drug trafficking

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Meet the Virtual Customs Agent

Avatar will expedite pre-approved travelers crossing the border

(Newser) - It may seem like something out of Minority Report, but the US Customs and Border Patrol's newest agent is expected to make life easier for those who regularly cross the border between Nogales, Arizona, and Mexico. The nameless agent is a computer avatar, but he's bilingual, able to...

Uruguay&#39;s Prez: Legalize Pot
 Uruguay's Prez: Legalize Pot 
Jul 30, 2012 3:32 PM CDT

Uruguay's Prez: Legalize Pot

Users could sign up for registration cards to buy the drug

(Newser) - Uruguayan President José Mujica wants to end the reign of violent drug cartels in his country, and he thinks legalizing marijuana may be the answer. He released a proposal last month calling for the formation of a government-run industry that would manage the cultivation and sales of the drug, reports...

'Extraordinary' US-Mexico Drug Tunnel Found

Arizona tunnel was built by professional engineers, DEA says

(Newser) - One of the biggest and best-engineered cross-border drug tunnels yet has been found by drug enforcement agents in the US. The 755-foot tunnel linked a warehouse in southwestern Arizona with a derelict ice-making plant behind a strip club in Mexico, reports the Los Angeles Times . It could only be accessed...

Killing in Honduras: Is DEA Overstepping Its Bounds?

DEA says strategy is working, human rights groups not so sure

(Newser) - The Drug Enforcement Agency has confirmed that its agents shot a suspected drug pilot dead in Honduras last week, the AP reports. An agency spokeswoman says that a twin-engine plane carrying cocaine from Colombia crashed in eastern Honduras while being pursued by government aircraft. One pilot was injured in the...

3 Cops Cut Down in Mexico City Airport

Shooters were dressed in police uniforms

(Newser) - Terrified travelers dove for cover yesterday as three federal police officers were fatally shot in the middle of a food hall at Mexico City's busy international airport by men wearing police uniforms, witnesses report. Two officers were shot dead at the scene, and the third died later of his...

Firefight May Blow Cover on DEA Role in Honduras

Mayor says agents mistook villagers for drug smugglers, killing 4

(Newser) - DEA agents in "commando-style" units have been quietly helping Honduran police go after drug smugglers, but a firefight this month may make it a lot harder to keep the operation low-key, reports the New York Times . A local mayor says a helicopter with DEA agents and Honduran cops fired...

Cops: LAX Screeners Let Drugs Go Through

Four TSA agents arrested, accused of taking bribes

(Newser) - The feds busted four TSA agents for allegedly helping drug traffickers smuggle suitcases packed with cocaine, marijuana, and meth through security at Los Angeles International Airport. The screeners are accused of accepting up to $2,400 in bribes for allowing the drugs to pass through X-ray machines and checkpoints, reports...

Feds Bust Online 'Farmer's Market' for Drugs

'Farmer's Market' storefront matched buyers, sellers

(Newser) - Eight people have been arrested and a "Drug Dealing 2.0" operation has been shut down after a global sting operation, reports the LA Times . Prosecutors say the "Farmer's Market" operation sold more than $1 million in LSD, marijuana, and other drugs over three years to buyers...

El Salvador Has First Murder-Free Day Since 2009

Drug violence usually kills more than a dozen per day

(Newser) - Saturday was a banner day in El Salvador, because as far as anyone can tell, not a single person was violently killed. That may not sound like much of an accomplishment, but for El Salvador it is; the last time the country had a homicide-free day was 2009, Reuters reports....

Customs Finds Record 180 Heroin Pellets in Woman

TSA noticed tight stomach during pat-down

(Newser) - A woman arrested at Washington's Dulles International Airport has set a record that nobody who values their life would attempt to beat, customs officials say. The 52-year-old woman had swallowed 180 pellets of heroin, containing nearly five pounds of the drug, reports the Los Angeles Times . The woman was...

US Suspects Afghan Air Force of Drug Running

Investigators say US-funded force has been ferrying illegal weapons, too

(Newser) - The US military and the DEA are both investigating the Afghan Air Force, over allegations that it has been using its aircraft—most of which were funded with US cash—to ferry narcotics and illegal weapons around the country, officials tell the Wall Street Journal . Senior AAF and Afghan government...

LA Cops Make Huge Drug Bust: $100M of PCP

Raid nets 130 gallons, $400K in cash, and two suspects

(Newser) - They'd been tipped off by the DEA, but Los Angeles cops weren't expecting the drug bust to be this big: Police seized $100 million worth of PCP in various locations, reports the Los Angeles Times . That translates to 130 gallons, an amount "I can't even get...

28 Pounds of Cocaine Seized on Cruise Ship in SF

Customs officers bust three on Australia-bound liner

(Newser) - It was supposed to be the cruise of a lifetime—around the Caribbean to Hawaii and onward to Australia. But three passengers who didn't make it past San Francisco look set to spend a big chunk of their lifetimes in jail. Customs officials seized close to 28 pounds of...

Violence-Torn Guatemala's Solution: Legalize Drugs?

President Otto Perez Molina to discuss idea with Central American leaders

(Newser) - New Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina came to power promising a "firm hand" against his country's worsening drug trafficking problems. But yesterday, Perez showed his hand, to some surprise: He called for drug legalization, not just in Guatemala but around Central America, reports the LA Times . "We'...

Feds Helped Mexican Drug Honcho Move Millions

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...

1 in 50 Central American Men Murdered by Age 31: UN

Situation is nearing a 'crisis point'

(Newser) - This is basically insane: A new UN report says that one in 50 Central American 20-year-old men will be murdered before they turn 31. Unsurprisingly, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime says the situation is nearing a "crisis point." The report places much of the blame on...

Feds Bust Iraqi Drug Ring in California

Authorities arrest 60, seize 4K pounds of pot, cite ties to Mexican cartel

(Newser) - Authorities have arrested 60 alleged members of an Iraqi drug ring run out of a southern California social club, seizing some $630,000 in cash, 3,500 pounds of marijuana, and a cache of firearms and explosives, the Los Angeles Times reports. The El Cajon-based club has been a “...

Feds Make Historic Cocaine Bust in Caribbean

Interception, seizure off Honduras coast a first for Coast Guard

(Newser) - The Coast Guard, working with FBI dive teams and the Honduran navy, has recovered 7.5 tons of cocaine worth $180 million from a drug submarine scuttled by smugglers off the coast of Honduras. The interception and seizure is the first of its kind in the Caribbean, the Miami Herald...

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 ...

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