Kingpin's Plea With U.S. Triggered Years of Bloodshed Reaching All the Way to Southlake Zetas Saw Gulf Cartel Leader As Traitor, Declared a War That Has Killed Thousands of People A plea agreement between a Mexican drug kingpin and the U.S. government helped generate a violent split between two drug cartels that led to the deaths of thousands of people in Mexico and along the Texas border, a Dallas Morning News investigation has found. A masked gunman fired multiple times at Juan Jesus Guerrero Chapa with a 9 mm handgun through the passenger window of his Range Rover at Southlake Town Square in May 2013. Three Mexican citizens were arrested more than a year later and charged with stalking, and aiding and abetting in the hit. [continues 4074 words]
Lee Carroll Brooker, a 75-year-old disabled veteran suffering from chronic pain, was arrested in July 2011 for growing three dozen marijuana plants for his own medicinal use behind his son's house in Dothan, Ala., where he lived. For this crime, Mr. Brooker was given a life sentence with no possibility of release. Alabama law mandates that anyone with certain prior felony convictions be sentenced to life without parole for possessing more than 1 kilogram, or 2.2 pounds, of marijuana, regardless of intent to sell. Mr. Brooker had been convicted of armed robberies in Florida two decades earlier, for which he served 10 years. The marijuana plants collected at his son's house - including unusable parts like vines and stalks - weighed 2.8 pounds. [continues 468 words]
Sometimes the curtain is pulled aside, allowing us to see what's going on in the often-opaque worlds of government and finance. Such an occasion has been happening with what's being called the Panama Papers, released by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. It's going to take not months, but years, to wade through the estimated 11 million documents leaked from a Panamanian law firm that specializes in crafting tax shelters. But initial disclosures are both troubling and offer insight. "The documents reference 12 current or former world leaders, as well as 128 other politicians and public officials," CNN reported. Implicated, in particular, are associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin; FIFA, the global soccer governing body, 40 of whose officials were indicted in 2015 by the U.S. Justice Department on corruption charges; and Iceland's Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson. [continues 219 words]
If Crime Is Reduced and Drug Users Get Help, 'I'm All for It,' Knecht Says If a safe injection site for IV drug users reduces crime and helps people get to a better place in their lives, Edmonton police Chief Rod Knecht says he would throw his full weight behind it. But for now, he's not voicing an opinion on whether one should open or not. "I'm obviously not a physician, I'm not a nurse, I'm not a social worker," Knecht said Friday. "I think if the public's view is that safe injection sites are a good thing, I guess we'll respect that, but we have some concerns." [continues 553 words]
Edmonton's Top Cop Addresses Some of City's Key Problems If a safe injection site for IV drug users reduces crime and helps people get to a better place in their lives, Edmonton police Chief Rod Knecht says he would throw his full weight behind it. But for now, he's not voicing an opinion on whether one should open or not. "I really don't have a position," Knecht said Friday morning. "I'm obviously not a physician, I'm not a nurse, I'm not a social worker. I think if the public's view is that safe injection sites are a good thing, I guess we'll respect that, but we have some concerns." [continues 822 words]
Jamie Doward's admirable special report rightly stressed the importance of the UN general assembly special session on drugs (Ungass) to be held in New York later this month.("Is the prohibition era finally coming to an end?", News, last week). As Doward makes clear, the international drugs trade is an ongoing problem that affects all countries but reaches crisis level in producer and transit countries. It is to a very large degree the product of the well intentioned but misguided UN conventions that imposed drugs prohibition on all countries without regard for their cultures or traditions. [continues 185 words]
How a Shift in Health-Care Delivery and Big Pharma's Hunger for Profits Have Driven the Opioid Epidemic I was walking past, and happened to see him behind the partially drawn curtain. There he was, lying on the gurney, head back, mouth gaping. White, 25, covered in tattoos, not breathing, his lips a fine pale blue. We ran into the room. The nurse pushed Narcan, a drug that reverses opiates. And 30 seconds later he woke up as if a switch had been flipped. Narcan is like magic; it literally raises people from the dead. [continues 1658 words]
Africa Has Become Vital Transit Hub for Narcotics THE government is to urgently re-establish narcotics and firearm units to fight cocaine and heroin drug cartels using South Africa as a transit hub, Police Minister Nathi Nhleko said yesterday. Speaking on the sidelines of the second Africa-Russia Anti-Drug Dialogue in Durban, Nhleko said although there was no concrete timeline yet in place for the units to be up and running, the SA Police Service and his ministry were working on having this done as soon as possible. [continues 279 words]
MD. House Backs Broader Certification; Hearing Held on Gun Bills Maryland would allow midwives, nurses, dentists and foot doctors to certify patients for medical-marijuana use under a bill the state House of Delegates passed Friday. Current state law restricts such authority to physicians, but the House voted 110 to 21 to extend it to other types of health-care providers. The legislation, sponsored by Del. Dan K. Morhaim (D-Baltimore County), will now move to the Senate for consideration. The change wouldn't have any immediate practical implications, because the state doesn't expect to have any dispensaries until at least next year. [continues 587 words]
Last month, an official with the Drug Enforcement Agency made a presentation before the Senatorial Committee on the Judiciary in Washington, D.C. During the report, the country's newest public enemy was unveiled. The south-of-the-border rival has no link to terrorist organizations, viruses, or Donald Trump-so-hated Mexicans. Based on figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the DEA's document underlines that drug overdose by heroin usage is now the leading cause of injury-related deaths in the United States, surpassing deaths from car accidents and firearms. [continues 737 words]
