Latest news with #importation
ABC News
5 days ago
- ABC News
Man jailed for 17 years after playing 'key role' in smuggling cocaine from Colombia to Queensland
A man has been jailed for 17 years after playing a "key role" in smuggling more than 26 kilograms of cocaine into Queensland from Colombia inside a shipping container. Earlier this year Mark Anthony Dumenil was found guilty of one count of importing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug and one count of attempting to possess a commercial quantity of unlawfully imported drugs. It was the second time he faced trial on these charges, after being convicted of the lesser offence by a previous jury, but that was overturned on appeal last year. During a sentencing hearing on Thursday, the Supreme Court in Brisbane heard that in January 2018, packages of white powder were detected concealed within a shipping container after arriving in Brisbane. Authorities identified the substance as mostly pure cocaine with a street value of more than $5 million dollars. The substance was swapped out with an imitation drug before the shipping container was sent to its intended address at a warehouse in Wacol. Commonwealth prosecutor Sarah Cartledge told the court Dumenil played a "key role" in organising the drugs to be brought into the country. "He did so with full knowledge of what was to be imported and did so in expectation of significant financial gain," she said. Ms Cartledge told the court Dumenil used his legitimate tyre business to have the shipping container sent to the storage facility he leased in "an effort to avoid attention". "He was involved in extracting [the cocaine] from that shipping container," she said. Ms Cartledge told the court while he and co-offender Hashanth Arjuna Kulatunge removed the drugs and packed them into a suitcase, Dumenil was captured on a covert listening device. "There was a comment… 'We're going to make f****** good money out of this'," she said Mr Dumenil was recorded saying. Both men were arrested after Kulatunge delivered the suitcase of drugs to two other men. The three co-offenders have already been sentenced over their roles in the plot after pleading guilty, serving between eight and 12 years in jail. Justice Peter Callaghan told Dumenil his offending was "all too systematic and deliberate". Justice Callaghan accepted he may not have known exactly how much cocaine was being imported, but knew it would be "truly significant", and rejected defence submissions he was unaware the packages were filled with drugs. "It is not possible to detect even a hint of remorse for your actions," he said. Dumenil, who has already spent just over two years in prison, will be eligible to apply for parole after serving eight years in custody.
ABC News
5 days ago
- ABC News
Man jailed for 17 years after playing 'key role' in smuggling cocaine from Queensland to Colombia
A man has been jailed for 17 years after playing a "key role" in smuggling more than 26 kilograms of cocaine into Queensland from Colombia inside a shipping container. Earlier this year Mark Anthony Dumenil was found guilty of one count of importing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug and one count of attempting to possess a commercial quantity of unlawfully imported drugs. It was the second time he faced trial on these charges, after being convicted of the lesser offence by a previous jury, but that was overturned on appeal last year. During a sentencing hearing on Thursday, the Supreme Court in Brisbane heard that in January 2018, packages of white powder were detected concealed within a shipping container after arriving in Brisbane. Authorities identified the substance as mostly pure cocaine with a street value of more than $5 million dollars. The substance was swapped out with an imitation drug before the shipping container was sent to its intended address at a warehouse in Wacol. Commonwealth prosecutor Sarah Cartledge told the court Dumenil played a "key role" in organising the drugs to be brought into the country. "He did so with full knowledge of what was to be imported and did so in expectation of significant financial gain," she said. Ms Cartledge told the court Dumenil used his legitimate tyre business to have the shipping container sent to the storage facility he leased in "an effort to avoid attention". "He was involved in extracting [the cocaine] from that shipping container," she said. Ms Cartledge told the court while he and co-offender Hashanth Arjuna Kulatunge removed the drugs and packed them into a suitcase, Dumenil was captured on a covert listening device. "There was a comment… 'We're going to make f****** good money out of this'," she said Mr Dumenil was recorded saying. Both men were arrested after Kulatunge delivered the suitcase of drugs to two other men. The three co-offenders have already been sentenced over their roles in the plot after pleading guilty, serving between eight and 12 years in jail. Justice Peter Callaghan told Dumenil his offending was "all too systematic and deliberate". Justice Callaghan accepted he may not have known exactly how much cocaine was being imported, but knew it would be "truly significant", and rejected defence submissions he was unaware the packages were filled with drugs. "It is not possible to detect even a hint of remorse for your actions," he said. Dumenil, who has already spent just over two years in prison, will be eligible to apply for parole after serving eight years in custody.
