Tag: illicit drugs

"Japanese Walter White” Accused Of Teaching Students To Make Ecstasy

The teacher says it was all for the purpose of learning, and nothing else.

A professor dubbed “the Japanese Walter White” has been accused of teaching his students to make ecstasy and another designer drug.

In Japan, a government license is required to produce narcotics for academic research. Iwamura did have the license at some point, but it was expired at the time he was accused of having the students make the drugs.

The Japan Times reports that Matsuyama University professor Tatsunori Iwamura, 61, was aware that he was breaking the law by conducting the class experiment despite his expired license.

Iwamura allegedly instructed an associate professor and four students to produce MDMA in class—the first time being 2011-2013 and again from 2016-2017, according to the Times. Then, the professor would take the drugs “into his possession.”

While multiple reports including from the Guardian claim that the professor also had students make 5F-QUPIC, a cannabis-like designer drug, the Times makes no mention of it. 5F-QUPIC, also known as 5F-PB-22, is a controlled substance in the U.S., UK and China.

Iwamura says it was all for the purpose of learning, and nothing else.

Authorities, acting on a tip, did not find ecstasy in a search of the professor’s home or lab at the university. But they did find traces of 5F-QUPIC, according to the Guardian.

Authorities are now investigating the four students and associate professor involved in the illegal drug-making. President of Matsuyama University Tatsuya Mizogami said the university will pursue punitive action against Iwamura following the outcome of the investigation. “We sincerely apologize for causing major concern to students and their parents,” Mizogami said.

Iwamura is facing prison time for his illicit class experiment. The Guardian reports that he could face up to 10 years in prison.

Japanese culture is not at all forgiving about drug use. In March, Sega indefinitely halted sales of its new video game Judgment after allegations surfaced that actor Pierre Taki, who portrayed a yakuza crime boss in the game, was arrested for cocaine possession.

According to the Japan Times, the penalty for cocaine use or possession carries a prison sentence of up to seven years.

View the original article at thefix.com

24 April 2019
DEA Plans To Burn Tons Of Marijuana This Summer

Tons of seized marijuana will go up in smoke in the coming months.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) wants to burn tons of weed over the next six months, and is looking for the right contractor to help with the job.

According to a contracting notice, the agency wants to burn 1,000 pounds of marijuana an hour between March and September. The contract is for the “destruction by incineration of evidence located in the following cities in the state of Texas—McAllen, Brownsville, Corpus Christi, Laredo, and Eagle Pass.”

Despite putting out the notice, the DEA already has a partner in mind for the epic pot burn: Tucson Iron & Metal in Tucson, Arizona.

“Research has shown there is only one vendor in close proximity to the district and resident offices of McAllen, Brownsville, Corpus Christi, Laredo, and Eagle Pass capable of providing the services necessary for this requirement,” the notice says.

That’s because the DEA has strict requirements for disposing of marijuana seized from the black market, according to Quartz.

“The integrity of the destruction process shall be such that the material to be destroyed cannot be redirected or retrieved once it is committed to destruction,” the notice reads. The cannabis must be destroyed “to a point where there are no detectable levels, as measured by standard analytical methods, of byproduct from the destruction process. DEA shall inspect the incinerator to ensure no drug residue remains.”

In addition, there will be tight DEA regulation of the entire process, and a need to privacy. The DEA requires that the company that destroys the pot have a large fence on their premises, and drug test employees yearly. The DEA sends staff to oversee the burns, and also records them.

The agency “reserves the right to access the video feed as necessary to ensure the proper destruction of its drugs and safety of its representatives.”

The Atlanta office of U.S. Customs and Border Protection is also looking for a contractor to help dispose of drug evidence, including marijuana, meth, cocaine and more.

Recently the DEA put out a different type of contracting notice, asking for help finding a product that could assist agents in differentiating between hemp (which is legal federally) and psychoactive marijuana as we know it (which is not). The different species of cannabis plant can confuse DEA agents.

In addition to destroying drug evidence, the DEA is also responsible for approving applications to grow marijuana for research. The agency has promised to make more permits available, but the process has been slow, further delaying marijuana research.

“The DEA continues to review applications for registration and registers the number of bulk manufacturers of a controlled substance that is necessary to produce an adequate and uninterrupted supply,” the agency wrote last year.

View the original article at thefix.com

27 March 2019
Black Market Marijuana Thrives In New Jersey

A New Jersey police chief says that with legal marijuana expected to be taxed at $42 an ounce, people will keep buying their weed illegally.

