drug trafficking

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Al-Qaeda Linked to 'Air Cocaine' Network

Rogue trans-Atlantic aviation set-up sparks security fears

(Newser) - A rogue aviation network with links to al-Qaeda has security analysts seriously worried. The network, believed to consist of at least 10 aircraft, including several Boeing 727s, transports huge amounts of cocaine from South America to West African smugglers who slip it into Europe. Islamic militant groups in Africa reap...

Mexico Tallies 69 Murders in Single Day

Mexicans live in fear of grotesque killings

(Newser) - Mexico kicked off 2010 with a grim record: On Saturday the violence-plagued country tallied 69 murders in a single day. As drug cartels stepped up retaliation against the government's war on trafficking, Saturday's count included 26 murders in the border city of Ciudad Juarez and 13 in Mexico City. Murders...

Drug Moles Infiltrate Border Patrol

Hiring rush making it easier for cartels to corrupt agency

(Newser) - The US Border Patrol has been stepping up its efforts to recruit agents and so have the Mexican cartels. Investigators say the traffickers, faced with tightened, high-tech security along the border, are trying to corrupt border agents any way they can and to plant their own people in jobs. The...

Banker for Drug Gangs, Al-Qaeda Nailed

Dubai-based banker helped shift money launder funds

(Newser) - One of al-Qaeda's favorite bankers has been busted in India after a year-long manhunt. Naresh Jain is accused of running a worldwide money laundering empire from his Dubai headquarters that handled over $2 billion a year from terrorist groups and drug traffickers, the Independent reports.

Bong Water Is a Drug: Court
 Bong Water Is a Drug: Court 
Oct 23, 2009 2:50 PM CDT

Bong Water Is a Drug: Court

Minnesota Supreme Court overturns ruling that said drug water was paraphernalia

(Newser) - Minnesota’s Supreme Court has declared bong water an illegal drug. The decision overturns a lower court ruling that held bong water was paraphernalia. The decision means lazy users who leave water in their bongs could be hit with a first-degree drug possession charge—even if they have no other...

Cocaine Sub Nabbed Off Guatemala
Cocaine Sub Nabbed
Off Guatemala
Oct 23, 2009 3:13 AM CDT

Cocaine Sub Nabbed Off Guatemala

US Navy helps make biggest drug bust in Guatemalan history

(Newser) - The US Navy and Guatemalan forces have seized a makeshift submarine carrying 10 tons of cocaine. Three Colombians and a Mexican crewman were arrested on board. The haul is the biggest drug bust ever made in Guatemala, which has become a major transit point for drug traffickers seeking to secure...

300 Arrested in Drug Raids Across US

Feds crack down on violent Mexican cartel specializing in meth

(Newser) - In the largest single strike at Mexican drug operations in the US, federal officials today announced the arrests of more than 300 people in raids across the country aimed at the newest and most violent cartel. La Familia has earned a reputation for dominating the methamphetamine trade and for using...

Mexican Drug Cartels Turn Into Mafias

(Newser) - Mexican drug cartels have evolved into mafia empires, charging protection fees to businesses and providing social services and jobs where government cannot, the AP reports. Behind it lurks the threat of violence or kidnapping, which drug lords carry out with near impunity. "Today, the traffickers have big companies, education,...

Crime Show Host Ordered Murders for Killer Ratings

Politician's crime show 'went as far as creating facts'

(Newser) - A Brazilian politician is suspected of commissioning killings to boost ratings for his crime show, the Guardian reports. Wallace Souza has asserted that the city of Manaus is crime-ridden; he’s suspected of ordering at least 5 deaths to make his case. The show “had an uncanny knack for...

US to Change Tactics in Afghan Drug War

(Newser) - The US is changing tactics in its war against the Afghan opium trade, the AP reports. Rather than targeting crops for eradication, the US will focus on interdiction and alternative crop programs. A top administration official called eradication “a waste of money” that failed to divert “a single...

