Drug traffickers nabbed after sending photo of pet French Bulldog ordered to pay $1.4 million
CBSN
Drug traffickers whose entire organized crime ring was brought down by a photo of a French Bulldog were ordered to fork over more than $1.4 million, the United Kingdom's National Crime Agency said.
Stefan Baldauf, 64, and Philip Lawson 63, were drug traffickers nabbed in 2020 as part of Operation Venetic along with other members of their group for smuggling drugs from the United Kingdom to Australia. The traffickers sent 448kg of amphetamine worth about $46 million in an arm of an excavator down under.
The traffickers even rigged an auction to make sure the amphetamine went into the right hands. The drugs, which investigators said was MDMA, was first stored in the heavy equipment in an industrial unit in Grays, Essex, before being shipped to Australia. It took almost three months to arrive in Brisbane, the National Crime Agency said.
London — A British teen pleaded guilty Monday to murdering three girls and attempting to kill 10 other people in what a prosecutor said was a "meticulously planned" stabbing rampage at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in England last summer. Axel Rudakubana, 18, entered the surprise plea as jury selection had been expected to begin at the start of his trial in Liverpool Crown Court.
An Indian court on Monday sentenced a police volunteer to life in prison after finding him guilty in the rape and killing of a trainee doctor last year, a crime that sparked nationwide protests over inadequate safety for women and led to a speedy trial in the country's slow-moving justice system.
More than 80 people have been killed in Colombia's northeast region following failed attempts to hold peace talks with the National Liberation Army, a Colombian official said.
A senior Taliban figure has urged the group's leader to scrap education bans on Afghan women and girls, saying there is no excuse for them, in a rare public rebuke of government policy.
A long-awaited ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has officially begun after a last-minute delay of almost three hours. The fighting continued past the initially provisioned 8:30 a.m. local (1:30 a.m. Eastern) deadline as the Israeli military said Hamas had failed to provide the names of the first three hostages due to be released, per the terms of the agreement.
South Korea's impeached president, Yoon Suk Yeol, was formally arrested early Sunday, days after being apprehended at his presidential compound in Seoul, as he faces possible imprisonment over his ill-fated declaration of martial law last month.
At least 30 people have been injured, some seriously, in a chairlift accident at the Spanish Astún ski resort, in the Pyrenees mountain range, emergency services and local media reported Saturday.
A police volunteer was found guilty of the rape and murder of a trainee doctor in India, a crime that sparked countrywide protests and hospital strikes last year.
Canadian homeowners returned home in July 2024 and found a star-shaped pattern of grey dust spotted on a walkway in front of their home on Prince Edward Island.
Archeologists in Pompeii, the ancient Roman city buried by ash and lava in 70 AD, unearthed a private bathhouse built over 2,000 years ago, officials said Friday.
Russia on Friday sentenced three lawyers who had defended Alexey Navalny to several years in prison for bringing messages from the late opposition leader from prison to the outside world.
London - Britain's Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced Thursday that there would be a number of new central government-backed local inquiries into years-old allegations of child grooming gangs, weeks after Elon Musk accused British Prime Minister Keir Starmer of failings in relation to the handling of the crimes in a series of tweets. The crimes took place a decade ago when Starmer was the country's top prosecutor.
New Delhi — Popular Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan was seriously injured after being stabbed repeatedly by an intruder at his Mumbai home on Thursday, but doctors treating him said he was out of danger after surgery.
Female family ties were at the heart of social networks in Celtic society in Britain before the Roman invasion, a new analysis suggests.
Twenty-three people in Istanbul have died in 48 hours after drinking tainted alcohol, authorities said Wednesday.
U.S. prosecutors said Wednesday that they're discussing a potential plea deal with Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, the long-elusive Mexican drug lord who was arrested last summer and whose son could testify against him if he goes to trial.
Kyiv, Ukraine — Russia on Wednesday launched a major ballistic and cruise missile attack on regions across Ukraine, targeting energy production and compelling authorities to shut down the power grid in some areas despite freezing winter weather, officials said.
South Korean law enforcement officials on Wednesday detained impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol over his brief imposition of martial law last month.