Uprooted tree leads Dutch police to major cocaine lab

Yahoo – AFP, June 6, 2019

Clean-up workers removing a tree uprooted by a storm noticed a chemical smell and
"suspicious" men walking about a nearby farmer's shed (AFP Photo/EMMANUEL DUNAND)

The Hague (AFP) - A tree uprooted during a storm in the Netherlands has led to the discovery of one of the largest cocaine laboratories in the country, police said on Thursday.

Clean-up workers were removing the tree after the storm early Thursday when they noticed a chemical smell and "suspicious" men walking about a nearby farmer's shed in the southern Dutch village of Oud-Vossenmeer.

"Police were called and agents discovered the laboratory in the shed," a police statement said, adding it was "one of the largest discovered to date in the country."

Police declined to say how much cocaine was found, but admitted taking the laboratory apart will take "several days."

No arrests were made, with the suspects having fled.

Record quantities of increasingly pure cocaine are being seized by European authorities, the EU drugs agency said in a report published on Thursday.

EU member states seized 140 tonnes of cocaine in 2017, the highest level ever recorded, with an average street price of 55 to 82 euros ($62-92) per gram in the EU, the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) said.

The purity of cocaine at street level reached its highest level in a decade in 2017, while its retail price has remained stable.

Belgium accounted for the highest proportion of cocaine seizures with 45 tonnes, followed by Spain with 41 tonnes.

An increase in trafficking via shipping containers is a "major challenge", the report said.

Dozens of mafia suspects held in international sting

Yahoo – AFP, Danny KEMP, December 5, 2018

Italian media said key organised crime family members were targeted in the
raids, such as this one in Cologne (AFP Photo/Christoph Reichwein)

The Hague (AFP) - Police arrested dozens of suspected mobsters in Europe and South America on Wednesday in a huge international swoop targeting Italy's notorious 'Ndrangheta mafia clan, officials said.

Nearly 90 people including high-ranking members of the powerful organised crime syndicate accused of drug trafficking and money laundering were arrested in coordinated raids in six countries, EU justice agency Eurojust said.

The "unprecedented" crackdown on the group based in Calabria, southern Italy, came just a day after Italian police arrested the new boss of the separate Sicilian mafia.

Hundreds of police took part in Wednesday's operation, seizing four tonnes of cocaine, 120 kilos of ecstasy and two million euros (dollars) in cash across Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and Suriname.

"Today, we send a clear message to organised crime groups across Europe," Filippo Spiezia, vice president of the EU's judicial agency Eurojust, told reporters in The Hague.

"They are not the only ones able to operate across borders; so are Europe's judiciary and law enforcement communities."

He said the "unprecedented and extraordinary result", the fruit of a two-year operation, targeted "dangerous members of the 'Ndrangheta family deeply involved in drug trafficking and money laundering".

Italian restaurants

The 'Ndrangheta -- which derives its meaning from the Greek word for heroism -- is made up of numerous village and family-based clans in Calabria, the rural, mountainous and under-developed "toe" of Italy's boot.

Before Wednesday's Europe-wide raid, Italian police arrested the new boss 

of the Sicilian Mafia, Settimino Mineo (AFP Photo/Alessandro FUCARINI)

Despite intense police attention and frequent arrests, the organisation has continued to extend its reach.

It has surpassed Sicily's Cosa Nostra and the Naples-based Camorra in influence thanks to control of the cocaine trade and is the sole mafia organisation to operate on all continents, according to anti-mafia prosecutors.

Officials hailed Wednesday's operation -- dubbed "Operation Pollina" -- as a serious blow to the group.

In total 41 people were arrested in Italy, 21 in Germany, 14 in Belgium, five in the Netherlands and two in Luxembourg, with operations still underway, Eurojust said.

Italian police said the sweep targeted the 'Ndrangheta and its "projections across South America".

Italian anti-mafia prosecutor Federico Cafiero De Raho said the operations would affect the 'Ndrangheta's drug trafficking operations around the world, including Colombia, Ecuador and Brazil.

But he warned that it was "just a first step", saying the arrests were "nothing for the 'Ndrangheta, there are thousands of people who should be arrested and billions that should be seized".

In Germany, Wednesday's operation focused on restaurants, offices and apartments, mainly in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria region.

Dutch prosecutors said the investigation began after they noticed money laundering at two Italian restaurants in the southern Netherlands that showed criminal links with Germany and Calabria, home of the 'Ndrangheta.

