Thai court today remanded Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout to a maximum-security prison

Thai court today remanded Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout to a maximum-security prison outside Bangkok as investigators decide whether to prosecute him in Thailand, his lawyer said.Bout, known as the "Merchant of Death'' for allegedly funnelling arms to some of the world's most violent conflicts, was arrested in Bangkok on March 6 in a sting operation carried out by Thai police and US anti-drug agents.
Shortly after his arrest, he was sent to prison while Thai authorities investigated his case to determine if they could prosecute him in Thailand.
He can be held without charge for up to 84 days, but a court must re-approve his detention every 12 days."The court decided to detain him for another 12 days, because Thai authorities have not yet finished their investigation,'' his lawyer Lak Nitiwatvichan said. The United States has already begun the process of seeking Bout's extradition to face charges of conspiring to sell millions of dollars of weapons to Marxist FARC rebels in Colombia.If Thai prosecutors decide to try him, Bout would first go through the Thai criminal system before being handed over to the United States.Bout's lawyers have insisted that he is an innocent man who runs a business servicing aircraft.But the former Soviet air force officer is believed to have supplied arms to Taliban militia, Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terror network, rebels in South America and former Liberian leader Charles Taylor.

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Daniel Bailey has been told to pay up £194,370 by a court. If he fails to hand over the money within six months, he will face a three-year jail term.

Daniel Bailey (35) avoided prison when he received a 26-week suspended sentence after pleading guilty to producing cannabis. But following a separate investigation into his finances by police, he has been told to pay up £194,370 by a court. If he fails to hand over the money within six months, he will face a three-year jail term.During a hearing brought by police under the Proceeds of Crime Act, Lincoln Crown Court was told officers swooped on Bailey's home, near Spalding, on August 5, 2005. They searched the property and found 22 cannabis plants growing among the flowers in his back garden.More cannabis seedlings were discovered in a shed, and two small lumps of the drug were seized in the house.Bailey was subsequently convicted of production of cannabis, which triggered the probe into his financial affairs.The further enquiries showed that in the six years before his arrest, Bailey had claimed incapacity benefit and income support to the tune of more than £21,000, to which he was

Riaz Mohammed, used a string of front companies to ship the highly addictive narcotic from Turkey.

Riaz Mohammed, used a string of front companies to ship the highly addictive narcotic from Turkey.The Court heard the "sophisticated" operation involved hiding half-kilo packages of the Class A substance in the hollowed out struts of wooden pallets. But despite the gang's best efforts each of the three importations - two to Dover docks and one which arrived at Heathrow airport - were intercepted during an investigation by the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca).Altogether 24kg of the drug - with an estimated street value of £2.3 million - was seized. In the dock with Mohammed, 41, of Lancaster Road, Leytonstone, east London (25 years), were his lieutenant Ibrahim Janturk, 52, from Tottenham, north London (22 years), and "footsoldiers" Cetin Albar, 35, who lived in Clapton Common, east London, and Emircan Aytac, 48, of Boyson Road, Walworth, south-east London, who got 16 years each.Mohammed was convicted by a jury of three counts of conspiracy to import heroin

Angus McDonald has pointed the finger at three of the people he says were involved with him in a plot to import millions of pounds worth of drugs

Angus McDonald drug runner has pointed the finger at three of the people he says were involved with him in a plot to import millions of pounds worth of drugs into South Cumbria.Angus McDonald, 44, was the first prosecution witness in the trial of two men and a woman accused of helping to launder some of the £35m made from importing cannabis into Windermere.One of the men, John James “Jim” Nightingale, is also accused of being one of those who conspired to import the drug from Spain. Prosecution witness McDonald, of Craig Walk, Windermere, has already pleaded guilty to drugs conspiracy and money laundering charges.Yesterday he became the key witness in the Carlisle Crown Court trial of Nightingale, Sharon Ambrose, and Duncan William Maxwell, who he says were involved with him.The court heard how a gang – led by Liverpool-born George Tymoszycki, who lived in the Lake District for several years – arranged for huge amounts of cannabis to be shipped from Spain to a cash and carry warehouse

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