• Cocaine shipment through Newark leads to 3 arrests in Spain, officials say

    By Jim Gold, NBC News

    A cocaine shipment spotted by customs officers in Newark, N.J., helped lead to the arrest of three people in Barcelona, Spain, U.S. officials said Friday.


    Special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), along with the Spanish Guardia Civil, said they arrested Oleksii Stepanets, a Ukrainian national; Eduard Medvedev, a Russian national; and Edgar Palma Bofill, a Spanish national.

    Customs and Border Patrol officers at Newark Liberty International Airport intercepted a shipment of pulleys containing approximately 2.23 kilograms of cocaine on Aug. 21, ICE officials said. The shipment originated in Costa Rica and arrived in Newark on a commercial aircraft, they said. The shipment’s manifest said it was auto parts destined for an auto shop in Barcelona.

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    HSI Newark agents coordinated with agents in Madrid to assist the Spanish Guardia Civil in the arrests, officials said.

    Besides the arrests, police seized a total of 2.99 kilograms of cocaine and “precursor chemicals” used to process the drug, officials said.

    The arrests were linked to a previous seizure of 10 kilograms of cocaine at the Newark airport, officials said.

    The total wholesale value of the cocaine is over $500,000, they said.

    "This cooperation with foreign governments represents HSI's broad footprint that extends beyond our border," said Andrew McLees, special agent in charge of HSI Newark.

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    The investigation was the latest in a series of drug-smuggling interceptions reported by ICE. Among others, which yielded larger drug seizures:

    • Two U.S. citizens were arrested and 1,048 kilograms of cocaine with a street value of $72 million were seized Aug. 6 from a boat towing a vessel off the southern coast of Puerto Rico.
    • Two U.S. citizens were arrested and 450 kilograms of cocaine with a street value of $10 million were seized July 31 from a suspicious 30-foot fiberglass boat with two outboard engines sinking off the eastern coast of Puerto Rico.
    • Six Dominican Republic nationals aboard a 25-foot unmarked fiberglass boat heading toward Puerto Rico were arrested and 330 kilograms and 1 kilogram of heroin with an estimated street value of $8 million were seized in early June.

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  • Report: Suspect in Conn. jeweler murder kills self

    By msnbc.com staff and NBC News

    A man suspected of killing a jeweler in the tony town of Westport, Conn., last month and stealing $300,000-worth of diamonds has killed himself in a Spanish prison, according to The Hartford Courant.

    Andrew Robert Levene, 41, of West Haven had been arrested in Spain and charged with shooting and killing 65-year-old Yekutiel Zeevi at Zeevi’s office in a shopping center on Dec. 8, after pretending to buy several diamonds.

    Levene fled the U.S. on a flight from Philadelphia to the Netherlands and then went on to Spain, authorities alleged.  He was arrested by Spanish national police on Monday, NBC News reported. 

    According to The Hartford Courant, a source said law enforcement officials in Connecticut were notified Thursday that the 41-year-old former Army Ranger had committed suicide. Authorities were trying to determine the cause of death.

    Levene had training in the use of weapons, according to an affidavit and had family members in Connecticut and New York, NBCConnecticut.com reported.

    Read the original story by NBCConnecticut.com 

    Earlier story: Spanish police arrest suspect in shooting of Conn. jeweler

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  • Spanish police arrest suspect in shooting of Conn. jeweler

    By NBC News and msnbc.com staff reports

    A man suspected of killing a jeweler in the tony town of Westport, Conn., last month and stealing $300,000-worth of diamonds has been arrested in Spain, federal authorities said.

    Andrew Robert Levene, 41, was charged Tuesday with shooting and killing Yekutiel Zeevi, 65, at Zeevi’s office in a shopping center on Dec. 8. It was the first murder in Westport, former home of domestic guru Martha Stewart, since 1996.

    According to a federal criminal complaint filed in Washington, D.C., and reported by the Connecticut Post, Levene met with Zeevi in the shop, located in a locked second-floor suite, pretending he was going to purchase several large diamonds he had arranged to buy earlier that month.

    Once inside, he pulled out a gun and shot Zeevi and a business associate, authorities said.

