drug cartel

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Trump: We Used Secret 'Discombobulator' Weapon During Maduro Raid

POTUS says he's not allowed to talk about it

(Newser) - President Trump said the US used a secret weapon he called "The Discombobulator" to disable Venezuelan equipment when the US captured Nicolás Maduro, the AP reports. Trump also renewed his threat to conduct military strikes on land against drug cartels, including in Mexico. He made the comments in...

Drug Gangs Here Turn Cheap Drones Into Killing Machines

Modified aircraft bought online enable frequent lethal attacks on Colombia's security forces

(Newser) - Colombia's coca-fueled conflict just picked up a cheap, deadly upgrade: store-bought drones. Since April 2024, Colombia's military says cocaine-funded armed groups have launched roughly 400 drone attacks, killing nearly 60 soldiers and police officers and injuring close to 300, per the Wall Street Journal . In one pre-Christmas strike,...

Inside the Hush-Hush Effort to Move 55 Cartel Bosses to US

The Wall Street Journal looks at how tightly Mexico kept the plan under wraps

(Newser) - The US is currently hosting a whole lot more Mexican cartel bosses than it previously did—behind bars, of course. In a lengthy piece for the Wall Street Journal , Steve Fisher and Santiago Pérez look at the 2025 effort that saw 55 cartel leaders quietly removed from Mexican prisons...

He Spent 25 Years at DEA. Now, Money Laundering Charges

Former financial agent Paul Campo is accused of aiding Mexico's Jalisco New Generation Cartel

(Newser) - A former top financial official at the Drug Enforcement Administration is facing charges for allegedly working with a notorious Mexican drug cartel via the laundering of millions of dollars, say prosecutors in Manhattan. According to a newly unsealed indictment, Paul Campo spent about 25 years at the DEA, ultimately becoming...

US Calls Cartel a Terror Group; Venezuela Says It Doesn't Exist

US seeks 'new options' by labeling Cartel de los Soles it says Maduro runs as a terror organization

(Newser) - Venezuela is pushing back hard against a US plan to label the so-called Cartel de los Soles as a terrorist organization, dismissing the move as a "ridiculous fabrication" ahead of a formal announcement expected Monday. The Trump administration alleges the group is run by high-ranking Venezuelan officials, with President...

US Hits 2 More Alleged Drug Vessels, This Time in Pacific

Tuesday night strike occurred off Colombia, followed by Wednesday strike also in the Pacific

(Newser) - Shortly after launching its eighth strike since last month on an alleged drug vessel, the US carried out its ninth, once again in the Pacific Ocean. The strike came Wednesday and left three people dead, bringing the death toll for all the strikes to 37, the AP reports. "Just...

Trump Declares Cartels 'Unlawful Combatants'

Notice to lawmakers says US is engaged in 'noninternational armed conflict'

(Newser) - President Trump has declared drug cartels to be unlawful combatants and says the United States is now in a "non-international armed conflict" after recent US strikes on boats in the Caribbean, according to a Trump administration memo obtained by outlets including the AP and the New York Times .
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He Was a Star at Busting Drug Traffickers, Then Became One

The Assembly looks at how police officer Freddie Huff used his skills to become a drug trafficker

(Newser) - Freddie Wayne Huff was once a model cop, hailed as a "superstar" for his knack at sniffing out drug smugglers on North Carolina highways—a reputation that brought millions in cash seizures and made him a DEA-certified instructor. But Huff's career crashed in 2014 when he was...

Along the Border, a 'Virtual Wall' Is Emerging on Both Sides

Drone tech escalates as police, drug cartels in Mexico face off

(Newser) - Local police along the US-Mexico border are increasingly turning to AI-powered drones to track drug traffickers, seek out migrants trying to cross into the US, assist in emergencies, and compensate for staff shortages and reduced federal funding. While US officials have long used drones along the border, creating what...

Report: Trump Administration Ready to Move on Mexico

Pentagon plans strikes on drug cartels there, apparently with or without Mexico's OK

(Newser) - The Trump administration has reportedly instructed the US military to ready plans for direct attacks against Mexican drug cartels, with preparations to be managed by the Northern Command and a target date for the plans set for mid-September. According to three military sources who spoke to independent journalist Ken...

