Arrest of 13 Suspected Members of Turkey Drug Trafficking Group

A former supervisory special agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in Virginia, Brian Shanahan spent more than 20 years investigating drug trafficking operations, arresting suspects, interviewing witnesses, and seizing assets. Known for being a dedicated professional, Brian Shanahan handled domestic and international cases for the DEA and spent some time in Turkey as a case agent for the organization.

In March 2020, authorities from Europe announced that they had arrested 13 individuals who are believed to be part of a drug trafficking group based in Turkey. These arrests were made after authorities from several European countries investigated the group for 2 years. According to Europol, two high-value targets were included among the 13 arrested individuals, and those arrested were captured in Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Turkey.

Along with the individual arrests, European authorities also seized 2.4 tons of heroin. It is believed that the group planned on shipping the drugs to Europe in construction materials or food containers that would be put either on trucks or cargo ships. The drugs most likely originated from the Middle East, based on reports, and were headed to the Netherlands. Cocaine, likely from Latin America, was also seized in the operation.

Safely Storing a Sports Card Collection

Passionate government agent Brian Shanahan served as a supervisory special agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) under the United States Department of Justice. Outside of his work investigating money laundering and drug trafficking operations around the world, former DEA agent Brian Shanahan is fond of collecting sports cards.

In the past, sports cards were rarely protected. Children would often place the cards in the wheels of their bikes, or adults would store their amateur collections in shoeboxes. Recently, collecting sports cards has become much more serious, and the cards themselves need special storage and care to keep them from losing their value.

One of the most common ways sports cards get ruined is through UV light. Exposure to UV light irreversibly damages sports cards, thus making them more brittle and faded. The worst sort of UV damage occurs when cards are exposed to direct sunlight, but even ambient sunlight is capable of causing damage. For this reason, sports cards must always be kept either in a storage container that filters out sunlight or in an area with no sunlight.

In situations where cards are stored out of the light, they must still be stored properly to avoid long-term damage. Plastic sleeves, or penny sleeves, are the most inexpensive way to store each individual sports card. They aren’t as protective as toploaders, plastic holders, and plastic cases, but they are better than having nothing at all protecting the card. However, plastic sleeves are flexible, so they won’t prevent cards from getting bent like a rigid toploader or screw-down holder will.

These individually protected cards can subsequently be placed in a binder or storage box to add further protection. Binders are ideal for collectors seeking something that is easily accessible and allows them to show off their large collections on a regular basis. Meanwhile, storage boxes still make retrieval easy, but are often best for collectors who plan on showing only a few cards off every once in a while.