Drug-Smuggling Subs Go High-Tech

(Newser) - It's not a lark anymore: Miniature submarines now carry about a third of the cocaine smuggled into the US. With the numbers up, the Washington Post takes a look at how these so-called semi-submersibles have gotten more and more high-tech over the last 2 years. Authorities say sub builders are...

Pregnant Brit Gets Life Sentence in Laos

Convicted of trafficking 1.5 pounds of heroin

(Newser) - A pregnant British woman convicted of drug trafficking in Laos last year has been handed a life sentence, AFP reports. Samantha Orobator, 20, who was nabbed while trying to board a plane to Thailand, had been found found guilty of trafficking 1.5 pounds of heroin, said a UK embassy...

25 Mexican Cops Busted for Drug Ties

Calderon launches troops to root out police corruption

(Newser) - Mexican soldiers and federal agents have arrested at least 25 police officers accused of links to drug trafficking operations, reports AP. The busts are part of an ongoing effort to stem the tide of drug violence. President Felipe Calderon has committed over 40,000 troops to combat the cartels. Calderon...

Karzai's Brother Threatened Me: US Reporter
Karzai's Brother Threatened Me: US Reporter
FIRST PERSON
May 11, 2009 1:04 PM CDT

Karzai's Brother Threatened Me: US Reporter

Questions on alleged involvement in Afghan drug trade enrage him

(Newser) - It turns out Ahmed Wali Karzai is a bit touchy about his alleged ties to Afghanistan’s drug trade. When McClatchy reporter Tom Lasseter tried to interview the president’s brother about the allegations, he said they were part of a political plot against his brother. But when Lasseter began...

Cash-Rich Italian Mafia Grows in Recession

Mobsters prey on desperate consumers looking for cash, credit

(Newser) - In Italy, one man’s recession is a mobster’s paradise, the AP reports. Organized crime syndicates are taking full advantage of the economic slowdown, gobbling up businesses and flaunting an asset in short supply these days: liquidity. Money is no object to the syndicates, who scored $167 billion in...

Tearful Stanford 'Madder Than Hell' at Ponzi Charges

Tycoon expects indictment in 2 weeks

(Newser) - Sir Robert Allen Stanford expects an indictment from the feds in a couple of weeks, but maintained his innocence in an interview with ABC News. The disgraced financier cried and told his interlocutor, “I will punch you in the mouth” if he mentioned reports that Stanford laundered drug money....

Mexican Drug Bucks Ensnare Texas County, Sheriff

Border sheriff faces trial for clearing the way for drug traffickers

(Newser) - Starr County on the Texas border is enjoying boom times while the rest of the country is stuck in recession, the Los Angeles Times reports. The county—still one of America's poorest—lies at the center of the cross-border drug trade, and while residents acknowledge that illicit cash has long...

Prepare for Worst as Mexico Crumbles
 Prepare for Worst 
 as Mexico Crumbles 
OPINION
Mar 24, 2009 3:38 PM CDT

Prepare for Worst as Mexico Crumbles

(Newser) - Mexico’s disastrous drug war, which threatens to send millions of refugees into the southern US, is a problem of our own making, Mark Krikorian writes in the National Review. But while America’s drug lust—and its burgeoning counterpart in Mexico itself—can’t be fixed, tighter border regulations...

US Agents to Aid Mexican Cartel War

Admin could announce plan as early as this week

(Newser) - President Obama is shipping agents and equipment to the border to aid Mexico's war on violent drug cartels, the Washington Post reports. His plan, to be unveiled as early as this week, aims to stop the flow of weapons and cash from the US into Mexico. Law enforcement will also...

'Narco-Protests' Paralyze Mexican Border Crossings

Authorities believe anti-military protesters are in the pay of drug cartels

(Newser) - Civilian protesters suspected of being in the pay of drug traffickers have blocked Mexican bridges to the US in recent days, demanding that the military leave their cities, the Dallas Morning News reports. Officials see the demonstrations—dubbed "narco-protests"—as a worrying new development amid a wave of...

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