Subject:

Drug Crimes

  • News

    June 19, 2008

    Black Tuna Gang Leader Gets Out of Jail

    Robert Platshorn was the first big bust of the War on Drugs. Almost 30 years later, he's free and talking.

  • News

    April 20, 2006

    Jump-Out Boys

    Scheming snitches, dirty detectives, intrepid investigators. This ain't The Shield's Strike Team.

  • News

    November 8, 2007

    Marijuana Goes Upstate

    Florida moves into the number two spot when it comes to grow houses

  • News

    April 23, 1998

    Our Hero the Drug Dealer

    The feds call Rickey Brownlee one of South Florida's biggest narco-traffickers. His friends and neighbors in Opa-locka call him a valiant victim.

  • News

    October 10, 1996

    Dynasty

    The feds call Rickey Brownlee one of South Florida's biggest narco-traffickers. His friends and neighbors in Opa-locka call him a valiant victim.

  • News

    March 18, 2010

    The murder of Stevie Febonio: South Florida's marijuana grow houses can be a deadly business

    The feds call Rickey Brownlee one of South Florida's biggest narco-traffickers. His friends and neighbors in Opa-locka call him a valiant victim.

  • Blogs

    March 31, 2010

    Latin America's Top Ten Lady Drug Smugglers: An Illustrated Guide

    Police are after a former beauty queen who's accused of being the ringleader of a gang of pinups who also work as international drug smugglers. Angie San Clemente Valencia is a bosomy 30-year-old Colombian who's accused of paying her merry band of strumpets $5,000 for carrying pounds of blow from Me ... More >>

  • Blogs

    May 25, 2010

    Thirty Killed in Raids of Dudus' Kingston Camp

    ​The extradition saga of Jamaican druglord Christopher "Dudus" Coke, leader of the ultra-violent South Florida-connected Shower Posse, has become yet more bloody today. The Associated Press is reporting that at least 30 people have been killed in gunfights between bandits, soldiers, and cops in th ... More >>

  • Blogs

    May 27, 2010

    Charles Bennett Is Called "Krazy Horse" Because He's 100 Percent Normal

    C.StilesCharles "Krazy Horse" Bennett Seeks a title and an end to his madness.​When it comes to second chances, Charles Daniel Bennett Jr. will take four, five, six, and however many more he can get. Nicknamed Krazy Horse, the Ocala native has been one of the most scandalous characters to step int ... More >>

  • News

    June 3, 2010

    Badlands: From ground zero of the immigration crisis along the Mexican border

    C.StilesCharles "Krazy Horse" Bennett Seeks a title and an end to his madness.​When it comes to second chances, Charles Daniel Bennett Jr. will take four, five, six, and however many more he can get. Nicknamed Krazy Horse, the Ocala native has been one of the most scandalous characters to step int ... More >>

  • Blogs

    June 3, 2010

    Fifteen Members of "Murda Grove Boys" Gang Arrested by FBI

    A handmade t-shirt displaying the group's insignia with guns we found on one possible members MySpace​The Murda Grove Boys are not, as their name would suggest, a horror-core boy band but actually one of Miami-Dade's most violent criminal gangs. CBS4 reports that Miami Gardens police, the FBI and ... More >>

  • Blogs

    June 4, 2010

    Fumble-Prone Former Dolphin Sammie Smith Gets Civil Rights Back

    "Sammie Sucks. Sammie Sucks," chants are long since gone from Miami Dolphin home games, as is the unfortunate and short-lived pro football career of former running back Sammie Smith. But things finally seem to be turning around for one of the most hated Dolphins of all time. After finishing up a sev ... More >>

  • News

    June 10, 2010

    Cowboy Down: Rob Krentz's family talks about the life and death of the murdered Arizona rancher

    "Sammie Sucks. Sammie Sucks," chants are long since gone from Miami Dolphin home games, as is the unfortunate and short-lived pro football career of former running back Sammie Smith. But things finally seem to be turning around for one of the most hated Dolphins of all time. After finishing up a sev ... More >>

  • News

    June 17, 2010

    A cunning American boy becomes a Mexican cartel soldier and East L.A. executioner

    "Sammie Sucks. Sammie Sucks," chants are long since gone from Miami Dolphin home games, as is the unfortunate and short-lived pro football career of former running back Sammie Smith. But things finally seem to be turning around for one of the most hated Dolphins of all time. After finishing up a sev ... More >>

  • Blogs

    June 18, 2010

    Massive Police Sting Nets 2,369 Pounds of Pot Worth $9.4 Million

    A massive sting on Wednesday uncovered 49 hydroponic labs in Miami-Dade and put 42 people behind bars. The pot is believed to have a street value of $9.2 million. Police also found 11 grams of cocaine, 40 grams of processed marijuana, 126 Oxycontin pills, an Audi, and $9,562 in cash.The sting, known ... More >>

