Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
| Subscribe to Newser's RSS feeds RSS | Follow Newser on Twitter Twitter

NEWS ABOUT: drug trafficking

drug trafficking stories: 53 news summaries

1 - 20 of 53 Stories | 1 2 3 Next >>

Switch to grid view »

 Bong Water Is a Drug: Court 

Minnesota Supreme Court overturns ruling that said drug water was paraphernalia

Oct 23, 09 2:50 PM CDT
(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... More »

MORE ABOUT:
drug trafficking • marijuana • Minnesota • Minnesota Supreme Court • illegal drugs

Cocaine Sub Nabbed
Off Guatemala

US Navy helps make biggest drug bust in Guatemalan history

Oct 23, 09 3:13 AM CDT
(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... More »

MORE ABOUT:
cocaine • drug trafficking • submarine • Central America • Guatemala • drug traffickers

300 Arrested
in Drug Raids Across US

Feds crack down on violent Mexican cartel specializing in meth

Oct 22, 09 4:10 PM CDT
(AP) - 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... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Mexico • drug trafficking • methamphetamine • drug cartel • Eric Holder • narcotics • Mexican drug cartel • La Familia

(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,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Mexico • organized crime • kidnapping • drug trafficking • extortion • Mafia • drug cartels

 Crime Show Host 
 Ordered Murders 
 for Killer Ratings 

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

Aug 12, 09 12:12 PM CDT
(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... More »

MORE ABOUT:
television • investigation • crime • Brazil • murder • drug trafficking • Wallace Souza

(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... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Afghanistan • Taliban • heroin • drug trafficking • opium • drug trade • Richard Holbrooke • crop eradication

(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... More »

MORE ABOUT:
cocaine • Pacific Ocean • Colombia • DEA • drug trafficking • submarine • submersibles • evidence • prosecutions • remote control

 Pregnant Brit Gets  
 Life Sentence in Laos 

Convicted of trafficking 1.5 pounds of heroin

Jun 3, 09 9:04 AM CDT
(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... More »

MORE ABOUT:
pregnancy • drugs • prison • crime • heroin • Laos • drug trafficking • Britain • life sentence • Samantha Orobator

 25 Mexican 
 Cops Busted 
 for Drug Ties 

Calderon launches troops to root out police corruption

Jun 2, 09 2:10 AM CDT
(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... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Mexico • police • drug trafficking • Mexican drug war • Mexican army • Felipe Calderón

FIRST PERSON

Karzai's Brother Threatened Me: US Reporter

Questions on alleged involvement in Afghan drug trade enrage him

May 11, 09 1:04 PM CDT
(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... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Afghanistan • Hamid Karzai • drug trafficking • opium • Ahmed Wali Karzai

Cash-Rich Italian Mafia
Grows in Recession

Mobsters prey on desperate consumers looking for cash, credit

Apr 25, 09 4:57 PM CDT
(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... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Italy • drug trafficking • recession • extortion • Mafia

INTERVIEW

Tearful Stanford 'Madder Than Hell' at Ponzi Charges

Tycoon expects indictment in 2 weeks

Apr 6, 09 4:00 PM CDT
(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.... More »

MORE ABOUT:
crime • drug trafficking • money laundering • Ponzi scheme • federal indictment • bank scandal • interview • Stanford Financial Group • Robert Allen Stanford

 Mexican Drug Bucks Ensnare 
 Texas County, Sheriff 

Border sheriff faces trial for clearing the way for drug traffickers

Apr 3, 09 6:41 AM CDT
(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... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Texas • corruption • drug trafficking • Mexican drug war • sheriff • Rio Grande

OPINION

 Prepare for Worst 
 as Mexico Crumbles 


Mar 24, 09 3:38 PM CDT
(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... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Mexico • Mexican border • drug trafficking • Mexican drug war • illegal immigration • drug cartel • border security

 US Agents to Aid 
 Mexican Cartel War 

Admin could announce plan as early as this week

Mar 22, 09 3:51 PM CDT
(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... More »

MORE ABOUT:
War on Drugs • Mexico • homeland security • drug trafficking • violence • drug cartel • border • Obama administration

'Narco-Protests' Paralyze Mexican Border Crossings

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

Feb 19, 09 10:15 AM CST
(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... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Mexico • Mexican border • drug trafficking • Mexican drug war • Mexican army • drug cartel

(Newser) - NATO's top commander has authorized coalition troops “to attack directly drug producers and facilities throughout Afghanistan,” saying they “are inextricably linked to the Opposing Military Forces,” Der Spiegel reports. The order from US General John Craddock is not going over well with commanders on the... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Afghanistan • NATO • drugs • US military • enemy combatants • drug trafficking • opium • David McKiernan • targets • John Craddock

(Newser) - During his two years in office, Mexican President Felipe Calderón has made a valiant attempt to expel corruption from his government, but many think his efforts are quixotic at best, the Christian Science Monitor reports. “I don't think there is ever a point that Calderón can... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Mexico • police • corruption • drug trafficking • Mexican drug war • Mexican army • federal police • Felipe Calderón

Drug Arrest Knocks Crown Off Beauty Queen

Some fear pageant's drug ties run deep

Dec 28, 08 12:00 PM CST
(Newser) - A Mexican beauty pageant winner lost her title yesterday after being arrested with a top drug trafficker, the New York Daily News reports. Authorities said Miss Sinaloa, Laura Zúñiga Huizar, was collared along with leaders of the Juarez drug cartel, an arsenal of weapons, and $55,000 in... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Mexico • drug trafficking • beauty pageant • beauty queen • drug cartel • drug traffickers

Mexican Beauty Queen Busted With Drug Mobsters

Miss Hispanic America found traveling with cartel's Mr. Big in gun-filled truck

Dec 24, 08 3:17 AM CST
(Newser) - Miss Hispanic America 2008 will be finishing this year in jail after cops busted her traveling with seven alleged drug cartel mobsters, the Houston Chronicle reports. Laura Zuniga, from the drug-plagued state of Sinaloa, was stopped at a military checkpoint near Guadalajara in a truck full of guns, ammunition and... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Mexico • organized crime • drug trafficking • beauty queen • drug cartel • drug traffickers

1 - 20 of 53 Stories | 1 2 3 Next >>


from our news partners