19-ton cocaine bust on the docks in Philadelphia two weeks ago exposed a weakness— the use of well-worn templates—in the global drug cartel.”
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Story of 20-ton cocaine seizure on container ship breaks down
“It didn’t pass the ‘hippie in a pop-top VW camper at the border’ smell test.” When the container ship MSC Gayane was busted in Philadelphia ten days ago carrying what ballooned into almost 20 tons of cocaine, it marked the fourth time an MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company vessel has been involved in a major drug…
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‘Highly mysterious’ China company owned both container ships in Philly Port drug busts
El Chapo is so last year. Meet Second Mate Ivan Durasevic of the container ship MSC Gayane, the world’s newest drug kingpin. In one of the biggest drug busts in American history, Duresevic is the highest-ranking man arrested so far. But some see problems with this scenario. He’s only the ship’s Second Mate. So Ivan’s credit…