  • News

    August 12, 2010

    Phoenix, Arizona: America's kidnapping capital is brutal

    A massive sting on Wednesday uncovered 49 hydroponic labs in Miami-Dade and put 42 people behind bars. The pot is believed to have a street value of $9.2 million. Police also found 11 grams of cocaine, 40 grams of processed marijuana, 126 Oxycontin pills, an Audi, and $9,562 in cash.The sting, known ... More >>

  • News

    August 26, 2010

    Only a fraction of Mexicans get U.S. asylum

    A massive sting on Wednesday uncovered 49 hydroponic labs in Miami-Dade and put 42 people behind bars. The pot is believed to have a street value of $9.2 million. Police also found 11 grams of cocaine, 40 grams of processed marijuana, 126 Oxycontin pills, an Audi, and $9,562 in cash.The sting, known ... More >>

  • Blogs

    September 9, 2010

    University of Miami Baseball Player Frankie Ratcliff Busted for Selling Pot

    ​The University of Miami football players have cleaned up their act in a big way, but every once in a while another of the school's sports' athletes keep the "Thug U" image alive. Last night, 19-year-old Frankie Ratcliff, a freshman on the school's storied baseball program was arrested for tr ... More >>

  • Blogs

    September 21, 2010

    Today In Cocaine: Ten Busted in Juarez-to-Miami Ring, Colombian Coke Lord Due In Federal Court

    ​It's already been a busy week for the drug that made Miami -- or at least for the feds' perpetual war on the white stuff. First, the DEA arrested 10 people, mostly from Miami and Hialeah, and charged them with organizing a ring shuttling coke from Juarez to South Florida.Then came word that a muc ... More >>

  • News

    September 23, 2010

    Arizona cop's tale of a Latino drug smuggler shooting him doesn't add up

    ​It's already been a busy week for the drug that made Miami -- or at least for the feds' perpetual war on the white stuff. First, the DEA arrested 10 people, mostly from Miami and Hialeah, and charged them with organizing a ring shuttling coke from Juarez to South Florida.Then came word that a muc ... More >>

  • Blogs

    January 26, 2011

    Cocaine King Max Mermelstein's Long-Lost Daughter Found Out He Died Through New Times

    Courtesy Rochelle Desiree Mermelstein Gomez​Last year, New Times published a feature detailing the strange last days of Max Mermelstein, the master cocaine smuggler who turned snitch in the mid-80s and died under government protection in 2008. Among the readers: Rochelle Desiree Mermelstein ... More >>

  • News

    February 10, 2011

    Andres Lopez exposes the Colombian cartels

    Courtesy Rochelle Desiree Mermelstein Gomez​Last year, New Times published a feature detailing the strange last days of Max Mermelstein, the master cocaine smuggler who turned snitch in the mid-80s and died under government protection in 2008. Among the readers: Rochelle Desiree Mermelstein ... More >>

  • Blogs

    February 22, 2011

    Buju Banton Found Guilty in Cocaine Case

    ​Despite a triumphant concert in Miami and a Grammy win within the last few months, Buju Banton's dark days are not behind him. After an initial trial on drug charges was declared a mistrial, Banton has been found guilty of conspiring to set up a Florida cocaine deal back in 2009.

  • Blogs

    March 3, 2011

    Rene Sanabria, Bolivia's Former Top Drug Cop, Accused of Smuggling Cocaine to Miami

    via PlusBoliviaRene Sanabria helped smuggle 220 lbs of cocaine into Miami.​From top drug cop to accused cocaine smuggler. That's the story of Retired Gen. Rene Sanabria. From 2007 to 2008 he ran Bolivia's anti-narcotics police, and since 2009 has been a top adviser to Evo Morales' Interior Minist ... More >>

  • Blogs

    April 5, 2011

    Wachovia Now Off the Hook for Laundering Mexican Drug Money

    Off the hook for millions in money laundering.​Happy Anniversary, Wachovia!A year after the bank admitted to laundering hundreds of millions in Mexican drug money -- and paying $160 million in fines and penalties -- the company is now off the hook for further punishment.According to the British pa ... More >>

  • Calendar

    April 7, 2011

    High Times

    Off the hook for millions in money laundering.​Happy Anniversary, Wachovia!A year after the bank admitted to laundering hundreds of millions in Mexican drug money -- and paying $160 million in fines and penalties -- the company is now off the hook for further punishment.According to the British pa ... More >>

