A line of cocaine is now cheaper than a pint of lager or a glass of wine, official figures have disclosed.
The Home Office has admitted that the street price of both cocaine and heroin has fallen by nearly half in the last ten years, making the most dangerous illegal drugs cheaper than they have ever been.
Based on reports from police forces, the Home Office said that cocaine is now being sold for as little as £20 a gram in some parts of the country.
The most common price for the drug is £40 per gram. Home Office figures for 1998 show the average price was £77.
A gram of heroin can now be bought for as little as £25, with the average price somewhere between £40 and £50 per gram. In 1998, the average was £74.
The Home Office figures are based on data collected from police forces and the Serious Organised Crime Agency.
According to DrugScope, a charity that provides research and advice on drugs policy, gram of cocaine can make between 10 and 20 lines for snorting, depending on its strength.
That means a line of cocaine can cost as little as £1, with an average price per line of between £2 and £4.
The average price of a pint of lager is around £2.75, although some pub chains have reacted to the credit crunch by cutting the price of a pint as low as 99p. A glass of wine typically costs £3.50.
Michael Porfirio Mason
AKA The Peoples Champ
AKA The G you should have Killed last year
AKA The Only One
The Guide to Getting More out of Life
http://www.thegmanifesto.com
A recent spike in human and narcotics smuggling attempts off San Diego County’s so-called “Smuggler’s Corridor” has kept members of the San Diego Marine Task force busy over the past week.
Last month, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seized 1,100 pounds of marijuana off Mission Beach, on Jan. 17. Then, on Jan. 28, an abandoned boat thought to have been used to smuggle undocumented individuals was discovered adrift off Torrey Pines State Beach. That vessel contained 21 lifejackets.
Apparently, these two well-publicized encounters were only the beginning of a rash of attempts to circumvent security measures along the international border by running an offshore gauntlet along the coast between Ensenada and Del Mar, dubbed Smuggler’s Corridor by local mariners.
On Jan. 31, the U.S. Coast Guard intercepted a 17-foot vessel traveling north from the international maritime boundary with four undocumented Mexican nationals on board.
Coast Guard Maritime Safety and Security Team officers patrolling San Diego Bay on Feb. 1 at about midnight thwarted an apparent smuggling attempt when they intercepted a 25-foot sailing vessel with four persons on board.
Before dawn Feb. 2, CBP agents intercepted a Mexican fishing vessel loaded with 23 undocumented Mexican nationals off Torrey Pines State Beach.
Later that morning, Coast Guard crewmembers from the Maritime Safety and Security Team in San Diego apprehended two suspected illegal migrants attempting to swim north across the international maritime boundary near the mouth of the Tijuana River.
The accelerating pace of interdictions off San Diego’s shoreline is beyond anything previously seen.
“I can’t even make an educated guess what’s behind the increase,” said Coast Guard Pubic Affairs Petty Officer Jetta Disco. “I don’t know what it’s like in Mexico or how bad it’s getting over there. I’ve talked to other agencies such as CBP; the fantastic job they’re doing (blocking illegal entry landside) seems to be leading to an increase of (waterborne) smuggling attempts.”
1. Last More than Six Years. This is the key part. The look-back period for a fraudulent conveyance claim is six years. Once you, the fraudster, go past the six-year mark, any monies that you transferred to third parties before that time are likely safe. It appears that Mr. Madoff’s fraud has gone far past the six-year mark, giving him safe harbor for any transfers made prior to that time.
2. Transfer Your Money to Friends and Family. With the six-year fraudulent conveyance period in mind, it is important to transfer significant sums to your friends and relatives through outright transfers. In addition, employ them in your business and pay them inflated amounts, which can also be hard to challenge on legal grounds. Ensure that the transfers to your spouse are plentiful and that significant sums are kept in his or her own name only. To the extent that this is impossible, open up accounts abroad. We don’t know the full extent of Mr. Madoff’s transfers, but it appears that his children, niece and brother were paid millions by his firm and that his wife is paying for his court-ordered 24-hour security service. I don’t believe she had a job. Where do you think this money comes from?
3. Title Your Assets With Your Spouse. After transferring as much money as possible for as long as possible, make sure that your home, vacation home, boat, etc., are all titled in your spouse’s name. In particular, have him or her own a home in Florida. This way, they can eventually relocate there and be protected under Florida’s homestead laws. Again, Mr. Madoff followed this principle, and much of his real estate, including his homes in Palm Beach, Long Island and France, appear to be titled solely in his wife’s name. Where do you think she got the money for these?
4. Confess When the Writing is on the Wall. Once it appears the scheme is over, confess quickly. This way you can control the process and limit the collateral damage. So, for example, did Mr. Madoff’s two sons, Andrew and Mark, who had worked for Bernie’s firm for years, 1) learn of the fraud from him and immediately inform on their father to the federal government, or 2) know about it all along, but their father, knowing that the end was coming, told them to report him so he could take the fall?
Which scenario seems more plausible: that Andrew and Mark were top executives for their father for years with no inkling, or were at best willfully blind? Under the former explanation, I think they are at best fools, and under the latter explanation, far worse. In any event, by managing his capture, Mr. Madoff has been able to create the appearance that he is the sole actor, something which seems incredible. In any event, I don’t see the Madoff family and the firm’s employees rushing to return the millions paid to them over the years.
5. Be Arrested by the Feds. The United States federal government has lenient bail requirements, which allow for bail so long as you are not a danger to society or a flight risk. Conversely, in the state of New York, you can go to Rikers. By being arrested by the Feds, Mr. Madoff was able to come under the federal bail procedures. That is why he is now sitting in his penthouse apartment. Had he been arrested by the state authorities, he might be in Rikers right now.
Here, I have a question: Where is New York County District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau in all this? Mr. Madoff’s alleged crimes sustain a simple felony theft charge under New York State law. If I am correct, Mr. Morgenthau should do his job and charge Mr. Madoff with felony fraud and theft. Perhaps he can do a better job than the Feds, who don’t appear to have much traction on this case.
Somali pirates freed a Ukrainian ship carrying tanks and other heavy weapons Thursday after receiving a $3.2 million ransom. The U.S. Navy watched the pirates go but didn’t act because the pirates still hold almost 150 people from other crews hostage.
The seizure of the MV Faina was one of the most brazen in a surge of pirate attacks on shipping off the Somali coast. Vessels from the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet quickly surrounded it after it was seized in September, to make sure the cargo did not get into the hands of Somali insurgent groups believed to have links to al-Qaida.
U.S. seamen were inspecting the pirates’ departing boats to make sure they weren’t taking weapons from the Faina’s cargo, Mikhail Voitenko, a spokesman for the ship’s owners, said Thursday.
But the Navy was not taking action against the pirates because it did not want members of other crews still in captivity to be harmed, said Cmdr. Jane Campbell, a spokeswoman for the 5th Fleet in Bahrain.
“Even when you release Faina, there are still 147 mariners held hostage by armed pirates,” Campbell told The Associated Press. “We’re concerned for their well-being.”
The captain of the MV Faina, Viktor Nikolsky, said later Thursday the ship was under the protection of the U.S. Navy and will head to Mombasa, Kenya.
He said all crew members need medical attention.
Pirate spokesman Sugule Ali told the AP by satellite phone that the pirates were leaving the ship slowly because the waters are “a bit turbulent.” He spoke from the central Somali coastal town of Harardhere, near where the MV Faina had been anchored.
Ali said his group was paid a ransom of $3.2 million, which he said was dropped by plane.
