2 Canadian women busted with cocaine worth $22m in Australia while on worldwide cruise

Two Canadian women 23-year-old Melina Roberge and 28-year-old Isabelle Lagacé, who were on a dream world wide cruise were on Monday arrested by the police in Australia, according to a release by the Australian authorities. Authorities say approximately 95 kilograms of cocaine were allegedly found in the suitcases of the two friends and another Canadian man, 63-year-old man, Andre Tamine who was travelling with them when they arrived in Sydney on a cruise ship. All three were arrested in Australia.

According to the Daily Telegraph, the value of the drugs was $30 million Australian dollars, which is about $22 million in U.S. dollars.
The bust came on the 51st day of a 68-day cruise on the Sea Princess, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. The Star states authorities were prepared to search the ship when it arrived in Sydney after a joint investigation which included the Canadian Border Service Agency and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

They were aboard the MS Sea Princess cruise. Tickets for the MS Sea Princess cruise cost around £8,500

 They shared photos from exotic locales around the world including Tahiti, Peru, Bermuda, Morocco and more. "Traveling is one thing ... But traveling with an open mind, ready to taste everything, see everything, learn everything and get yourself out of your comfort zone .. Is probably the best therapy and lesson ever," Roberge wrote in one post from the holiday.

The women had spent the past two months cruising around the world and documenting their lavish holiday on their public Instagram accounts. According to Facebook accounts that appear to belong to them, Lagacé was a waitress at a Longueuil bar and Roberge was a manager at a Montreal jewelry store. According to their Instagram accounts, they began their adventure on July 9 in Southampton, England.

Clive Murray from the Australian Border Forces said the bust came after work alongside US and Canadian authorities.
He said:

"These syndicates should be on notice that the Australian Border Force is aware of all of the different ways they attempt to smuggle drugs into our country and we are working with a range of international agencies to stop them."

AFP Assistant Commissioner Crime Operations Shane Connelly said:
"Today’s successful operation has resulted in three arrests and we will not rule out further activity as we continue our investigations. "The AFP is committed to working with its partner agencies to protect the community by stopping these dangerous drugs making their way to Australian communities, and bringing those responsible to justice."

The trio have been charged with importing drugs and are due in court this week and now face life imprisonment if convicted of drug smuggling in Australia, where cocaine prices are among the highest in the world.

Europa League Draw: who Man Utd could meet

Pot One: Schalke, Zenit St Petersburg, Manchester United, Shakhtar Donetsk, Athletic Club, Olympiacos, Villarreal, Ajax, Inter, Fiorentina, Anderlecht, Viktoria Plzen.

Pot Two: AZ, Braga, Red Bull Salzburg, Roma, Fenerbahce, Sparta Prague, PAOK, Steaua Bucharest, Genk, APOEL, Standard Liege, Saint-Etienne.

Pot Three: Gent, Young Boys, Krasnodar, Rapid Wien, Slovan Liberec, Celta Vigo, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Feyenoord, Austria Wien, Mainz, Zurich, Southampton.

Pot Four: Panathinaikos, Sassuolo, Qarabag, Astana, Nice, Zorya Luhansk, Astra Giurgiu, Konyaspor, Osmanlispor, Gabala, Hapoel Be'er Sheva, Dundalk.

The format and how many teams there

48 teams will compete in the group stages and will be evenly split into 12 groups. The top two sides from each group will progress to the knockout stage.

The eight third-placed sides from the Champions League group stage, which took place yesterday, will also enter the competition in the round of 32.

Manchester United are in pot one, while Southampton find themselves in pot three.

West Ham would have been in the draw had they overcome Romanian minnows Astra Giurgiu in the play-offs - but they lost 1-0 at the London Stadium last night to end their European dreams.

Ibrahimovic at the double as Man Utd sink Saints

Zlatan Ibrahimovic scores in either half as Jose Mourinho wins first home match at Old Trafford

 

Manchester United 2-0 Southampton

Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored both goals as Manchester United completed their second successive Premier League win of Jose Mourinho’s tenure with a 2-0 win over Southampton.

Ibrahimovic, on his home debut in the English top flight, struck with a 36th-minute header and a second-half penalty to ensure Mourinho’s first match in charge at Old Trafford resulted in victory.

United, for whom Paul Pogba made his first start since rejoining the club from Juventus, gave a commanding performance with the Frenchman, Ibrahimovic and Wayne Rooney all playing significant roles.

Pogba began the match brightly, testing Fraser Forster after 13 minutes with a curling 20-yard strike from the left edge of the area, shortly after Southampton had suffered the costly loss of Oriel Romeu, their defensive midfielder, to a muscular injury.

The Saints did create chances of their own in the first half with Nathan Redmond turning Eric Bailly and crossing just beyond the unmarked Dusan Tadic on 18 minutes and Shane Long threatening twice, firstly with a shot on the turn on 26 minutes that rippled the side-netting, and then with a scuffed effort with his left foot which he perhaps took too early after being put through by Tadic.

But as the half wore on Mourinho’s men began to assume control. A lovely move instigated by a clipped pass from Pogba on the left brought a clever flick from Juan Mata and an audacious acrobatic effort by Ibrahimovic which flew just wide.

The Swede was merely setting his sights, and would be more economical next time around. United took the lead when Rooney chased into the right corner unchecked to pick up an Antonio Valencia pass, and, showing great speed of thought, dispatched a deep cross which Ibrahimovic met, ahead of Jose Fonte, with a thumping header

The travelling supporters thought they were back in it when Tadic scored with a header of his own four minutes after the interval but the attempt was ruled out for offside, and within two minutes the visitors were two down.

Jordi Clasie, on for the injured Romeu, tripped Luke Shaw as the full-back raced into the area, and Ibrahimovic did the rest from the spot.

United were in assertive mood and Southampton, despite enjoying a good deal of possession, struggling to contend with the power and attacking verve of their hosts, epitomised by the commanding Pogba.

Anthony Martial had to be denied on three occasions by Forster, Virgil van Dijk and then Cedric Soares, while Pogba cleared the bar with a towering header as Mourinho’s men threatened to run riot.

As it was there would be no more goals but with Ibrahimovic three goals to the good for the fledgling season and Mourinho boasting two wins out of two already, Man Utd’s statement of intent had been made abundantly clear.

Photos: Paul Pogba and Thierry Henry do the dab dance

 

 

New Mancester United footballer Paul Pogba was photographed doing the dab dance alongside his childhood idol Thierry Henry who now works as a football Pundit.

French football icon Thierry Henry visited Manchester United's training ground on Thursday to do a Sky Sports interview with the World's most expensive player ahead of his second debut for Man Utd against Southampton on Friday night.