drugs

A cartel flooded an Oregon town with drugs. Here's how authorities nabbed the ringleader

SEASIDE, Ore. – This tranquil coastal town is known for its wide beaches and grand promenade ― and for becoming a target for drug traffickers peddling meth supplied by a Mexican super cartel.

Drug dealers may not have worried about being caught here, in Clatsop County, a 90-minute drive northwest from the bustling city of Portland.

But they didn't know about dogged sheriff's detective John Walker, who developed informants and bought drugs while undercover. FBI agents lauded Walker's work, which helped the Bureau and Homeland Security Investigations expose an . . . Read more about A cartel flooded an Oregon town with drugs. Here's how authorities nabbed the ringleader

Southern Oregon Joint Operation Disrupts Drug Trafficking Organization

 

The Oregon State Police, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Grants Pass Police Department, and multiple local interagency drug teams concluded an 18-month investigation November 14 when nine search warrants were served in southern Oregon resulting in 23 arrests. 

They were able to seizure 37 firearms and 33,000 dollars in cash as the culmination of a local drug trafficking organization. Additionally, the search warrants resulted in 2,000 grams of methamphetamine, 636g of fentanyl pills, 52g of fentanyl powder, 58g of cocaine, 250 pounds of marijuana, and ¾ of a pound of illegal mushrooms. The investigation had already yielded 40 pounds of methamphetamine, 9.25 pounds of fentanyl, 3 pounds of cocaine, and ½ a pound of heroin over the course of 18 months. These quantities . . . Read more about Southern Oregon Joint Operation Disrupts Drug Trafficking Organization

El Chapo’s Sinaloa drug cartel bars fentanyl production under penalty of death

Mexico’s notorious Sinaloa cartel, once ruled by now-jailed drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, has barred the production of fentanyl — under penalty of death.

The about-face by the narco crew — the main trafficker of the deadly synthetic opioid flooding the US — comes as El Chapo’s kids bow to a mounting law enforcement crackdown on the drug trade, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

The order came from the “Chapitos” — the name for Guzman’s sons, who took over the operation.

“In Sinaloa, the sale, manufacture, transport or any kind of business involving the substance known as fentanyl, including the sale of chemical products for its elaboration, is permanently banned,” said one of several banners hung on billboards and overpasses in Culiacan. . . .

 

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Oakland murder suspect and victim were friends, tied by illicit business and drug cartel connection, police say

OAKLAND — Last May, when 53-year-old Elk Grove resident William Lusk was arrested in Florida for allegedly possessing a pound of cocaine and distribution of fentanyl, he allegedly told police that his close friend who had a drug cartel connection had been gunned down in Oakland months earlier.

Police in Jacksonville, Fla. didn’t know it at the time, but back on the West Coast authorities were still investigating the homicide of 57-year-old Delondo Bellamy, and Lusk was the prime suspect. Investigators believed that Lusk had used a cellphone app to hide his number and disguise himself as a woman, then lure Bellamy to a location where he could safely gun him down. . . . Read more about Oakland murder suspect and victim were friends, tied by illicit business and drug cartel connection, police say

Cartel-backed pot grows linked to human trafficking, inhumane working conditions

TRINITY COUNTY, Calif. — If you buy weed illegally, you unwittingly could be supporting Mexican cartels and other criminal syndicates that lure workers to farms in Northern California and Southern Oregon, where they often suffer inhumane conditions and sometimes sexual abuse. Or worse.

Some disappear, presumed murdered, their bodies discarded within the area's vast wilderness.

Others are held against their will. Sometimes, workers' passports, visas or driver's licenses and cell phones are locked away until they finish the harvest season. And cultivators often threaten to harm the workers or the workers' families if they run off or talk to police, said Trinity County Sheriff Tim Saxon.

"They're basically being held prisoner," he said. . . . Read more about Cartel-backed pot grows linked to human trafficking, inhumane working conditions

The CCP Is Killing Americans and Laundering the Profits – With Our Help

Opioids are responsible for more than 100,000 deaths in the U.S. each year. By far, the biggest share of those deaths results from fentanyl, and our own border and immigration policies play an outsized role in facilitating the carnage. At the same time, the fentanyl trade is strengthening and enriching global criminal cartels and hostile regimes, most notably communist China.

Let’s start with the obvious. The majority of the lethal drugs that are responsible for more than 300 death every day in the U.S. cross the border from Mexico, trafficked by the same Mexican cartels that are responsible for moving unprecedented numbers of migrants to the U.S. . . . Read more about The CCP Is Killing Americans and Laundering the Profits – With Our Help

‘As Easy as Ordering Pizza’: How Fentanyl-Laced Pills Are Killing America’s Youth

U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized approximately 47,000 rainbow-colored fentanyl pills, 186,000 blue fentanyl pills, and 6.5 pounds of meth hidden in a floor compartment of a vehicle at the Nogales port of entry on the southern border with Mexico on Sept. 3, 2022. (U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

On the morning of July 25, 2020, Matthew Thomas took what he believed was a Percocet, a prescription drug for pain relief. He died moments later, the victim of fentanyl poisoning.

On Jan. 26, 2019, Austen Babcock took what he believed was cocaine. Unbeknownst to him, it was laced with fentanyl, a potent synthetic opioid. He died shortly after, another victim of fentanyl poisoning. . . . Read more about ‘As Easy as Ordering Pizza’: How Fentanyl-Laced Pills Are Killing America’s Youth

Gov. Abbott's Border Operation Nabs 348,000 Illegal Immigrants, 361 Million Fentanyl Doses

 A state-level initiative to counter the swarm of illegal immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border into Texas has, to date, resulted in more than 348,000 apprehensions and the seizure of more than 361 million doses of the deadly drug fentanyl.

The initiative, Operation Lone Star, was created by Texas's Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in March 2021. 

As Abbott explained then, “The crisis at our southern border continues to escalate because of Biden administration policies that refuse to secure the border and invite illegal immigration. Texas supports legal immigration but will not be an accomplice to the open border policies that cause, rather than prevent, a humanitarian crisis in our state and endanger the lives of Texans. . . . Read more about Gov. Abbott's Border Operation Nabs 348,000 Illegal Immigrants, 361 Million Fentanyl Doses

Will El Chapo son's arrest slow export of drugs to US? Next steps crucial, experts say

MEXICO CITY ― The arrest of Ovidio Guzmán, the son of former Sinaloa Cartel leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmán, is an important step for the Mexican government, experts say, but it will likely have little effect on the flow of illegal drugs, particularly fentanyl, across the border.

You're not going to see a big difference or a reduction in the amount of fentanyl coming to the United States. But having said all of that, it is still a very good arrest because there is no doubt that Ovidio was heavily involved in the day-to-day activities of the Sinaloa Cartel,” said former El Paso U.S. Marshal Robert Almonte. . . . Read more about Will El Chapo son's arrest slow export of drugs to US? Next steps crucial, experts say

Cartel Gunmen Brag on Social Media Showing Cocaine-Filled Airplanes

Cartel members are flaunting their activities on social media to offer insights into their world. On Christmas, a short video clip from inside a cockpit appears to show a small plane flying through Mexico.

The video shows the inside of a small propeller plane where the passengers present three rifles and then pan the camera out a window. A narco-song called Linea Directa plays in the background. . . . Read more about Cartel Gunmen Brag on Social Media Showing Cocaine-Filled Airplanes

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