    Levene fled the U.S. on a flight from Philadelphia to the Netherlands and then went on to Spain, authorities allege.  He was arrested by Spanish national police on Monday. 

    U.S. Attorney for Connecticut David Fein said Levene will face federal murder and attempted murder charges.  It was not immediately clear when Levene might be sent back to Connecticut for trial or whether he had an attorney.

    Zeevi's business associate, Ronen Konfino, 48, of New York City, survived the shooting and had been able to help police with their investigation, the Connecticut Post reported.

    Use of a firearm
    Levene was formally charged with one count of federal murder, one count of attempted murder, one count of causing death through the use of a firearm and one count of interference with commerce through robbery, Fein said.

    According to the Post, authorities said that Levene contacted Zeevi's business in early December and asked Zeevi if he could find diamonds between 2 and 3 carats in size and valued between $45,000 and $75,000. On Dec. 7, Zeevi and Konfino met Levene, who examined the diamonds, but told the owner he would have to "sleep on it" before making a purchase, according to the documents.

    The next day, six diamonds with a total value of approximately $300,000 were shown to Levene, who then pulled out a gun and shot both Zeevi and Konfino, according to the documents. Zeevi was pronounced dead after being taken to Norwalk Hospital, where Konfino was also treated and later released.

    Eileen Rosen, a friend of the family, told the Post that she was "thrilled that they found him; this is great news for the family. He was very close with his wife. Nothing can bring him back, her heart will ache forever, but I'm just so thrilled that they found him. Everybody in the community loves him."

    Msnbc.com staff contributed to this report from NBCNewYork.com.

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  • Dartmouth student dies studying abroad in Spain

    By msnbc.com staff and news services

    HANOVER, N.H. – A Dartmouth College student, who was on the Big Green’s men’s rugby team, has died while studying abroad in Barcelona, Spain, according to Dartmouth College.

    Crispin Scott, a member of the class of 2013, was found dead in an apartment on Saturday, police said. The cause of his death is unknown and police are investigating.

    Scott, of Mercer Island, Wash., was studying abroad on the Academy of Liberal and Beaux-Arts program run by Portland State University. He was seen at a gathering of at least 40 students in the program Friday night at a hotel, which broke up into smaller groups.

    Program director Charles Grant told The Dartmouth newspaper that Scott did not return to his apartment and did not show up for an orientation session on Saturday.

    “Barcelona police are investigating as they do for all untimely deaths, and like everyone else, we are waiting for more information,” Johnson told The Dartmouth.

    Police officials said “there did not appear to have been any physical violence.”

    'Heavy hearts'
    Sadness over Scott’s death surfaced on social network sites on Monday.

    “With heavy hearts, the DRFC mourns the untimely loss of one of our own. Our thoughts are with Crispin Scott's family and friends during this difficult time,” the Rugby Football Club posted on its Facebook page.

    “Rip to one of the most intelligent human beings I have ever known u will be missed Crispin Scott,” tweeted @NeakDaSneak206.

    “Crispin Scott from Tokyo and Seattle, a son of our friend, passed away in Barcelona. With deep sadness we miss him and pray for his family,” tweeted @tomoikenaga.

    “Our hearts go out to the family and friends of Crispin Scott '13, such a tragedy - you'll be missed #RIP,” Darmouth11 posted on its Twitter's feed.

    The Associated Press and msnb.com's Sevil Omer contributed to this report.

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  • From Napoleon to Liz Taylor: perfect pearl’s $11 million journey

    Stan Honda / AFP - Getty Images

    "La Peregrina," the pearl, diamond and ruby necklace owned by Elizabeth Taylor on display during a preview of The Collection of Elizabeth Taylor at Christie's in New York on Dec. 1.

    By Olga Luna and Eduardo Sunol, Telemundo News

    MIAMI – If there’s any woman in the world envied for her jewels and exceptional beauty, it’s Elizabeth Taylor. And this week the world was reminded of her wealth, her power and her ability to get the best out of men, including love and gems.

    Christie’s sold a 55-carat pearl known as “La Peregrina,” a tear-shaped gem that Richard Burton gave Taylor in early 1969, for $11.8 million at auction on Tuesday evening.