Italian media said key organised crime family members were targeted in the

raids, such as this one in Cologne (AFP Photo/Christoph Reichwein)

Using an often family-based network spread out around Europe, drugs would come into the Dutch port of Rotterdam and the Belgian port of Antwerp before being moved around the continent.

Prosecutor Fred Westerbeke said they had also probed ice cream parlours, adding that together with restaurants "the suspicion is that the mafia organisation is laundering money through these establishments and they are used as a cover for their criminal organisations".

He also confirmed that there had been raids in Suriname, a small South American country that was once a Dutch colony.

Dutch NOS television said the 'Ndrangheta were mainly active in the Netherlands in drug smuggling through the country's huge flower export market.

'Decisive hit'

The Belgian operations were concentrated on the Limburg area, home to many people of Italian descent who moved there after World War II to work in coal mines, Belgian prosecutors said.

The European police agency Europol said it was a "decisive hit against one of the most powerful Italian criminal networks in the world".

European Parliament President Antonio Tajani, who is Italian, sent "congratulations" to the police forces involved, adding: "Europe fights 'Ndrangheta criminal groups".

On Tuesday, Italian police arrested new Cosa Nostra boss Settimino Mineo and dozens of other suspects in Sicily in a major swoop.

Jeweller Mineo, 80, was detained with at least 45 others just before he was due to be appointed official heir to notorious mafia boss Toto Riina, who died in prison last year.

Germany to legalise medicinal cannabis: minister

Yahoo – AFP, May 3, 2016

Medicinal marijuana is gaining popularity to ease suffering from cancer, glaucoma,
HIV or AIDS, Hepatitis C, Parkinson's disease and other conditions (AFP Photo)

Berlin (AFP) - Germany is to legalise cannabis for medicinal purposes early next year, the health minister said on Tuesday.

"Our goal is that seriously ill patients are treated in the best possible way," said Hermann Groehe, who will present draft legislation to the German cabinet on Wednesday.

The draft bill comes as many parts of the world are relaxing laws on cannabis use and medicinal marijuana is gaining popularity to ease suffering from cancer, glaucoma, HIV or AIDS, Hepatitis C, Parkinson's disease and other serious conditions.

However, the issue of recreational and medical cannabis use is controversial in many countries, as opponents fear crime connected to drug abuse and addiction. Some argue pot use could lead to dependence on harder drugs.

Groehe acknowledged that cannabis was "not an inoffensive substance" and stressed that cannabis would be available from pharmacies only on prescription.

Until specially supervised plantations have been established to grow cannabis, Germany will import "medical marijuana", the minister added.

"Without wishing to pre-judge the work of the Bundestag (lower house of parliament), it is likely that the law will come into force in the spring of 2017," Groehe told German daily Die Welt.

Italian football star Vincenzo Iaquinta to be tried for mafia links

An Italian judge has ordered more than 140 people to stand trial over alleged ties to 'Ndrangheta mafia. The officials suspect ex-Juventus striker and national team member Vincenzo Iaquinta of intending to aid the clan.

Deutsche Welle, 22 December 2015

Iaquinta was indicted for illegal possession of firearms, aggravated by intention to help the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta organization, his lawyer Carlo Taormina said on Monday.

The footballer's father, businessman Giuseppe Iaquinta, faces a more serious charge of mafia association, according to Taormina.

The 36-year old Iaquinta played for several Italian clubs, including the famous Juventus, and was part of Italy's national team which won the World Cup in 2006.

Hoy cumple 36 años el futbolista italiano Vincenzo Iaquinta pic.twitter.com/qL2zw37eUN

— Roy N'Coma (@RodrigoCornell) November 22, 2015

The Italian court ordered the Calabrian-born athlete and more than 140 other people to stand trial for their aiding or joining 'Ndrangheta, Italy's most powerful organized crime network.

A number of the suspects allegedly aided 'Ndrangheta to in their bid to infiltrate the country's north, where the influence of the mafia is traditionally weaker.

The trial is set to start in March 2016.

The Calabrian clan is rumored to control most of Europe's cocaine trade. Their name - 'Ndrangheta - comes from the Greek word for courage or loyalty, and prospective members are required to take an elaborate oath in order to join the organization.