Globe and Mail
24-05-2025
- Health
- Globe and Mail
Alberta paid more than six times usual price for pain medications in $70-million import deal, according to government briefing note
Alberta purchased children's pain medication from Turkey at a price more than six times greater than what the provincial health authority normally pays for the same volume of product, according to documents obtained by The Globe and Mail. The Alberta government explained in 2022 that the manufacturer required a minimum order of five million bottles - or $70-million worth of drugs - to get the deal done. But a briefing note, obtained by The Globe, indicates the health authority could have reduced its total bill by ordering less medicine, albeit at a higher price per bottle. Five million bottles equated to roughly eight bottles for every child in the province. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has long defended the importation plan, arguing her government took action to alleviate a critical shortage of over-the-counter children's drugs caused by an exceptional spike in respiratory illnesses that fall. Edmonton's MHCare Medical Corp. facilitated the deal, which is now subject to multiple investigations, including separate examinations by the RCMP and Alberta's Auditor-General. The health authority's former chief executive alleges in a lawsuit that government officials interfered in the contract and procurement process at her organization to the benefit of private companies. David Postel, a lawyer for MHCare, on Thursday said it is 'profoundly unfair' to compare the price his client billed for the medication from Turkey to the health authority's typical costs, which he said reflect pre-pandemic pricing. 'The whole reason for procuring from MHCare was that there was an acute continent-wide shortage,' Mr. Postel said in a statement. 'The prices set by AHS were determined when supplies were scarce and demand had skyrocketed.' Bureaucrats in government and at the health authority prepared briefing notes in late 2022 outlining the risks and rationale for paying MHCare to import pediatric acetaminophen and ibuprofen from Turkey's Atabay Pharmaceuticals. They laid out several options for the government, warning that if the government chose the riskiest path - signing a deal to buy five million bottles of medicine prior to receiving Health Canada's approval - it could end up with too much medicine, too late, or it could end up with little to no medicine despite paying upfront if they didn't get the approval. Stores in North America were short on supply at the time, and the health authority's usual vendors were unable to fill the void. The briefing note says that because of Canadian requirements for packaging and bilingual labelling, the manufacturer indicated a minimum order of five million bottles to cover production changes. However, the note also says the province could order fewer bottles at a price of $15-million for one million bottles. The note says committing to a larger volume would represent 'the best overall value.' MHCare delivered 1.47 million bottles of medicine to Alberta in the first half of 2023. The company, in a letter sent to the province in April, 2025, noted Health Canada did not provide the necessary approvals to import all five million bottles. Only a fraction of the medicine, most of which arrived after the shortage had eased, was ever distributed to hospitals and pharmacies. In May of 2023, health officials ordered staff to stop using the imported acetaminophen in neonatal intensive care units after deeming it a risk to patients when administered through feeding tubes. Within two months, there was a hospital-wide transition back to using standard children's medications. AHS's former CEO, Athana Mentzelopoulos, in a lawsuit filed in February alleges the government fired her for investigating the Turkish deal, along with other contracts and procurement agreements at the health agency. The government alleges she was fired for incompetence. The allegations have not been tested in court. When Alberta announced the import deal in December, 2022, it said it was paying a small premium over the expected retail price for the drugs. But the briefing document and a price sheet from MHCare reveal, for the first time, how much the health authority paid compared with what it typically spent on the same drugs. The note calculates AHS's annual bill for the pediatric pain relievers used in hospitals. AHS's 'usual confidential contract price' for the liquid acetaminophen and ibuprofen pediatric patients consume each year equates to about $450,000, the briefing note says. The same volume of product would cost $3-million, or 6.7 times what the health authority pays its usual vendors, should MHCare import bottles of medication at $14 each, the document estimates. But the medication produced by AHS's normal vendors is not comparable to the Turkish supply. Some of the medicine in Atabay's bottles was less concentrated, meaning patients need to consume more volume to get the same amount of drugs. When accounting for the difference in concentrations, the price difference between the normal supply and the imported medicine expands significantly. The Alberta government instructed the health agency, via a ministerial order dated Dec. 1, 2022, to procure liquid oral acetaminophen and ibuprofen at specific concentrations to address the national shortage. MHCare's owner, Sam Mraiche, provided a price quote dated Dec. 5 to Jitendra Prasad, then the health authority's interim chief program officer for contracting, procurement and supply management. Mr. Mraiche's price quote detailed concentrations that differed from what was stipulated in the ministerial order. Mr. Prasad was heralded for his work in procurement at the health authority during the COVID-19 pandemic and retired in April, 2022. He then worked as a consultant, before reprising his role in procurement at the health authority in October of that year. According to allegations contained in Ms. Mentzelopoulos's lawsuit, he had an MHCare e-mail account in November, 2022. The health authority and the government were exploring the import deal that same month. Mr. Prasad's lawyer did not acknowledge messages seeking comment. Ms. Smith is re-organizing Alberta Health Services, and as of last week had four ministers overseeing various aspects of the provincial care system. Kyle Warner, a spokesman for Matt Jones, who is in charge of the newly created Ministry of Hospital and Surgical Health Services, in a statement said Alberta Health Services conducted the contract and procurement negotiations for the children's medication. He noted the contracts are now under review. 'The results of these reviews will support our work to improve procurement practices and will enable our government to address any other identified issues,' the statement said.
