Want the best of VICE News straight to your inbox? Sign up here. When singer-songwriter Raffaela Weyman found a large, yellow flower as she and her best friend walked to another friend’s house, the two couldn’t help but stop and smell it—repeatedly. But Weyman, who lives in Toronto, later found out they’d inhaled what’s widely
Want the best of VICE News straight to your inbox? Sign up here. A music festival that billed itself as a “Redneck Rave” included violent fights, a slit throat, drugs, and someone impaled with a log, according to law enforcement. Thousands of people, some wielding “Fuck Biden” flags and others just sunburned skin, descended on Blue
He was previously described as “Asia’s most-wanted man.” Now Tse Chi Lop, an alleged drug kingpin who authorities have described as “Asia’s El Chapo,” is fighting extradition to Australia. The Chinese-born Canadian national was arrested at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport in January, while in transit from Taiwan to Canada, based on allegations that he was the
If you reassessed your relationship to drinking or drugs during the past year-plus, you’re not alone: One of very many downsides of the pandemic is that a shitload of people fell deeper into active addiction. But a ton of people rose up out of it, too: Therapists suddenly had more than full caseloads. AA meetings,
Like much of the world over the past year, COVID-19 forced the closure of borders and pummeled economies in Southeast Asia. But while many suffered and switched jobs, drug traffickers went about their business and even thrived, according to a new report. In findings released Thursday, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
Planning a late-night ambush, Thai police were hiding near the banks of the Mekong river on the border with Laos when they spotted men loading packs into a van. At around 2am, they pounced. As armed officers rushed in, two people fled into the night, possibly crossing the river into Laos. But the driver put
A drug cartel composed of some of Australia’s most wanted crime bosses is colluding with corrupt government officials to smuggle an estimated $1.5 billion AUD ($1.16 billion USD) worth of drugs across the nation’s borders per year, according to the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC). The nine men involved in the criminal syndicate, which the
A drug cartel composed of some of Australia’s most wanted crime bosses is colluding with corrupt government officials to smuggle an estimated $1.5 billion AUD ($1.16 billion USD) worth of drugs across the nation’s borders per year, according to the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC). The nine men involved in the criminal syndicate, which the
“I don’t chew qat in the morning. I’ll eat breakfast, do some work, then I’ll chew,” explained Redwan, a roadside water vendor. He paused for a second and added, “Nighttime is the best time to chew qat because there’s girls, sheesha, tea—it’s crazy.” It was late 2019, when international travel was still a gloriously mundane