Britain's Lord Sewel resigns after cocaine and prostitutes scandal

Yahoo – AFP, Katherine Haddon, 28 July 2015

Lord John Sewel apologised after pictures in The Sun newspaper appeared to 

show him snorting cocaine with prostitutes (AFP Photo)

London (AFP) - A British peer who was in charge of lawmakers' ethics quit the House of Lords on Tuesday after allegedly snorting cocaine off a prostitute's breasts, fuelling calls for reform of the unelected upper chamber.

Lord John Sewel, 69, apologised for the "pain and embarrassment" caused after the Rupert Murdoch-owned Sun newspaper published footage of him apparently taking drugs and wearing an orange bra and studded leather jacket as he chatted to two sex workers.

The images also showed him calling Prime Minister David Cameron "facile" and "superficial" and insulting several other senior politicians.

The scandal has prompted renewed calls
for reforms to slim down the House of 
Lords, made up of 783 peers (AFP Photo/
Toby Melville)

Scotland Yard has launched an investigation and raided Sewel's home at an exclusive block of flats near the Houses of Parliament on Monday night.

While reforming the House of Lords is not a priority for Cameron's centre-right government, the case has sparked calls for the chamber -- the world's largest legislative assembly outside China -- to be slimmed down.

"I have today written to the clerk of the parliaments terminating my membership of the House of Lords," Sewel, previously a deputy speaker of the Lords, said in a statement.

"I want to apologise for the pain and embarrassment I have caused."

The Sun on Tuesday quoted the escorts as saying he snorted up to eight lines of cocaine and described one of their sessions.

"He slipped into a woman's blue dress and applied lipstick and eyeliner to engage in depraved sex games too obscene to report in a family newspaper," the tabloid said.

'Bloated' House of Lords

The married 69-year-old, dubbed "Lord Sewer" by The Sun, quit his £82,525 (115,000 euro, $128,000) a year deputy speaker post overseeing the conduct of fellow peers when the scandal first broke Sunday.

He then announced Monday that he would take a leave of absence from the Lords but faced growing pressure to step down entirely.

Members of the Lords - mostly former ministers appointed by their own political

parties - can claim a £300 daily attendance allowance (AFP Photo/Justin Tallis)

Several British newspapers said Tuesday that the case showed changes were needed to the House of Lords, made up of 783 peers who can claim a £300 daily attendance allowance.

Most members of the Lords, which scrutinises and rubber stamps legislation, are former ministers appointed by their own political parties.

The Daily Mirror, The Sun's main tabloid rival, launched a campaign Tuesday to get rid of all unelected peers.

Meanwhile, The Times said the House of Lords was "bloated" and its numbers should be reduced.

"An unelected chamber with esoteric practices and a median age of about 70 cannot afford to enter the public consciousness only when its members are embroiled in scandal," it said in an editorial.

Cameron is expected to create a string of new peers from his Conservative party in the coming months to give him a majority in the upper chamber, making it easier for his government to pass legislation.

The prime minister reportedly ruled out sweeping reforms to the Lords on a visit to Singapore, saying there was "no point in trying that route again" after a failed bid in 2012 pushed by his former coalition partners the Liberal Democrats.

Ten members of the Lords have been temporarily suspended since 2009

for breaches including abusing the expenses system (AFP Photo/Leon Neal)

'Privileges of a peerage'

Leader of the House of Lords Baroness Tina Stowell acknowledged the importance of public perceptions of the chamber as she welcomed Sewel's resignation.

"For the House of Lords to earn the confidence of the public, all of us must respect the privileges that come with a peerage and recognise that, because we are unelected, it is especially important to meet the standards the public have a right to expect," she said.

Sewel is a former academic and local politician in northeast Scotland who was appointed as a junior agriculture minister in Tony Blair's centre-left Labour government in 1997.

He gave up the Labour whip in 2012 when he took on the job of overseeing the conduct of peers.

Ironically, Sewel oversaw the introduction of a new system under which peers can be forced out of the Lords for breaching a code of conduct. Previously, only the monarch could eject them.

Ten peers have been temporarily suspended since 2009 for breaches including abusing the expenses system and offering to lobby for private companies.

A British politician, Lord John Sewel, has resigned from the House of Lords after

 a newspaper published a video allegedly showing him using cocaine with prostitutes.

Sewel was in charge of standards in the upper chamber.

