"Gang members who murder, extort, kidnap, and traffic drugs and firearms are a menace to our communities and our way of life. Today's arrests highlight the continuing cooperation between federal and local law enforcement against violent felons and our unyielding determination to crack down on organized crime in our prisons and our streets."
Police, in partnership with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), shut down three large fentanyl operations in the Bronx and Manhattan, seizing a total of 90 pounds of fentanyl worth around $7.5 million.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche stated that the rescheduling of marijuana 'allows for research on the safety and efficacy of this substance, ultimately providing patients with better care and doctors with more reliable information.' This marks a significant shift in the federal approach to medical marijuana.
This tragedy is a solemn reminder of the risks faced by those Mexican and US officials who are dedicated to protecting our communities, the US ambassador to Mexico, Ronald Johnson, wrote on X.
This was a fantastic seizure by our colleagues at Border Force, and taking this amount of cocaine out of circulation will have deprived the organised criminals involved of millions in profits.
These semi-submersible boats have been used for years by drug gangs to smuggle cocaine from South and Central America. In more recent months as the price of cocaine has plummeted, gangs have changed tactics: instead of letting the boats sink on delivery, they have started to reuse the vessels, setting up a refuelling platform at sea and sending the boats back so they can make as many journeys as possible.
The US military on Thursday said it killed two people in a strike on a boat suspected of carrying illegal drugs in the eastern Pacific. "Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations," the US Southern Command posted on X. It added that "no US military forces were harmed" in the operation. The statement did not offer any evidence that the boat pictured was actually carrying narcotics before it was blown up in the attack.
More than 100 law enforcement agents conducted high-risk search warrants across three locations. The first was an active methamphetamine lab in the 8000 block of Center Drive in Valley Springs. A second site was located in the 2000 block of Golf Road in Turlock, which contained all the equipment necessary to operate as a lab but was shut down before production began. The third site, located in the 900 block of Reno Avenue in Modesto, was used by the drug trafficking organization to store and distribute illicit narcotics.
The ability of criminal groups to exercise this type of power and exercise this type of violence is closely linked to firearms trafficking, said Cecilia Farfan-Mendez, an expert on Mexican organised crime. If we want to see less violence in Mexico, this is a very important conversation.
The Vallejo Fire Department have removed hazardous materials, including a five-gallon bucket of methamphetamine, at the Vallejo Inn on Wednesday afternoon. At approximately 1:40 p.m., the department arrived at the venue located at 444 Tennessee Street and found the unidentified hazardous material inside the five-gallon bucket, which warranted a full HazMat response. The property was then evacuated to ensure the safety of occupants and roads were closed off nearby soon after.
The drugs were stored inside a pair of backpacks at Palma's apartment, prosecutors said. One was hidden in a laundry hamper in Palma's bedroom closet. It contained more than 400 grams of methamphetamine, 200-plus grams of a mixture containing fentanyl, other controlled substances and digital scales. A loaded gun was found in the same pack.
According to his eight-count indictment, the ex-cop took more than $30,000 in exchange for transporting drugs, including approximately eight kilograms of cocaine; providing unauthorized armed protection for a drug trafficking enterprise; and submitting false reports to the NYPD to help a co-conspirator avoid repayment of a drug-trafficking-related debt. Nguyen entered a guilty plea to three of the indictment's eight counts bribery and narcotics distribution conspiracy, and a firearm charge before U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres Thursday.