    By the time Burton bought it, “La Peregrina” had already spent centuries traveling from the hands of a slave to Spain, France and the United States in an intense bidding war between Spain’s Royals, France’s emperor’s family and America’s millionaires.

    “It has become the most expensive pearl ever sold at auction,” Rahul Kadakia, head of Christie’s New York Jewelry Department, told Telemundo News.

     

    From Spanish royalty to Napoleon
    La Peregrina was discovered in the early 1500s by an African slave at the Pearl Islands in the Gulf of Panama. Its name means “rare,” or “special,” and it was offered to King Phillip II of Spain, becoming part of the crown jewels of the Spanish Crown.

    At the time it was valued at 714,000 maravedí, a gold and silver coin currency brought to Spain by the Moorish Almoravids, which would be the equivalent of $8,000 U.S. dollars today.

    La Peregrina was inherited by Phillip III of Spain and it passed from generation to generation of Spain’s royals.  But in 1808, when Jose Napoleon was named king of Spain by his brother Emperor Napoleon, the jewels of the Spanish Crown fell into his hands, and La Peregrina was one of them.

    Jose Napoleon stole them all and gave La Peregrina to his wife, Julie Clary, who proudly showed it until the day the marriage ended. Napoleon then took the jewel with him to the United States, where he lived in New York City and Philadelphia.

    Napoleon bequeathed the jewel onto Napoleon III, the ruler of the second French empire, who, after his deposition in 1815 - and later arrest in France - was sent to England were he sold La Peregrina to James Hamilton, later the Duke of Abercorn.

    The late actress's legendary jewelry was auctioned off at Christie's in New York. NBC's Brian Williams reports.

    The Duke bought the pearl for his wife, Louisa Hamilton, the Duchess of Abercorn, who lost it twice because the heavy jewel fell out of its necklace’s setting, but on both occasions the pearl was recovered.

    According to Christie’s records, La Peregrina remained in the hands of the Abercorn until 1914.

    Fast-forward to 1969, when it showed up at auction in Sotheby’s. Richard Burton and Taylor, who had married for the first time five years earlier, were both still enjoying the success of their movie “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf,” which Taylor won her second Academy Award for. 

    Burton, evidently still in love during that first marriage (the pair later divorced in 1974, remarried 16 months later in 1976 and divorced again), went to Parke-Bernet galleries, one of the largest auctioneers of fine art in the U.S, on Jan. 23, 1969. The auctioneer had already acquired by the rare pearl from Sotheby’s, and Burton wanted it for his bride.

    But Burton had a strong opponent to bid against: Alfonso de Borbón Dampierre, an envoy of the Spanish royal family whose mission was to get the jewel back to Madrid´s Royal Palace.

    Despite Dampierre´s credentials, he was outbid by Burton, who offered $17,000 over what the royal family was ready to offer and took it home at the final price of $37,000.

    An unexpected thief
    Burton gave it to his wife on Valentine´s Day, and as had happened a century before, one day the pearl went missing from the couples´ suite at Caesar´s Palace in Las Vegas.

    “I reached down to touch La Peregrina and it wasn’t there,” Elizabeth Taylor wrote in her book “Elizabeth Taylor: My Love Affair With Jewelry.”

    “I glanced over at Richard and thank God he wasn’t looking at me, and I went into the bedroom and threw myself on the bed, buried my head into the pillow and screamed. Very slowly and very carefully, I retraced all my steps in the bedroom. I took my slippers off, took my socks off, and got down on my hands and knees, looking everywhere for the pearl. Nothing.”

    And then, she thought not her husband but someone else in the suite may have it.

    “I just casually opened the puppy’s mouth and inside his mouth was the most perfect pearl in the world. It was – thank God - not scratched.”

    Perfect and not scratched it was, indeed. And today, after years traveling from one continent to another, from slave, to kings, to emperors and millionaires, it lives in the hand of an unknown bidder who at $11.8 million has bought not only a pearl, but history in the shape of a tear.  
     

    Read this story in Spanish from Telemundo

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