Related Articles:

British peer quits House of Lords amid drug and sex allegations


"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“…5 - Integrity That May Surprise…

The Unthinkable… Politics, A Review

Humans will begin to search for integrity and fairness and it's going to happen in the places you never expect. I said this last week, so this is a review. There'll come a time when you will demand this of your politics - fairness and integrity. So when the candidates start calling each other names, you will turn your back on them and they won't get any votes. They're going to get the point real fast, don't you think? How about that?

Let me give you another potential. This country that I sit in right now [USA] will set the mold for that particular attribute. I have no clock. Watch for the youngsters to set this in motion, and they will, for they are the voters of tomorrow and they do not want the energy of today. To some of them, it's so abominable they won't even register to vote in this energy. You're going to see this soon. That was number five.. ..."

France warns Indonesia against executing French citizen

Yahoo – AFP, 22 April 2015

French drug trafficker Serge Atlaoui is escorted by Indonesian police commandos

following a court hearing in Tangerang, on March 11, 2015 (AFP Photo/Romeo Gacad)

French President Francois Hollande warned Indonesia on Wednesday that the execution of a Frenchman for drug offences would damage ties between the two nations.

Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius also summoned the Indonesian ambassador in Paris a day after Serge Atlaoui, 51, had an appeal rejected by Indonesia's Supreme Court, taking him closer to execution by firing squad for his role in a clandestine ecstasy lab near Jakarta.

Imprisoned in Indonesia for a decade, the father-of-four denies the charges, saying he was installing industrial machinery in what he thought was an acrylics factory.

Atlaoui's wife Sabine told AFP she had been the one to break the news of the rejected appeal to him.

"I spoke to him on the phone this morning," she said from Indonesia.

"He called me from prison and... I finally was able to give him the terrible news.

"My husband is strong, he is a fighter, brave and ready to continue fighting until the end."

His family has issued impassioned appeals in recent days, begging Hollande and the European Union to save him.

The French leader warned Wednesday that executing Atlaoui "would be damaging for Indonesia, damaging for the relations that we would like to have with it."

If put to death, Atlaoui would be the first Frenchman to be executed anywhere in nearly 40 years.

He is one of several foreign drug convicts on death row in Indonesia who recently lost appeals for presidential clemency. They are expected to be executed once final legal appeals are resolved.

Indonesia unlikely to budge

Drug laws in Indonesia are among the world's toughest.

President Joko Widodo, who took office in October, has been a vocal supporter of putting drug traffickers to death, saying the country is facing a narcotics emergency.

In January, the country executed six people accused of drug trafficking, including Brazilian and Dutch nationals.

As such, analysts say France's repeated calls for clemency have little chance of succeeding.

"Politically, he (Widodo) has understood that Indonesians want a firm leader, and he wants to show that he is a firm president, compared to his predecessor (Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono) who was known for his indecision," said political analyst Yohanes Sulaiman.

Added to this, the death penalty has considerable support in Indonesia among the elites and wider population.

According to a poll conducted by the Indo Barometer agency among 1,200 people last month, more than 84 percent of those questioned were in favour of sentencing drug traffickers to death.

In any case, it is unlikely that France or other countries whose nationals are also on death row -- such as Australia -- will impose any serious sanctions on Indonesia, Southeast Asia's biggest economy.

After the first batch of executions in January, Brazil and the Netherlands recalled their ambassadors in protest, though the diplomats came back after just a few weeks.

Pope hails Iran accord, urges end to 'absurd violence' in Easter message

Yahoo – AFP, Jean-Louis De La Vaissiere, 5 April 2015

Pope Francis speaks from the central loggia of St Peters' basilica during the

 "Urbi et Orbi" blessing for Rome and the world following the Easter Mass in the

Vatican on April 5, 2015 (AFP Photo/Filippo Monteforte)

Vatican City (AFP) - Pope Francis appealed Sunday for an end to "absurd violence" in hotspots around the world and said the international community must not stand by in the face of the "immense humanitarian tragedy" in Syria and Iraq.

In his traditional Easter message, the 78-year-old pontiff said he was praying for those killed in armed conflict, including the students massacred by Somali gunmen at a university in Kenya.

Tens of thousands of pilgrims huddled under a sea of umbrellas in a rain-soaked St Peter's Square to hear the pope deliver his "Urbi et Orbi" (To the City and World) blessing, broadcast live to dozens of countries.

