DRUGS crooks who arrogantly posed for a Goodfellas gangster picture have been jailed for a total of 62 years. Detectives worked undercover for more than two years to bust the heroin and cocaine-dealing ring. Brazen gang members styled themselves on American mobsters and mocked up a scene from Martin Scorsese gangster film Goodfellas. In a series of six deals with undercover cops, the Bristol gang used a TEN-YEAR-OLD BOY to deliver heroin with a street value of 64,050. The last of three court cases for 15 members of the gang took place this week at Bristol Crown Court. They all pleaded guilty to drugs offences. Judge Julian Lambert jailed Ershane Khaliq, 25, for eight-and-a-half years. Zuaur Ali, 28, Waseem Hussain, 22, Mushabar Aftab, 35, and Tassadaf Hanif, 28, got between five-and-a-half years and six years. Tony Cross, 26, Aaron Dad, 24, Shazan Qumar, 30, Yasir Mahmood, 27, and Erion Qela, 25, were jailed for between two years and three-and-a-half years. Last year, five others Howard Blake, 42, Anthony Byfield, 30, Bradley Pearcey, 24, Paul England, 30, and Craig Tamlyn, 31 were jailed for between two years and four-and-a-half years. All the defendants are from the Bristol area apart from Aftab, … Continue reading →

LA PAZ, BoliviaCould Bolivia have a lesson to teach the United States about the war on drugs? Ever since Evo Morales was elected president in 2006, La Paz and Washington have been at odds over the flow of cocaine across the impoverished Andean country's borders. A former coca growers' leader, Morales has repeatedly defended the right of Bolivians to cultivate the plant -- the key ingredient in the illegal drug. Andeans have also traditionally chewed its leaves for a mild, harmless high -- similar to that from a cup of coffee -- long before a German chemist discovered how to process cocaine from it in 1859. Morales even kicked out the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in 2008. However, Bolivia's go-it-alone approach may be yielding better results than the U.S.-designed strategies adopted by the other two main cocaine-producing nations, Peru and Colombia. According to the United Nations, Bolivia was the only one of the three that reduced its coca cultivation in 2011, the most recent period for which results are available. That year, the total number of hectares of coca grown fell 12 percent to 27,200 (67,212 acres) in Bolivia. In Peru it grew 5.2 percent to 64,900 (160,371 acres) and … Continue reading →

DUBLIN, March 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Therapeutic Proteins to 2016. Drugs, Devices, Diseases, Markets and Forecasts" report to their offering. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130307/600769 ) In recent years, the number of protein-based pharmaceuticals reaching the marketplace has increased exponentially. The clinical application of these drugs is limited by a lack of desirable attributes for adequate absorption or distribution. It therefore becomes critical to formulate these drugs into safe, stable and efficacious delivery systems. Because these drugs face formidable enzymatic and penetration barriers when administered orally, peptide and protein drugs continue to be developed almost exclusively for parenteral administration. These combination drug-device products, where the drug and device are clinically tested and approved as a single product entity, are becoming one of the fastest new drug categories. The growth of protein drug products is having a significant effect on the way drugs and devices are developed. Cooperation between device designers and drug developers is occurring much earlier in the drug development cycle, allowing device designs in many cases to be tailored to the bioavailability targets and pharmacokinetic profiles of specific drug therapies. Highlights: - Analyzes approved therapeutic protein products and pipeline candidates and assesses … Continue reading →

MIAMI (AP) -- Major League Baseball on Friday sued a now-shuttered South Florida clinic and its operators, accusing them of scheming to provide banned performance-enhancing drugs to players in violation of their contracts. The lawsuit in Miami-Dade Circuit Court seeks unspecified damages from Coral Gables anti-aging clinic Biogenesis of America and its operator, Anthony Bosch. Several other Bosch associates are named in the lawsuit. A phone message left for a Bosch representative wasn't immediately returned, and associates have previously said Anthony Bosch is out of the country. MLB contends the clinic's operators solicited players to use banned substances knowing that would violate their contracts, specifically the drug prevention and treatment program that became effective in 2003. That program, part of baseball's collective bargaining agreement with players, includes a list of banned substances, lays out penalties for violations and imposes testing requirements. Because of the alleged conspiracy, the lawsuit contends MLB has suffered "costs of investigation, loss of goodwill, loss of revenue and profits and injury to its reputation, image, strategic advantage and fan relationships," attorneys Allen Weitzman and Matthew Menchel wrote in the complaint. Although it seeks money damages, the lawsuit also could provide a way for MLB to more … Continue reading →