Mexican Heroin Seeps Into Rural US

Transferred cash, drugs across international borders

(NEWSER) - The New York Times last month revealed that undercover US agents have laundered and smuggled millions of dollars for Mexico's drug cartels—and today the paper shines a light on one such operation, in which federal agents helped one drug trafficker and his Colombian supplier move cash and cocaine across international borders. Over a period of months in 2007, US and Mexican agents worked with that supplier—Harold Mauricio Poveda-Ortega, aka "The Rabbit"—who fed cocaine to cartel leader Arturo Beltran Levya, the New York Times reports. More»

Baggies were marked 'Trust me'

(NEWSER) - It's sort of an extreme way of making friends and, er, putting people under the influence: A third-grader brought in more than 60 baggies helpfully stamped "Trust me," and gave them out to his classmates, Pittsburgh-area cops tell the AP . The problem? The baggies all contained heroin. While some bags were found empty in the garbage, cops don't think the kids took the drug. Envy the school official writing that letter home to mom and dad. More»

'Don Pepe' shipped 440 pounds to US every month, say cops

(AP) - Federal police have arrested Mexico's so-called "King of Heroin," a powerful drug trafficker allegedly responsible for running hundreds of pounds of heroin into Southern California each year, authorities said today. Jose Antonio Medina, nicknamed "Don Pepe," was arrested in the western state of Michoacan yesterday. More»

Obama administration willing to work more closely with Mexico

(NEWSER) - The US has hatched a plan to embed American intelligence agents in Mexican police units for the first time, in an effort to hunt down drug cartel leaders. In the past, the US has hesitated to share intelligence with Mexican police, viewing them as largely corrupt and incompetent. To avoid those pitfalls, the agents will work with recent graduates of the federal police academy, where FBI and DEA advisers now help train recruits, the Washington Post reports. More»

(AP) - Mexico has enacted a controversial law decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana, cocaine, heroin and other drugs while encouraging free government treatment for drug dependency. The law sets out maximum "personal use" amounts for drugs, also including LSD and methamphetamine. People detained with those quantities will no longer face criminal prosecution when the law goes into effect Friday. More»