Pope Francis greets the crowd from the

 popemobile after the Easter Mass at

 St Peter's square in the Vatican on

April 5, 2015 (AFP Photo/Gabriel Bouys)

In his third Easter message since his election as pope in 2013, the head of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics prayed "for peace, above all, for Syria and Iraq, that the roar of arms may cease".

He called on the international community to "not stand by before the immense humanitarian tragedy unfolding in these countries and the drama of the numerous refugees" created by the two conflicts.

He also prayed for the victims of Thursday's attack in Kenya that left 148 people dead, with survivors sayng the militants spared Muslim students but taunted Christian and Jewish students before killing them.

"I think in particular of the young people who were killed last Thursday at Garissa University College in Kenya," he said.

Earlier Francis greeted pilgrims personally as he rode through the flower-bedecked square aboard his open Popemobile after presiding over Easter mass.

The most important and joyous moment of the Catholic calendar, Easter celebrates the day when Christians believe Jesus rose from the dead.

Pope Francis greets the crowd from 

the popemobile after the Easter Mass 

at the Vatican on April 5, 2015 (AFP

Photo/Filippo Monteforte)

Speaking from the balcony of St Peter's Basilica, Francis also said the framework nuclear accord reached Thursday between Iran and six major world powers inspired hope for "a definitive step toward a more secure and fraternal world".

The Argentine pope pleaded for "absurd bloodshed and all barbarous acts of violence" in Libya to be halted, and voiced his "desire for peace, for the good of the entire people" in war-battered Yemen and Ukraine.

Without referring to a particular hotspot, Francis said: "Those who bear within them God's power, his love and his justice, do not need to employ violence."

Be 'respectful, ready to help'

He prayed for "all who have been kidnapped, and for those forced to abandon their homes and their dear ones" in armed conflict and attacks by extremists in Nigeria and South Sudan as well as parts of Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In addition, he urged "peace and freedom for the many men and women subject to old and new forms of enslavement on the part of criminal individuals and groups (and) for the victims of drug dealers... And we ask peace for this world subjected to arms dealers."

Pope Francis greets the crowd from

 the popemobile after the Easter Mass

 at the Vatican on April 5, 2015 (AFP

Photo/Filippo Monteforte)

Francis also sounded his trademark appeal to the rich and powerful to care for the world's poor and downtrodden, saying: "The world proposes that we put ourselves forward at all costs, that we compete."

Instead, Christians should "seek to live in service to one another, not to be arrogant, but rather respectful and ready to help," he said.

Sunday's Easter observances capped a long and demanding Holy Week that left Francis at times appearing tired.

On Friday he presided over the traditional Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) procession at Rome's Colosseum evoking the last hours of Jesus's life.

The day before Francis celebrated two masses -- one for priests, and the other at Rome's Rebibbia prison, where he washed the feet of 10 inmates symbolically evoking Christ's humility -- a theme he took up again on Sunday.

"To enter into the mystery, we need to 'bend down', to abase ourselves," Francis said.

Related Article:

Obama hopes to sway skeptics with "good" Iran deal

Images of child abuse found in Vatican City

Holy See’s prosecutor general says two cases involving indecent material came to light last year, along with other crimes

The Guardian, Rosie Scammell in Rome, 1 Feb 2015

Only six people were held in the Vatican's prison last year. Photograph: Getty Images

Two cases of child pornography possession were uncovered within the walls of the Vatican last year, along with numerous other crimes in the city state, the Holy See’s prosecutor general has announced.

Following worldwide allegations of sex abuse by priests, Gian Piero Milano, the Holy See’s Promoter of Justice, said the Vatican was now taking action against paedophilia in the heart of the Catholic church.

Unveiling the Vatican’s justice report, Milano stopped short of naming those accused of possessing child pornography. Holy See spokesman Federico Lombardi however identified Josef Wesolowski, a disgraced former ambassador, as one of the people facing charges.

Wesolowski was stripped of his diplomatic immunity last year following accusations that he abused young boys during his time as envoy to the Dominican Republic. The Polish former archbishop is currently awaiting trial at the Vatican, in what will be the first sex abuse trial ever held at the Holy See.

Beyond the child pornography cases, Vatican authorities are battling an array of crimes including drug trafficking and money laundering. Three drug deliveries addressed to the Vatican were intercepted last year, including a packet containing cocaine-filled condoms. The drugs were discovered at Germany’s Leipzig airport and handed to the Vatican in the hope of ensnaring the buyer, but no one came forward to claim the package.