  • News

    April 21, 2011

    Uncle Luke says legalize marijuana

    Off the hook for millions in money laundering.​Happy Anniversary, Wachovia!A year after the bank admitted to laundering hundreds of millions in Mexican drug money -- and paying $160 million in fines and penalties -- the company is now off the hook for further punishment.According to the British pa ... More >>

  • Blogs

    June 10, 2011

    Mugshots Friday: The Evil Iglesias, Bladimir, and Gangsta Panda

    ​Every Friday, Riptide brings you the most eye-catching mugshots taken the previous week (or thereabouts) in Miami-Dade County. Yes, there is some mockery of bad neck tattoos, but also adulation directed at perps who just plain look more badass than we ever will. This is the italicized intro t ... More >>

  • Blogs

    June 14, 2011

    State Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff's Daughter Arrested on Drug Charges in Miami-Dade

    Sen. Bogdanoff​Danna Bogdanoff, the 19-year-old daughter of Republican state Sen. Ellyn Bogdandoff, was arrested in Miami on Friday and charged with four felonies. Though the police report has not been released yet, it appears that the younger Bogdanoff was arrested for an incident involving a bur ... More >>

  • Blogs

    June 23, 2011

    Bolivia's Former Top Drug Cop Pleads Guilty to Smuggling Cocaine Into Miami

    ​Retired Gen. Rene Sanabria, who once ran Bolivia's national anti-narcotics police unit, has pleaded guilty in a Miami court to smuggling cocaine. Sanabria and his co-conspirators were arrested in March and charged with trying to sneak about 315 pounds of cocaine into the Port of Miami.

  • Blogs

    July 1, 2011

    Miami Drug Smuggler Pleads Guilty, Has His Plane Taken Away

    Will somebody wake him up for his mugshot please?​A 50-year-old Colombian drug kingpin was fined $1 million and sentenced to 22 years in prison Wednesday by a federal judge in Miami. And that was the plea deal.Edgar Vellejo-Guarin was indicted in 2001 after Coast Guard officers discovered 4,000 ki ... More >>

  • Blogs

    July 8, 2011

    Mugshots Friday: Mr. Babyhair, Future Justin Bieber and a Cranium Tarantula

    ​​Every Friday, Riptide brings you the most eye-catching mugshots taken the previous week (or thereabouts) in Miami-Dade County. Yes, there is some mockery of bad neck tattoos, but also adulation directed at perps who just plain look more badass than we ever will. This is the italicized intro to ... More >>

  • Blogs

    August 7, 2011

    Big Boi Busted For Two Different Kinds of Ecstasy and Viagra in Miami

    ​TMZ is reporting that rapper and one half of OutKast, Big Boi (AKA Antwan Patton), has been arrested in the Magic City.The charges are three counts of possession of a controlled substance (MDMA, Ecstasy and...Viagra?) and one count of drug paraphernalia. All four charges are felonies in Miami-Dad ... More >>

  • Blogs

    August 8, 2011

    Cocaine in Your Mailbox: Traffickers Increasingly Using Mail to Ship Drugs

    ​Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night will keep your drugs from you, apparently. Drug traffickers are increasingly using U.S. Mail and commercial carriers such as FedEx to ship drugs out of the country. In fact, in Florida alone the amount of cocaine and marijuana being intercepted i ... More >>

  • Blogs

    August 12, 2011

    Mugshots Friday: A Meta T-Shirt, A Pimp's Broken Spirit, and Beards, Beards, Beards

    ​Every Friday, Riptide brings you the most eye-catching mugshots taken the previous week in Miami-Dade County. Yes, there is some mockery of bad neck tattoos, but also adulation directed at perps who just plain look more badass than we ever will. This is the italicized intro to that series.

  • Blogs

    August 19, 2011

    A Boy Named Barbara, Flattop Moustache, And What You See When You Die

    ​Every Friday, Riptide brings you the most eye-catching mugshots taken the previous week in Miami-Dade County. Yes, there is some mockery of bad neck tattoos, but also adulation directed at perps who just plain look more badass than we ever will. This is the italicized intro to that series.

  • Blogs

    September 2, 2011

    Submarines and Cocaine: 56 Members of "Bandas Criminales" Indicted for Trafficking

    ​More than 50 members of the Colombian "Bandas Criminales" (AKA BACRIM) drug-trafficking organization have been rounded up after a joint operation based out of Miami. It's the biggest bust of the emerging drug-trafficking gang since Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern Di ... More >>

  • Blogs

    October 20, 2011

    $7.6 Million Worth of Pot Seized at Port of Miami

    ​U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials say they haven't made a huge pot bust at the Port of Miami for months, but sometimes you just have to wait. Authorities report they discovered 3,837 pounds of marijuana, nearly two tons, stuffed inside shipping containers at the port last Friday.