Famed Boxer Deported, Lands in Mexico Prison

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. has been accused of involvement with Sinaloa cartel

(Newser) - Former world champion boxer Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. has been deported from the US. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed Tuesday that the 39-year-old professional boxer was returned to Mexico following his ICE arrest last month. The Department of Homeland Security claimed he was living in the US illegally after overstaying...

US Sends Destroyers Toward Venezuela to Pressure Cartels
US Destroyers Head
Toward Venezuela
Aug 19, 2025 6:00 PM CDT

US Destroyers Head Toward Venezuela

Deployment is part of Trump's effort against Latin American drug cartels

(Newser) - The US is deploying three Aegis guided-missile destroyers to the waters off Venezuela as part of President Trump's effort to combat threats from Latin American drug cartels, according to an American official briefed on the planning. The USS Gravely, the USS Jason Dunham, and the USS Sampson are expected...

After Yearslong Investigation, US Indicts 5 Cartel Honchos

Car accident in Tennessee leads to US charges against major Mexican drug operation

(Newser) - The investigation began years ago after two drug dealers got into a car accident in a small Tennessee town. What followed was a series of secret wiretaps, a shoot-out with police, and the discovery of drugs hidden in a tractor trailer that would eventually lead federal investigators back to cartel...

Trump OKs Military Action on Latin American Drug Cartels

Move signals a shift from law enforcement to military involvement

(Newser) - President Trump has quietly authorized the Pentagon to use military force against certain Latin American drug cartels, stepping up an already aggressive push to label these organizations as foreign terrorist threats. The directive, confirmed to the New York Times by sources familiar with internal discussions, paves the way for...

Colombia Seizes Unmanned Starlink-Powered Narco Sub

Capable of carrying 1.5 tons of cocaine, sub was being tested and was empty

(Newser) - Drug traffickers are reportedly testing a new generation of unmanned "narco subs" in the Caribbean—equipped with cutting-edge satellite technology from Elon Musk's Starlink. Colombia's navy said Wednesday it has seized its first unmanned "narco sub" equipped with a Starlink satellite antenna off the country'...

They Thought They Were Going to a Gig. Now, a Tragic End

Bodies of 5 missing Mexican musicians found near US border, with suspicions directed at Gulf Cartel

(Newser) - Five members of the band Grupo Fugitivo, which performed Mexican regional music at parties and other events, had been missing since Sunday. Now comes sad news on their fate: Authorities say the bodies of the men, ages 20 to 40, have been found on the outskirts of the Mexican city...

Colombia Says Cartel Paid Bounty for Dead Cops

President says the Gulf Clan plotted to 'systematically murder' security force members

(Newser) - A massive wave of arrests has gone down in Colombia, with authorities there claiming they've detained more than 200 members of the nation's largest drug cartel. On Monday, armed forces chief Francisco Cubides held a presser in which he disclosed that 217 members of the Gulf Clan have...

Cartel's Warning to Mexican Singer: 'You Will Be Shot'

Mexican authorities say corridos singer Natanael Cano, others are now under 'protective measures'

(Newser) - Just because you rap about drug cartels doesn't mean you have immunity from them. Authorities in Mexico are now offering state protection to famed regional Mexican singer Natanael Cano and other artists after a drug cartel in northern Mexico publicly threatened them, prosecutors tell the AP . Photos of a...

In Colombia, a Gold Heist Plays Out Underground

Wall Street Journal reports on a drug cartel helping rogue miners

(Newser) - Drug trafficking is big business in Colombia, of course, but it turns out that gold trafficking isn't too shabby, either. The Wall Street Journal reports on a remarkable underground war playing out within the nation's largest gold mine. The mine is owned by China's Zijin Mining Group,...

Captured Drug Lord 'Kidnapped,' Forced on Plane, Lawyer Says

Account suggests Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada was betrayed by El Chapo's son

(Newser) - A lawyer for Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, the alleged co-founder of the Sinaloa cartel now in US custody , says his client was kidnapped and flown to the US against his will. Zambada "neither surrendered nor negotiated any terms with the US government," but was instead kidnapped by...

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