Fentanyl seizures up in San Antonio as drug dealers find customers on social media
Overdose deaths in the U.S. have officially hit the highest record ever, according to new data released by the CDC. DEA agents report a main culprit is fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is dangerously addictive and deadly. That trend is unfortunately tracking in San Antonio too.
Hidalgo County authorities warn of epidemic of deadly fake pills
Those pills, which are marketed as legit prescription pills like Xanax or Adderall or Oxycodone, contain methemphatime and fentanyl and can be deadly. Hidalgo County District Attorney Ricardo Rodriguez Jr. also touched on the source of these pills, which he described as poison. And Hidalgo County is a gateway for these traffickers to smuggle these pills north, where they end up in cities across the country. Sifuentes said these drug trafficking organizations use several methods to smuggle pills, including vehicles, body carriers, concealment within commodities and through parcel shipping agencies. One of the suspects Sifuentes said was arrested Thursday used juveniles to smuggle pills through ports of entry, with the Progreso port being where the majority of cases where juveniles are being used to smuggle.
myrgv.comWe Finally Know How 43 Students on a Bus Vanished Into Thin Air
Pedro Pardo/AFP via GettyTranscripts of newly released text messages between a crime boss and a deputy police chief have finally lifted the lid on the mystery of 43 students who went missing one night in southwestern Mexico.The messages indicate that the cops and the cartel worked together to capture, torture, and murder at least 38 of the 43 student teachers who went missing in September of 2014.The students had made the deadly mistake of commandeering several buses in order to drive to Mexico
news.yahoo.comFacing stunning levels of deaths, U.S. and Mexico revamp strained security cooperation
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has repeatedly criticized the Merida Intitiative, saying it promoted an ineffective “war on drugs." But the longtime leftist saw few possibilities to renegotiate it with former president Donald Trump.
washingtonpost.comFormer cartel boss Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo speaks out for first time since arrest
Former cartel boss Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo breaks his silence in an interview with Noticias Telemundo, his first since being apprehended in 1989 in connection with the deaths of DEA undercover agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena and Mexican pilot Alfredo Zavala.Details: The man who once was considered “The Godfather” of narco crime and one of the most feared criminals worldwide is now a visibly worn down 75-year-old who calls himself a “corpse waiting to be buried by a tree’s roots.”Get market new
news.yahoo.comMexican man to enter guilty plea for trying to smuggle kilo of meth
A Mexican man faces several years in federal prison for trying to smuggle about a kilo of meth, records show. According to court notes, Jesus Carlos Garcia Rodriguez is expected to change his not guilty plea on a drug smuggling charge to guilty later this week. Garcia was arrested in January after he tried to hide a kilo of meth under his shirt during a traffic stop, the complaint against him stated. That’s when the agent noticed Garcia’s shirt area appeared “bulgy” as he adjusted his waistband, the complaint said. After lifting Garcia’s shirt, the agent found a clear plastic package containing a clear crystal-like substance that was later determined to be methamphetamine, the document said.
myrgv.comExposed: The Sadistic Methods Employed by Mexico’s Lawless Cops
Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/GettyALFREDO ESTRELLAThe man who once held Mexico’s most senior law enforcement position has been arrested on charges of torturing a suspect in custody. If even Luis Cárdenas Palomino—who once earned a citation as “Mexico’s best police officer”—was abusing suspects, what does that say about the rest of the country’s police officers?The truth is torture has become a common feature of Mexican policing. We’ll dig deeper into the question of torturing detainees
news.yahoo.comAnother reason for third stimulus checks: Jobless benefits not reaching 8 million people
DEA / M. BORCHI | De Agostini | Getty ImagesUnemployment benefits aren't reaching most jobless Americans — suggesting that lawmakers who wish to target aid to the unemployed would likely need to use stimulus checks or other relief measures. Congress passed a $900 billion measure in December, which enhanced jobless benefits and offered $600 checks per person. But stimulus checks may be essential for the unemployed workers who aren't tapping jobless benefits, Forsythe said. It would raise and extend unemployment benefits, and offer $1,400 stimulus checks per person. A group of 10 GOP lawmakers want to pare back a third round of stimulus checks to $1,000 a person.
