can someone please explain...

[Ken Gargett]

yes, i know, innocent until proven and so forth and one hopes if she is innocent that she is found so, BUT...

here is a report for those not familiar - young blond aussie caught with a bag full of cocaine that says she was tricked...

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/adelaide-woman-cassandra-sainsbury-charged-over-5kg-cocaine-drug-bust-in-colombia/news-story/1219c8be71b3f7e76d5e07fabb711427

i'm immediately suspicious of all the claims of innocence one hears - it was an extraordinary puzzle to me why so many people were convinced schapelle corby was innocent - but perhaps someone can explain this one to me.

young girl, meets nice guy in columbia. wants to buy headphones. he says he can get a good deal if she buys 16 to 18 (what the hell does she need 18 pairs of headphones for? - apparently going to give them as gifts to her wedding guests. seriously?). okay, so he provides her with 18 wrapped parcels which she shoves in her luggage. does not even bother to look at a single set?

let's leave aside the fact that i'm really not sure how on earth anyone could think that a parcel with headphones feels the same as a parcel with cocaine, can anyone explain why a drug dealer from columbia would give away 5 kilos of coke for the price of a few dodgy headphones? was there a plan to sneak into australia and pinch her bag at the other end, despite all the endless possibilities of that going wrong - if she had eventually checked a parcel, wanted to try a set of headphones, repacked into another bag, been pinched by customs this end? what am i missing? she is really goiong to have to explain that and good luck.

if this is the defence, may i suggest she learn spanish real quick. and from the photo, i suspect she'll have no trouble making lots of new friends.

[MIKA27]

I woke this morning and hear this news, immediately rolled my eyes as I know this is all we will be hearing about for the next year each and every day.

How on earth can 18 headphones weigh 5 - 6 kilos!?

Agree with the whole, open parcel and check, I am afraid that's just a super stupid excuse that won't rub the right way...

Time and again, Aussies head overseas and get busted. schapelle Corby, Andrew Chan et al, and these young men and women still never learn. I don't feel sorry for these people because should they not have been busted, they'd be profiting from other peoples misery.

[avaldes]

I saw a show on the "Vice" channel here in the states. The cartel guys regularly sew cocaine packages into knockoff bags and other designer items. They sell them to unsuspecting tourists with the intent of grabbing them at the airport in their destination. They also solicit mules to carry a spare bag for a few bucks. They actually tracked a couple of mules on the show and it was pretty amazing.

Personally if I were in Columbia I sure as hell wouldn't do anything sketchy for someone I just met.

[Ken Gargett]

16 minutes ago, avaldes said:

I saw a show on the "Vice" channel here in the states. The cartel guys regularly sew cocaine packages into knockoff bags and other designer items. They sell them to unsuspecting tourists with the intent of grabbing them at the airport in their destination. They also solicit mules to carry a spare bag for a few bucks. They actually tracked a couple of mules on the show and it was pretty amazing.

Personally if I were in Columbia I sure as hell wouldn't do anything sketchy for someone I just met.

agreed. but adelaide? they have people waiting at the carousel in adelaide? it would not be an easy airport to accomplish this. she either bought the stuff to distribute or was acting as a mule. so no sympathy either way.

[NSXCIGAR]

Am I reading this right--she got caught leaving Colombia with the drugs? Since when does the country or airport that one is departing from check for anything other than explosives or weapons?

Also, drugs don't generally show up on X-Ray. Could be boxes of chocolate. Who knows. Customs at the destination generally use drug dogs and physically opens luggage. If the person isn't acting suspicious, the dogs don't hit and the luggage inspection doesn't turn up anything, the drugs get through. Also, travelers returning from particular countries of origin are scrutinized much more. I would expect Colombia to be one of those. However, how were these drugs caught before departing? Never heard of anyone getting in trouble for taking drugs OUT of a country!

Anyway, I have heard of this happening to ostensibly innocent people, but many times they end up taking the fall. I just find it preposterous that the cocaine capital of the world is prosecuting anyone for cocaine trafficking. Talk about a two-tiered legal system.

[Ken Gargett]

1 minute ago, NSXCIGAR said:

Am I reading this right--she got caught leaving Colombia with the drugs? Since when does the country or airport that one is departing from check for anything other than explosives or weapons?

Also, drugs don't generally show up on X-Ray. Could be boxes of chocolate. Who knows. Customs at the destination generally use drug dogs and physically opens luggage. If the person isn't acting suspicious, the dogs don't hit and the luggage inspection doesn't turn up anything, the drugs get through. Also, travelers returning from particular countries of origin are scrutinized much more. I would expect Colombia to be one of those. However, how were these drugs caught before departing? Never heard of anyone getting in trouble for taking drugs OUT of a country!

