drug trafficking

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Mexico Nabs Drug King 'El Brad Pitt'

Nicknamed stemmed from disguise he wore

(Newser) - Mexico’s federal police have arrested the alleged leader of the armed wing of the Juarez Cartel—one Marco Antonio Guzman, also known as “El Brad Pitt.” Guzman was nabbed on Wednesday in Chihuahua, the northern Mexican state that’s home to Ciudad Juarez, site of an estimated...

Bizarre Venezuela Prison Has Pool Parties, Drug Deals

Armed inmates call the shots at San Antonio

(Newser) - The specter of imprisonment usually doesn't include poolside parties, dance clubs, weapons galore, and easy access to BlackBerries. But San Antonio penitentiary, located on Venezuela's Margarita Island, isn't usual. Though its 2,000 inmates risk being shot by guards if caught venturing outside the walls, the New ...

FAA Not Sure Who Owns Thousands of US Planes

Chaos prompts terror fears; agency calls for re-registration

(Newser) - The FAA lacks key information on who owns some 119,000 private and commercial aircraft in the US, prompting concerns that terrorists or drug traffickers could use the paperwork mess to their advantage—something the latter group is already doing. The FAA is calling for all owners to re-register the...

US Relies on Corrupt 'Afghan Robin Hood'

Abdul Razziq keeps order in ways US can't

(Newser) - Abdul Razziq is illiterate and corrupt. His network skims custom duties, facilitates drug trafficking, and smuggles contraband across the Pakistani border. Yet the 32-year-old is also essential to the war effort, bringing the kind of security to the city of Spin Boldak that has so eluded the US elsewhere. “...

Drug Money Gushes Across Border

Crackdown on security fails to put a dent in cartels' wallets

(Newser) - Drug cartels are shuttling money across the US/Mexico border with relative impunity, despite an unprecedented effort to crackdown on the trade. According to a Washington Post analysis, authorities manage to snag no more than 1% of the cash crossing the border. That’s still a lot of money—the US...

Americans Allege Torture by Mexican Soldiers

Jailed Texans say army planted drugs

(Newser) - It sounds like the script of a B movie, but it's very real for two Americans behind bars in Mexico: They tell the Wall Street Journal that Mexican soldiers stopped their pickup near the border, planted two suitcases of drugs, then beat and tortured them with electric shocks. The Texas...

Ecuador, DEA Bust Drug-Smuggling Sub

Vessel's huge payload a serious development

(Newser) - The Drug Enforcement Administration said yesterday it has helped seize a diesel electric-powered submarine constructed in a remote jungle and capable of transporting tons of cocaine. The sub was captured near a tributary close to the Ecuador-Colombia border, and Ecuadorean authorities said it was seized before it could make its...

Mexico Gunmen Kill 35
 Mexico Gunmen Kill 35 
Jun 12, 2010 10:43 AM CDT

Mexico Gunmen Kill 35

Nineteen victims were at a rehab clinic

(Newser) - At least 30 gunmen burst into a drug rehabilitation center in a Mexican border state capital and opened fire, killing 19 men and wounding four people, police said. Gunmen also killed 16 people in another drug-plagued northern city. The killings—in Chihuahua city and in Ciudad Madero—marked one of...

Jamaica Toll Hits 73 as Manhunt Goes On

Suspected drug lord remains at large

(Newser) - Jamaican security forces kicked down doors and arrested dozens of residents of a bullet-pocked slum today and said the death toll from four days of fighting sparked by the search for a reputed drug lord has risen to 73. The target of the manhunt, Christopher "Dudus" Coke, was nowhere...

Colombian Narco-Beauty Queen Busted

Cops: Model was ringleader of drug trafficking gang

(Newser) - Colombia's one-time Coffee Queen became queen bee of a gang that recruited models to smuggle cocaine from South America to Europe, police say. Angie Sanclemente Valencia was busted in Argentina yesterday after being on the run for 5 months, the BBC reports. Valencia, 30, was stripped of her title in...

Chocolate-Lover Busted for Cocaine-Filled Truffles

Turns out the guy had more than a sweet tooth

(Newser) - Guess it looked like a sweet deal to Robert Lopera. That is, before customs officials stopped the American at JFK Airport and took a close look at the heavy bags of chocolate truffles and pistachios he was toting on his return from Colombia. Turns out the truffles were cocaine balls...

Convent Drug Ring Busted
 Convent Drug Ring Busted 
May 13, 2010 1:42 AM CDT

Convent Drug Ring Busted

Nuns were oblivious to cocaine in prayer books

(Newser) - Italian police have smashed a huge cocaine ring that used a Milan-area convent as a cover. The convent's South American janitor collected cocaine hidden in prayer books from drug smugglers posing as pilgrims, the BBC reports. The janitor was among 33 people busted. Mafia and Colombian cartels were behind the...

12 Mobsters Busted in Gambino Raid
12 Mobsters Busted in Gambino Raid
Apr 21, 2010 2:00 AM CDT

12 Mobsters Busted in Gambino Raid

Selling teen sex a 'new low' for crime family: fed

(Newser) - New York City's Gambino crime family reached a "new low" with the trafficking of a minor to have sex with high-stakes poker players, a US attorney said yesterday as he announced charges against 14 alleged mobsters. Twelve of them are already in custody. Other charges include loansharking, drug trafficking,...

World's Top Pot Source: Afghanistan

Country slides into first place with 'astonishing' crop yields

(Newser) - The country that supplies the lion's share of the world's opium has become the top cannabis producer as well, according to report from the UN's drug agency. Other countries have more land devoted to marijuana, UNDOC chief Antonio Maria Costa says, but Afghan farmers achieve "astonishingly high" yields, producing...

Cops: Lingerie Model Runs Drug Gang

Group uses other models as drug runners

(Newser) - Police worldwide are on the lookout for Angie Sanselmente Valencia, a former lingerie model who authorities believe runs a global drug trafficking ring. Valencia is said to use other models as "mules" because beautiful women can make it through airport security more effectively. Her group was exposed when a...

Michael Douglas' Son Pleads Guilty in Meth Case

Cameron Douglas faces minimum 10-year sentence

(Newser) - Michael Douglas' son Cameron is facing a prison sentence of at least 10 years after pleading guilty to dealing huge quantities of crystal meth and cocaine. Cameron, 31, was arrested at a swanky Manhattan hotel last year with $10,000 in cash and a load of crystal meth. Prosecutors say...

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.

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