Lawmakers in New Jersey are moving ahead with legalizing recreational marijuana, but when legal businesses come to the state they will have to compete with a thriving black market where customers can buy high quality, low cost cannabis products.

When Mike Davis, a reporter for Asbury Park Press, attended a pop-up marijuana event near Trenton, New Jersey, he found an array of marijuana products from bud to edibles, for sale. Davis’ experience at the event illustrated how sophisticated illegal sellers have become.

The products at the pop-up event were professionally packaged and the merchants accepted mobile payment—essentially everything you’d expect to see in a legitimate marijuana retailer.

The buyers and sellers at the underground event were confident in the illegal market for cannabis.

David, who was DJing the event and selling marijuana, said he’s not concerned about legalization. “People want legalization until they get here and see what the black market has to offer. They see that what we have is cheaper than legalized weed, that it’s much better,” he said. “You can change their mind.”

One woman selling marijuana brownies for $10 each said that she would love to make a living selling marijuana products, but she was wary of the cost of starting a legal business.

“I would love to quit my 9-to-5 and open a cannabis bakery full-time. That’s my dream,” she said. “But they make it so hard. You have to take out loans, and have certain qualifications to even think about it. Why are we adding greed to the equation? That’s when it becomes evil.”

Even if the state legalizes marijuana and legal businesses enter the space, she is confident that she will continue to have customers. “The state has no idea what they’re doing. They have no idea what the people want. The underground will always stay in business, whether they legalize, decriminalize or not.”

John Zebrowski, police chief in Sayreville, New Jersey, agreed—although for different reason. He said that with legal marijuana expected to be taxed at $42 an ounce, people will keep buying their weed illegally.

“Clearly, there’s always going to be a demand—and some of that demand is going to be satisfied by the black market, where there’s a reduced price and higher potency,” said Zebrowski. “And it’ll be very hard for the state to compete with the black market when, obviously, part of what they’re trying to do here is create an income base through taxes.”

Although he hadn’t heard of pop-up events like the one the reporter attended, he said that the black market is becoming more accessible.

“The black market has adapted and become more customer-friendly. They’ll always have different ways to survive.”

View the original article at thefix.com

6 March 2019
Feds Charge Dozens Of Dark Web Dealers In Massive Sweep

The dark net is no longer a safe haven for online drug dealers, says the Justice Department.

Last Tuesday, more than 35 people were charged with dealing illicit drugs on the dark web, the online marketplace previously thought untouchable by authorities.

The charges mark the first time that authorities went after the dealers on these secretive online platforms rather than the managers of the online spaces, the New York Times noted.

The bust resulted in the seizure of opioids, cocaine, over 100 guns and assault rifles, a grenade launcher, five cars, and almost $24 million worth of gold, cash, Bitcoin as well as other cryptocurrencies.

“Criminals who think that they are safe on the dark net are wrong,” said deputy attorney general Rod J. Rosenstein. “We can expose their networks.”

Homeland Security agents went undercover online as money launderers working with virtual currencies.

“Special agents were able to walk amongst those in the cyberunderworld to find those vendors who sell highly addictive drugs for a profit,” said Homeland Security Investigation’s Derek Benner. “[Homeland Security Investigations] has infiltrated the dark net.”

The captured suspects came from all across the United States, aged mostly in their 20s and 30s, and sold opioids, cocaine, meth, and marijuana on the web.

One thing many of them shared was the acceptance of Bitcoin as payment for their products. Bitcoin may seem like an obvious choice of currency for nefarious dealings, being independent of government controls as well as being hard to track as it is transferred from one anonymous user to another.

However, to hold all bitcoin users accountable, every transfer is recorded in a ledger that, while hard to understand to the average person, is pretty much an open record of everyone who has ever laid hands on that bitcoin. With time, law enforcement will be able to reliably track bitcoin transfers, some cyber security experts say.

This marks a departure from the old strategy used by authorities to crack down on online crime: going after the managers of the trade platforms. In 2015, authorities shut down the online bazaar Silk Road and prosecuted the owner and founder, Ross Ulbricht, also known by his online nickname “Dread Pirate Roberts.” He is now serving a life sentence.

But the lure of an anonymous online drug market remains, evidenced by the myriad cryptocurrencies arising that are made expressly for difficulty in detection.

“Some newer cryptocurrencies have features that make the tracing of them quite complicated,” said Greg Nevano, an ICE official who investigates cryptocurrencies. “These new anonymity-enhanced cryptocurrencies are clearly ripe for illicit use in an effort to subvert legitimate law enforcement inquiries.”

View the original article at thefix.com

2 July 2018