Anyway, I have heard of this happening to ostensibly innocent people, but many times they end up taking the fall. I just find it preposterous that the cocaine capital of the world is prosecuting anyone for cocaine trafficking. Talk about a two-tiered legal system.

we have had quite a few high profile cases of aussies caught taking drugs either into or out of indonesia. lot of people believe that the indonesians were tipped off by the aust federal police. so definitely not unknown.

could have been a tip off. perhaps (i'm not sure whether there were actually headphones in the parcels as well as the coke or just the coke) the x-ray showed a heap of the headphones and they checked. perhaps it was random. perhaps ...

i'm sure that there is much more to the story and probably much we'll never know.

[SignalJoe]

Ken I offer a simple explanation...she is blonde.  

[Fuzz]

Her story is crumbling faster by the minute. She is no longer a volunteer firefighter (hasn't been for 3 yrs) and she also quit fitness training. Just a dumb girl who thought she could make a quick buck carrying dope. Or perhaps the drugs were the bridal party gifts?

[oliverdst]

Pretty usual checking people/luggage departing a country. No one wants to have dealers making business in your own territory. And there are political reasons as well (donating equipaments to a country to help in the search, if I am not wrong Japan donated x-rays to Indonesia; bilateral agreements; good old money to the state...).

About Schapele, the little I know, I would say her brother hided the marijuana in her things.

[oliverdst]

And who on earth go to the other side of the world to spend a work holiday when your marriage is in less than a year and your family can't even afford tickets?

[wabashcr]

4 hours ago, NSXCIGAR said:

Am I reading this right--she got caught leaving Colombia with the drugs? Since when does the country or airport that one is departing from check for anything other than explosives or weapons?

Also, drugs don't generally show up on X-Ray. Could be boxes of chocolate. Who knows. Customs at the destination generally use drug dogs and physically opens luggage. If the person isn't acting suspicious, the dogs don't hit and the luggage inspection doesn't turn up anything, the drugs get through. Also, travelers returning from particular countries of origin are scrutinized much more. I would expect Colombia to be one of those. However, how were these drugs caught before departing? Never heard of anyone getting in trouble for taking drugs OUT of a country!

Anyway, I have heard of this happening to ostensibly innocent people, but many times they end up taking the fall. I just find it preposterous that the cocaine capital of the world is prosecuting anyone for cocaine trafficking. Talk about a two-tiered legal system.

Have you ever watched the show Locked Up Abroad?  It's always at the departure airport where they get caught, trying to leave the country with drugs.  It's pretty common in drug producing countries.  They know who to look for, and the result is a very low-risk drug bust, so they can show the US and other western countries that they're doing their part to combat drug trafficking.  In many cases, the US subsidizes law enforcement in these countries, as part of the multi-faceted war on drugs.  It's a hell of a lot easier to pick off unwitting tourists than to actually fight the cartels.

[OZCUBAN]

She would only get a longer sentence here in OZ if she was caught bringing in Cigars /Tobacco ??

[Capt. Brett]

Play stupid games. Win stupid prizes. Just glad 5+ kilo's of that poison are off the streets no matter where it was headed.

[dominattorney]

Legalize drugs and be done with it all. While theyre at it, legalize Cuban tobacco. But no one ever asks me. 

[Smallclub]

11 hours ago, NSXCIGAR said:

 Never heard of anyone getting in trouble for taking drugs OUT of a country!

Google "Midnight Express"…

[NSXCIGAR]

16 minutes ago, Smallclub said:

Google "Midnight Express"…

I'm aware of that one. But he was caught because security at the airport was heightened due to terrorism concerns. They were really looking for explosives and/or weapons and found drugs instead.

7 hours ago, wabashcr said:

Have you ever watched the show Locked Up Abroad?  It's always at the departure airport where they get caught, trying to leave the country with drugs.  It's pretty common in drug producing countries.  They know who to look for, and the result is a very low-risk drug bust, so they can show the US and other western countries that they're doing their part to combat drug trafficking.  In many cases, the US subsidizes law enforcement in these countries, as part of the multi-faceted war on drugs.  It's a hell of a lot easier to pick off unwitting tourists than to actually fight the cartels.