  • Blogs

    November 8, 2011

    John Stirling, Canadian Busted With 800 Lbs of Coke, Tells FBI "There's Nothing Wrong With Cocaine Trafficking"

    ​A tip for all you would-be cocaine kingpins: When the FBI catches you off the coast of Colombia with more than 800 pounds of yeyo stashed in your boat, do not argue that "there is nothing wrong with cocaine trafficking." That's exactly the tact John Philip Stirling, a 60-year-old Canadian captain ... More >>

  • Blogs

    November 16, 2011

    $75K Worth of Pot Found in U. Miami Student and His Twin Brother's Apartment

    via Facebook​Two twin brothers, one an FIU student and another a UM student who was on track to become a Marine officer, have found themselves on the wrong side of the law after about $75,000 worth of marijuana plants were found in their shared South Miami apartment. The discovery was made after a ... More >>

  • Blogs

    November 17, 2011

    Opa-Locka Police Captain Arrested for Protecting Murderous Drug Ring

    Arthur Balom, an Opa-locka police captain, has been arrested on allegations he helped protect a South Florida drug ring and had knowledge of the murder of a Brinks armed truck guard that happened last year. The arrest was part of an FBI investigation. Three other men, members of the drug ring, were ... More >>

  • Blogs

    November 18, 2011

    John Stirling, Captain Caught With 800 Lbs Of Coke, Took Photos Atop Giant Piles of Cash

    ​Sure, John Philip Stirling may be Canadian, but he's also the most Miami-flavored drug smuggler to land in local federal court since the heyday of the Cocaine Cowboys. When he was caught at sea last week off Colombia with 800 pounds of coke, the good captain flat-out told the feds: "There's nothi ... More >>

  • Blogs

    November 18, 2011

    Stynx, Shark Teeth, and the Funnest Guy at the Racetrack

    ​Every Friday, Riptide brings you the most eye-catching mugshots taken the previous week (or thereabouts) in Miami-Dade County. Yes, there is some mockery of bad neck tattoos, but also adulation directed at perps who just plain look more badass than we ever will. This is the italicized intro t ... More >>

  • Blogs

    December 5, 2011

    Florida Man Arrested for Trying to Buy Pot at Burger King Drive-Thru

    ​Sure, Burger King probably makes tons of money from stoners. Who else is going to eat half that menu? Lets be honest, who do you think all those bizarre ads they ran for years were targeted at? But BK is not in the business of selling pot. Thirty-two-year-old Shawn Porter of Deltona, Florida foun ... More >>

  • Blogs

    December 16, 2011

    Matchmaking With Mugshots, a Nervous Chuckle, and a Beard-Off

    ​​Every Friday, Riptide brings you the most eye-catching mugshots taken the previous week (or thereabouts) in Miami-Dade County. Yes, there is some mockery of bad neck tattoos, but also adulation directed at perps who just plain look more badass than we ever will. This is the italicized intro to ... More >>

  • Blogs

    January 6, 2012

    How I Met Your Mother, Who Also Had a Slit Throat Tattoo

    ​Every Friday, Riptide brings you the most eye-catching mugshots taken the previous week (or thereabouts) in Miami-Dade County. Yes, there is some mockery of bad neck tattoos, but also adulation directed at perps who just plain look more badass than we ever will. This is the italicized intro t ... More >>

  • Blogs

    January 12, 2012

    1,300 Pot Plants Seized After 25 Miami Grow Houses Busted in "Operation Machete"

    ​Twenty-five people were arrested yesterday after Miami-Dade police discovered 25 separate hydroponics labs in the county during a crackdown dubbed "Operation Machete." Besides the alleged criminals, police also seized more than 1,300 pot plants during the daylong sweep.

  • Blogs

    January 25, 2012

    Don't Set Up a Growhouse Next Door to a School Like These Three Kendall Men

    ​If you're going to take the risk of setting up an illegal marijuana growhouse, it's best to take just the littlest bit of caution and make sure that growhouse isn't directly next door to a school where kids as young as kindergarteners study.Three Miami men weren't so smart and set up shop right a ... More >>

  • News

    February 9, 2012

    Buju Banton is innocent

    ​If you're going to take the risk of setting up an illegal marijuana growhouse, it's best to take just the littlest bit of caution and make sure that growhouse isn't directly next door to a school where kids as young as kindergarteners study.Three Miami men weren't so smart and set up shop right a ... More >>

  • Blogs

    February 9, 2012

    One-Legged Drug Dealer Attempts to Hop Away from Police in Jacksonville

    As the suspect was not Rose McGowan in Planet Terror, he didn't pose much of a threat. ​What do you call a drug dealer with one leg trying to escape from police? Caught.No, this isn't open mic night at the Chuckle Hut, this is quite naturally real Florida news.

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