ZARANJ, Afghanistan - Shortly after sunrise, an Afghan special operations helicopter descended on two vehicles racing through the empty deserts of southern Afghanistan, traversing what has become a superhighway for smugglers and insurgents. Intelligence showed that the men were transporting a huge cache of drugs and weapons from Helmand Province to Nimruz Province, a hub for all things illegal and a way station on the global opium trail. Hovering above, the troops fired tracer rounds into the sandy earth beside the vehicles, which skidded to a stop. [continues 1375 words]
In Colombia, Peace Deal With the FARC in Sight But Herbicide-Resistant Coca Production on Rise In the lowlands surrounding the town of La Hormiga, coca was once king. Fields of the bright green bushes stretched to the horizon in every direction and farmers were flush with cash. The surrounding municipality was the one with the most coca crops in the country that produced the most cocaine in the world. This was "ground zero" for Plan Colombia, a massive multipronged effort funded by nearly $10bn in US aid that started in 2000. The plan aimed to recover a country that was in the grips of drug mafias, leftist guerrillas and rightwing militias, and whose institutions malfunctioned and economy faltered. [continues 1427 words]
When coastal-defence vessels HMCS Brandon and HMCS Whitehorse returned to CFB Esquimalt in December after participating in an anti-drug trafficking operation in the Caribbean and east Pacific regions, the Times Colonist published an editorial congratulating the sailors for a job well done. But the editorial also said the work of Canada's armed forces wouldn't make much difference in slowing or halting the flow of drugs from Central and South America. Last week, I had a chance to see a different perspective on the navy's work. At a briefing at CFB Esquimalt, I learned a lot more about what happens when Canadian ships head south. It's not just for a jaunt in warmer waters. There's a real war going on, one that threatens the stability of countries in that region, as well as the quality of life in Canada and elsewhere. [continues 613 words]
I'm passing a joint at The Joint and pondering while on pot. Through hazy eyes I watched FoxNews coverage of the armed takeover of a federal building in Oregon, feeling helpless. I've decided to do something about it here in Trenton. I think I'm going to take over the front steps of the Clarkson S. Fisher Federal Building and United States Courthouse located on the next block from The Joint on State Street. Ummm next week or the week after, hum, or when I get off this couch. (In my "Jay and Silent Bob" voice:) Dude... not in solidary with those fools in Oregon, but just the opposite. [continues 1386 words]
CANTON, Ohio - Leonard Campanello, the police chief of Gloucester, Mass., took the microphone here in mid-December and opened with his usual warm-up line: I'm from Gloucester, he said in his heavy Boston accent. "That's spelled 'G-l-o-s-t-a-h.'" A casually profane man with a philosophical bent, Chief Campanello, 48, first drew national attention last spring when he wrote on Facebook that the old war on drugs was lost and over. Convinced that addiction is a disease, not a crime or moral failing, he became the unusual law enforcement officer offering heroin users an alternative to prison. [continues 2355 words]
Re: "Tennessee must get with the times on medical marijuana," by David Hairston, Dec. 13. Regarding Mr. Hairston's article about legalizing medical marijuana, I found the logic faulty for the following reasons: The statement that "God designed our bodies to use cannabinoids to maintain health " because cannabinoid receptors have been identified is like saying "God intends us to have cancer or diabetes because we have the genes for those." Our bodies adapt to the environment and use the food and chemicals we put in them trying to best achieve a balance of chemicals in the brain. However, when we are out of balance in one area, the brain will seek to remedy it in another, thus the reason for using mood-altering drugs. [continues 158 words]
One of the themes of last fall's election campaign, of course, was that former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper had embarrassed Canada on the international stage. For instance, his willingness to commit Canadian troops to a combat role in the war against terrorists and his unwillingness to play along with meaningless UN symbolism on climate change had, allegedly, lowered Canada's standing in the eyes of the world. Just about the only people who care about Canada's international reputation are self-important elitists. The average tradesman working overtime to make ends meet couldn't care less. Nor could the average commercial fisherman or prairie farm couple. [continues 522 words]
One of the themes of last fall's election campaign, of course, was that former Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper had embarrassed Canada on the international stage. For instance, his willingness to commit Canadian troops to a combat role in the war against terrorists and his unwillingness to play along with meaningless United Nations symbolism on climate change had, allegedly, lowered Canada's standing in the eyes of the world. Just about the only people who care about Canada's international reputation are self-important elitists. The average tradesman working overtime to make ends meet couldn't care less. Nor could the average commercial fisherman or prairie farm couple. [continues 526 words]
(WORLD) STAGE FRIGHT One of the themes of last fall's election campaign, of course, was that former Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper had embarrassed Canada on the international stage. For instance, his willingness to commit Canadian troops to a combat role in the war against terrorists and his unwillingness to play along with meaningless United Nations symbolism on climate change had, allegedly, lowered Canada's standing in the eyes of the world. Just about the only people who care about Canada's international reputation are self-important elitists. The average tradesman working overtime to make ends meet couldn't care less. Nor could the average commercial fisherman or prairie farm couple. [continues 521 words]
WASHINGTON - The Department of Justice announced this week that it's suspending a controversial program that allows local police departments to keep a large portion of assets seized from citizens under federal law and funnel it into their own coffers. The "equitable-sharing" program gives police the option of prosecuting asset-forfeiture cases under federal instead of state law. Federal forfeiture policies are more permissive than many state policies, allowing police to keep up to 80 percent of assets they seize - even if the people they took them from are never charged with a crime. [continues 655 words]