I guess I can see that. Trying to make busts to keep the monetary spigots open. I suppose scrutinizing luggage departing from drug-producing countries makes sense in that respect. I guess she should have done a little research before attempting it (if she indeed did it). I admit, her story and her defense has some serious holes in it.

[clutch5150]

Crime never pays.....

[perkinke]

I worked as a court clerk for quite a few years and this one tracks perfectly on the is list of stupid answers to the question "are these your drugs?" The most common being "those aren't my pants, I just found them."


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[El Presidente]

I believe her. 

She is a young, good looking blonde chick.  Not her fault. 

 

[cigaraholic]

Cute blondes do not make good drug mules.....page 1 of the smugglers handbook 

[Ken Gargett]

3 hours ago, Smallclub said:

Google "Midnight Express"…

ah yes, and that brings back memories of one of the most embarrassing moments of my life - travelling in turkey with a friend back in the 80s. we were on an internal flight. midnight express scared the crap out of me (not that i ever carried drugs anywhere but i was still half convinced, back then, that something would happen and i would be unjustly thrown in a turkish jail for the rest of my life). to this day, i have never gone through such a thorough pre-flight search - as did everyone and they even had male/female lines so they could really "search".

what they did not tell us, at least in english, was that they would put all your luggage on the tarmac near the plane and passengers would place their bags on the trolley so they could be placed in the plane. for security. so the flight is already to go. but there are two bags left.

loud speakers. armed guards. who owns these bags? i was so mortified, and so convinced that this was a set-up so i could be jailed (and i really was not on anything or had even taken a drink - but midnight express had really scared me). so i made the poor girl go and put them on the trolley. mind you, she was an american and basically worked in/with intelligence and so was not in the least bothered by turkish security and large guns.

two things happened.

she was not arrested.

the relationship was doomed.

[El Presidente]

3 minutes ago, Ken Gargett said:

loud speakers. armed guards. who owns these bags? i was so mortified, and so convinced that this was a set-up so i could be jailed (and i really was not on anything or had even taken a drink - but midnight express had really scared me). so i made the poor girl go and put them on the trolley. mind you, she was an american and basically worked in/with intelligence and so was not in the least bothered by turkish security and large guns.

two things happened.

she was not arrested.

the relationship was doomed.

The story doesn't hold up. 

.....if she was with/in/around US  "intelligence" what in the world was she doing with you.

 

[Ken Gargett]

Just now, El Presidente said:

The story doesn't hold up. 

.....if she was with/in/around US  "intelligence" what in the world was she doing with you.

 

i did say american intelligence (you started it).

[oliverdst]

40 minutes ago, Ken Gargett said:

ah yes, and that brings back memories of one of the most embarrassing moments of my life - travelling in turkey with a friend back in the 80s. we were on an internal flight. midnight express scared the crap out of me (not that i ever carried drugs anywhere but i was still half convinced, back then, that something would happen and i would be unjustly thrown in a turkish jail for the rest of my life). to this day, i have never gone through such a thorough pre-flight search - as did everyone and they even had male/female lines so they could really "search".

what they did not tell us, at least in english, was that they would put all your luggage on the tarmac near the plane and passengers would place their bags on the trolley so they could be placed in the plane. for security. so the flight is already to go. but there are two bags left.

loud speakers. armed guards. who owns these bags? i was so mortified, and so convinced that this was a set-up so i could be jailed (and i really was not on anything or had even taken a drink - but midnight express had really scared me). so i made the poor girl go and put them on the trolley. mind you, she was an american and basically worked in/with intelligence and so was not in the least bothered by turkish security and large guns.

two things happened.

she was not arrested.

the relationship was doomed.

Something like that happened to me in Colombia in 2000.

I was travelling by bus trough south Colombia. Of course I was warned about Farc. They said "DO NOT TRAVEL! But If you insist do not travel at night".

So I avoided travelling at night  but that specific day I really did It during daylight. 

Long story short: the whole bus had to hop out of the bus and Farc made a search inside the bus. Just me and 3 more gringos. 40 colombians. After some minutes a guerrillero asks: Whose backpack is this? Inside the bus there were more 2 or 3 guerrillero and they asked why the hell my backpack was locked.

I didnt reply but unlocked It. Search done. I am free to go.

Scary but was educational to see Farc so close. I remember as clear as the day a guerrillera with a rocket launcher almost bigger than her.

 

[dominattorney]

1 hour ago, El Presidente said:

I believe her. 

She is a young, good looking blonde chick.  Not her fault. 

 

In common American legal parlance, there is a locker room phrase that we employ in these situations.