cnbc.comStates have tried seizing unemployment benefits during the pandemic. Some fear new rules won’t help
A man wearing a face mask as a preventive measure walks past the New York State Department of Labor in Flushing, Borough of Queens, New York. John Nacion | LightRocket | Getty ImagesStates have tried clawing back unemployment benefits from thousands of people during the Covid pandemic. While new protections are meant to help, some fear states may not sign on. Most states do waive overpayments made through their traditional unemployment insurance programs. "We are still going through recent [U.S. Labor Department] guidance and hope to have a decision soon."
cnbc.com11 in custody following DEA raids at more than a dozen locations around San Antonio
SAN ANTONIO – The Drug Enforcement Administration has conducted a series of raids in San Antonio on Tuesday, resulting in 11 people being taken into custody. Assistant Special Agent Dante Sorianello said agents raided more than a dozen locations across the city in connection to a meth trafficking scheme that has taken more than a year to investigate. One of the locations raided was a home in the 500 block of Secluded Grove on the Far West Side. A large amount of meth and firearms were found at the locations raided on Tuesday, according to Sorianello. Sorianello said the DEA can only release limited information at this point.
Attorney General William P. Barr Delivers Remarks at Press Conference Announcing Criminal Charges against Venezuelan Officials
Today, I am here to talk about the former Maduro regime and its direct participation in narco-terrorism, corruption, money laundering, and drug trafficking. Joining me today is the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Geoff Berman; the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Ariana Fajardo; the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, Brian Benczkowski, and; DEA Acting Administrator Uttam Dhillon. Further, the Southern District of Florida unsealed charges this morning against the Chief Justice of the Venezuelan Supreme Court, involving money laundering. With that, I will turn it over to the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Geoff Berman. As alleged, the Maduro regime is awash in corruption and criminality.
justice.govAssistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski Delivers Remarks at the Project Python Press Conference
Today, we are announcing the results of Project Python, a multilateral interagency operation targeting the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, also known as CJNG. Project Python began on September 1, 2019, culminating in todays announcement. As Acting Administrator Dhillon will describe in more detail, Project Python was unprecedented in both scale and complexity. More than 100 investigations will now form the initial target deck for Project Python. And with Project Python, we are delivering results in the face of that threat for the American people.
justice.gov21 indicted on drug trafficking charges in Seguin area, officials say
SEGUIN, Texas – A massive web of drug activity is being torn apart little by little by Seguin and Guadalupe County law enforcement, with help from federal investigators. They revealed a list of 21 targeted suspects across the state indicted on charges involving methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin. 11 of the suspects were arrested Tuesday morning in the Seguin area alone. Since the beginning of the investigation, officers have seized about 22 kilograms of methamphetamine, one kilogram of cocaine, 400 grams of crack cocaine and 145 grams of heroin. The entire investigation started with Seguin Police officers noticing an uptick in methamphetamine arrests and seizures.
Leader of Drug Trafficking Organization Convicted of International Drug Trafficking Conspiracy
A woman from Culiacan, Mexico was convicted after a seven-day jury trial for her role in an international drug trafficking conspiracy to transport thousands of kilograms of cocaine and dozens of pounds of methamphetamine into the United States. U.S. District Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson for the District of Columbia presided over the trial and will impose sentence. According to the evidence introduced at trial, Fajardo Campos ran a drug trafficking organization with her adult children that was aligned with the Sinaloa cartel. She sourced cocaine directly from Colombia, employed pilots, and brokered the purchase of jets to fly the cocaine to Central America and Mexico. She partnered with other traffickers in the Sinaloa cartel and her children for further distribution of the cocaine into the United States.
justice.govToo big to prosecute, An American Terrorist, Airlift
Too big to prosecute, An American Terrorist, Airlift Whistleblowers: DEA attorneys went easy on McKesson, the country’s largest drug distributor; then, rejecting hate, after spending nearly a decade spreading it; and, saving rhino with helicopters
cbsnews.comReport: Taxpayer dollars paid for DEA sex parties
The scandal involving DEA agents and sex parties in Colombia was much worse than originally thought, according to a new report. Congress held a hearing Tuesday to go over the details of the parties that in some cases were paid for with U.S. government money. Chip Reid reports.
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