Despite the array of criminal activity, only six people ended up in the Vatican’s prison last year. They include Marcello di Finizio, an Italian protester who climbed atop St Peter’s Basilica, and Iana Azhdanova, a Femen activist who bared her breasts and grabbed a baby Jesus statue from the Vatican’s nativity scene.

Cardinal Ad Simonis: "wir haben es nicht gewusst"

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Italy arrests 'ndrangheta mafia suspects

Italian police have launched a major sweep for 163 suspected members of the 'ndrangheta mafia. Arrests were made in Calabria, its southern homeland, as well as Italy's northern region of Emilia-Romagna.

Deutsche Welle, 28 Jan 2015

Italy's national anti-mafia prosecutor, Franco Roberti, described Wednesday's arrests as "historic" for the juristic battle against 'ndrangheta and its expanded operations.

More than 40 arrests were made in southern Calabria, but the bulk of them, 117, took place in towns and cities across northern Italy, most in the region of Emilia Romagna.

In recent years the 'ndrangheta has taken control of Europe's cocaine trade, overtaking the Sicilian and Neapolitan mafias, and has made inroads into Latin America and the United States.

Roberti described the group as a "deeply implanted and very dangerous criminal organization."

"It is an impressive and decisive step against the mafia in the north," he said.

Arrests made by thousands of police

Thousands of police were involved in the arrest operation codenamed "Aemilia" on Wednesday, according to the Italian news agency ANSA.

Bologna's chief prosecutor, Roberto Alfonso, said at a press conference that those arrested in the north included six alleged bosses of a semi-autonomous clan.

The suspects faced charges of extortion, usury, participation in mafia organizations and illegal possession of weapons.

Last week, Italian police made 31 arrests in connection with an alleged plot by an offshoot of the 'ndrangheta' to take control of the cocaine trade.

Links with Colombia and Morocco

The bosses of a 'ndrangheta offshoot were reported to have lived in Rome for years, and to have established links with cocaine producers in Colombia and smuggling operators in Morocco.

In the course of last week's Rome raids, police seized some 600 kilograms (1,300 pounds) of cocaine, hashish and a stash of firearms.

Police said those arrests stemmed from inquiries into the 2013 murder of Roman mobster Vincenzo Femia and secret video recordings of induction ceremonies.

The name 'ndrangheta comes from Greek for courage or loyalty.

ipj/sms (dpa, AFP)

Related Article:

Italy captures mafia initiation rites on film, 40 arrests

Polish pope's hometown elects drug-loving mayor

InterAksyon.com – AFP, December 2014

WARSAW, Poland - A law professor who is open about his drug use has been elected mayor of a Polish city best known for being the birthplace of Saint Pope John Paul II.

Mateusz Klinowski, an independent, won a runoff election over the weekend with 57 percent of the vote in the southern city of Wadowice.

"I said that I use drugs and I stand by that," he told AFP on Wednesday, without specifying his drug of choice.

"Enough with the widespread hypocrisy. At some point you have to admit that reputable people are sometimes also drug users."

The 36-year-old philosopher and activist campaigned against corruption and defeated Ewa Filipiak, who was the city's mayor for 20 years.

He described himself as "the radical voice of the John Paul II generation in a city that is stuck in time."

The Polish pontiff, who died in 2005 and became a saint this year, was born in the city in 1920. His house is now the main tourist attraction.

Klinowski has lobbied for years for the decriminalization of drugs in Poland, where possessing any kind of drug is a crime.

Voters in the heavily Catholic country also elected their first openly gay mayor over the weekend.

Irish navy intercepts massive cocaine shipment off coast of Cork

Armed sailors raid yacht containing up to €80m worth of drug, thought to have been smuggled to Ireland from South America

theguardian.com, Henry McDonald, Ireland correspondent, Wednesday 24 September 2014

Irish vessel LÉ Niamh with the yacht Makayabella, which was stormed by a naval
 team who found up to 40 bales of cocaine on board. Photograph: Irish Defence Forces/PA

Ireland’s navy confirmed on Wednesday evening that it has intercepted a yacht with a consignment of cocaine worth up to €80m (£63m) on board.