The Guardian
21-05-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Footballer Jay Emmanuel-Thomas pleads guilty to £600,000 cannabis importation charge
Footballer Jay Emmanuel-Thomas has pleaded guilty to a cannabis importation charge over an attempt to smuggle £600,000 of the drug through Stansted airport from Thailand. The 34-year-old striker was sacked by Scottish Championship side Greenock Morton after his arrest last year. The player who came through the Arsenal academy and was given his professional debut by Arsène Wenger in 2010, also played for Ipswich, Bristol City and QPR before moving north of the border. He changed his plea to guilty at a hearing on 7 May meaning his case can now be reported after reporting restrictions were lifted on Wednesday. Emmanuel-Thomas pleaded guilty at Chelmsford crown court to fraudulent evasion of the prohibition on the importation of cannabis between 1 July 2024 and 2 September 2024. He had previously denied the charges when asked to enter a plea in October last year. The footballer, who has also played for Scottish clubs Livingston and Aberdeen and Thai side PTT Rayong, was remanded in custody ahead of his sentencing on a date to be fixed. Emmanuel-Thomas, of Cardwell Road, Gourock, Inverclyde, Scotland, was arrested in the town by National Crime Agency (NCA) officers in September 2024. His arrest came after the NCA seized an estimated £600,000 of the class B drug as it was being smuggled through Stansted on 2 September. Border Force officers detected roughly 60kg (132lb) of the drug in two suitcases, which had arrived via a flight from Bangkok, Thailand. Co-defendants Rosie Rowland and Yasmin Piotrowska, who both denied the charge, face no further action after prosecutors offered no evidence in their case. Prosecutor David Josse KC said that 'at all material times they maintained both before the events that led to the importation and after the events they said they thought they were importing gold not cannabis'. Judge Christopher Morgan directed that not guilty verdicts be recorded in the case of Rowland and Piotrowska and they walked free from the dock. Rowland, 29, of Southend Road, Chelmsford, Essex, and 33-year-old Piotrowska, of Purves Road, Kensal Rise, north-west London, wept after leaving the dock. Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion Emmanuel-Thomas appeared at Wednesday's hearing by video-link from Chelmsford prison. He was asked if he would like to appear at his sentencing in person or by video-link and he asked that it be in person, with the date for this hearing to be set administratively.
The Independent
21-05-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Footballer Jay Emmanuel-Thomas pleads guilty to cannabis importation offence
Footballer Jay Emmanuel-Thomas has pleaded guilty to a cannabis importation charge over an attempt to smuggle £600,000 of the drug through Stansted Airport from Thailand. The 34-year-old striker was sacked by Scottish Championship side Greenock Morton after his arrest last year. The former Livingston, Aberdeen and Arsenal academy product changed his plea to guilty at a hearing on May 7 and this can now be reported after reporting restrictions were lifted on Wednesday. Emmanuel-Thomas pleaded guilty at Chelmsford Crown Court in Essex to fraudulent evasion of the prohibition on the importation of cannabis between July 1 2024 and September 2 2024. He had previously denied the charges when asked to enter a plea in October last year. The footballer, who has also played for Ipswich Town, Bristol City, Queens Park Rangers and Thai side PTT Rayong, was remanded in custody ahead of his sentencing on a date to be fixed. Emmanuel-Thomas, of Cardwell Road in Gourock, Inverclyde, Scotland, was arrested in the town by National Crime Agency (NCA) officers in September 2024. His arrest came after the NCA seized an estimated £600,000 of the class B drug as it was being smuggled through Stansted on September 2. Border Force officers detected roughly 60kg (132lb) of the drug in two suitcases, which had arrived via a flight from Bangkok, Thailand. Co-defendants Rosie Rowland and Yasmin Piotrowska, who both denied the charge, face no further action after prosecutors offered no evidence in their case. Prosecutor David Josse KC said that 'at all material times they maintained both before the events that led to the importation and after the events they said they thought they were importing gold not cannabis'. Judge Christopher Morgan directed that not guilty verdicts be recorded in the case of Rowland and Piotrowska and they walked free from the dock. Rowland, 29, of Southend Road, Chelmsford, Essex, and 33-year-old Piotrowska, of Purves Road, Kensal Rise, north-west London, wept after leaving the dock. Emmanuel-Thomas appeared at Wednesday's hearing by video-link from Chelmsford Prison. He was asked if he would like to appear at his sentencing in person or by video-link and he asked that it be in person, with the date for this hearing to be set administratively.
