Hiding drugs in pineapples and puppies

Mask of Manuel's rant yesterday about food fights reminded me of a few other stories about the inappropriate use of consumables; namely, creative ways people have been caught trying to smuggle drugs. Now, at the risk of sounding like your granny, I think drugs are dangerous and that is good reason why they’re illegal. But be prepared – the following tales of deception range from the bizarre to the horribly cruel.

Over the past few days it has been revealed that authorities in America caught a truckload of fresh fish coming over the border from Mexico with 708lbs (320kgs) of marijuana stashed under it. Border control could obviously still tell something was fishy with the delivery as they insisted the truck be x-rayed!

Stranger still, a shipment of pineapples from Latin America bound for Holland was found to contain almost 2000lbs (900kgs) of cocaine. Firearms were also in the loot.

It seems like drug smugglers will go to extreme lengths to conceal illegal substances. People, communities and even animals are harmed by the drug trade. Back in 2002 police in America arrested several Colombian nationals who had surgically implanted heroin into purebred puppies. As a dog lover, I can’t understand how anyone could be heartless enough to use them as drug mules.

Luckily, Crimestoppers is always working to tackle drug-related crime. About half of all information the charity receives is about drugs and last year more than £19m of drugs were seized as a result of information passed to Crimestoppers.

So thank you to everyone who passed on information to the charity before; working together is the only way to tackle crime and make our streets safer.

The stolen gear of an ecstasy collector

I’m a little confused by a Dutchman who reported his collection of ecstasy pills as stolen to the police. On reporting the theft, he was allegedly under no illusions about getting his 2,400 pills, collected over twenty years, back. Instead he claimed that forty of the pills were poisonous and he was worried about what would happen if anyone swallowed them.

I wonder if the good-citizen-act will hold up in court? After he meticulously stored the illegal drugs in coin collecting folders over two decades, all because he liked the colours, shapes and logos printed on them.

It sounds like a ludicrous hobby to me. What’s more, officials across the water in the Netherlands are wondering whether they can even charge the man – since the pills have disappeared, they can’t nab him with a possession charge.

Drug crime is a nasty business – have a look at Crimestoppers’ website if you need information about drugs. And if you want to pass on information about a drug dealer anonymously, call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or fill out the secure online form on their website.

Drugs are illegal – whether you are a buyer, seller, or in this case, a collector. My advice to this young Dutchman? Stick to stamps.