It also said three men believed to be from the UK were arrested on board the vessel in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

The yacht, the Makayabella, was stormed by armed Irish sailors 200 miles off Mizen Head, County Cork.

The operation was carried out by a joint task force comprising members of the customs service, the Garda Síochána and navy. The task force works in conjunction with an international headquarters in Lisbon which monitors suspicious shipping coming into European territorial waters.

Two Irish naval vessels – LÉ Niamh and LÉ Roisin – identified the yacht in a surveillance operation in the Atlantic Ocean.

The drugs found are understood to have been smuggled from South America with the yacht sailing from a port in the Caribbean.

Up to 40 bales of cocaine are believed to have been concealed on board the yacht.

It was boarded under cover of darkness by specially trained armed sailors in the early hours of Tuesday morning. The crew are not believed to have put up resistance.

Details of the operation were kept secret until Wednesday evening to protect follow-up investigations in Ireland and abroad.

A spokesperson for the Irish Defence Forces said the operation was based on intelligence from the National Crime Agency in the UK and the French customs service, the DNRED.

The yacht has been taken by tow into the Haulbowline port near Cork City. Armed Irish military police have sealed off the naval base.

Some of the biggest drug seizures in recent times have been off the Irish coast, which is often used as a dropoff point for South American narcotics being smuggled into Europe.

The biggest seizure to date was the discovery of €440m worth of Colombian cocaine which was found in Dunlough Bay, west Cork, seven years ago.

That smuggling operation was compromised after the UK gang behind the plot overloaded a smaller boat to get the drugs to shore and filled a spare fuel tank with diesel instead of petrol. The boat capsized in heavy seas and the majority of the gang were arrested before they could escape.

Over 1,000 arrested in unprecedented swoop: Europol

Yahoo – AFP, Jan Hennop, 24 Sep 2014

A Bulgarian police unit participates in an anti-terror drill in the capital
Sofia on June 15, 2010 (AFP Photo/Dimitar Dilkoff)

The Hague (AFP) - Police have arrested more than 1,000 suspects and rescued at least 30 trafficked children in an unprecedented swoop on organised crime groups across Europe, Europol's chief said on Wednesday.

The continent-wide raids targeted gangs involved in people trafficking, cybercrime, narcotics and illegal gun trafficking, among others.

Carried out by some 20,000 officers between September 15-23, Operation Archimedes "was the single largest coordinated assault an organised crime in Europe," Rob Wainwright told reporters in The Hague.

"The scale of the operation is unprecedented," he added.

Police officers from all 28 European Union members, as well as Australia, Colombia, Norway, the United States, Serbia and Switzerland, carried out 250 operations in some 300 cities, ports and border crossings across Europe.

"We designed an operation specifically to hit criminal infrastructure," Wainwright said at Europol's fortress-like headquarters in The Hague.

"Multiple criminal enterprises, some of them the most serious, have been disrupted right across Europe," he said, adding that the operation targeted "the infrastructure as a whole and not just isolated cases".

Italian police chief Allesandro Pansa said that the Mediterranean and Balkans had been "particular hotspots".

In total, 1,027 arrest were made, including 250 in Spain and 200 in Bulgaria.

Police focused on the growing threat of cybercrime, with criminal networks using the Internet for cross-border crimes, including money laundering.

In one of the raids, 30 Romanian children were saved from child traffickers aiming to use the victims as sex slaves or slave labour, Wainwright said.

In total, 94 trafficking suspects were arrested, with police checking the identity of over 10,000 illegal immigrants.

Law officers seized around 600 kilos (1,320 pounds) of cocaine, 1.3 tonnes of cannabis and 200 kilos of heroin.

They also dismantled a laboratory used for making counterfeit medicine, confiscated 13 luxury cars and seized 1.5 million contraband cigarettes as well as one million euros ($1.3 million) in cash.

Police intercepted over 40 packages of cocaine sent from Colombia to Europe and several couriers carrying the drug.

Searches and arrests were made at four airports and two harbours in Colombia.

"More arrests are expected to follow," said Wainwright, adding that the operation had uncovered leads to be followed up in the "months and years" to come.

It also uncovered new routes used by criminal networks such as human traffickers and identified new criminal trends, he said.

The swoop was coordinated by Europol, whose command centre in The Hague was operating "24/7" Wainwright said.

"The operation sends a very clear message," he said.

"It clearly tells the criminal community... there will be no safe place for them to carry out their activities."