A former San Antonio police officer who prosecutors say helped escort shipments of what he thought was cocaine in exchange for money pleaded guilty Thursday to a conspiracy charge in the drug-trafficking scheme. Standing next to his attorney, Peter Saenz calmly replied, "Guilty, sir," when U.S. District Judge Edward C. Prado asked how he pleaded to charges that he conspired to distribute and possess 5 kilograms or more of cocaine. Saenz's plea deal capped his prison sentence at 11 years and three months and marks the sixth plea agreement in an FBI undercover sting that snared 10 police officers and two civilians in March. [continues 235 words]
The claim by Britain's deputy high commissioner in Jamaica that one in 10 passengers flying into London are likely to be smuggling drugs has met with varying reactions in the UK. The British diplomat, Phil Sinkinson, says that up to 30kg of cocaine could be arriving on the 10 planes which land in London every week. The drugs are increasingly carried in the passengers' stomachs. Members of the black community in Britain have accused Mr Sinkinson of exaggerating the figures and stirring up racial tension. [continues 495 words]
Killings Continue: Law Enforcement Agencies Should Target Big Drug Organizations In 2002. BECAUSE HOMICIDES are constantly reclassified, Baltimore may or may not have ended 2001 with two fewer killings than the year before. But the official year-end tally -- whether it is 259 or slightly higher or lower -- is less important than the direction it represents. For the second year in a row, Baltimore recorded fewer than 300 homicides, a level of lethality that was exceeded each year throughout the 1990s. [continues 603 words]
Reputed drug lord Miguel Caro Quintero is so cocky that back in 1997 he called a radio station in his hometown of Hermosillo, Mexico, to refute the charges made against him by the chief of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. He gave his address and challenged authorities on both sides of the border to come get him. Last month, at the request of the U.S. government, agents from Mexico's attorney general's office collared the man alleged to have inherited the infamous Sonora cocaine and marijuana cartel from his jailed older brother. [continues 191 words]
Sweeping New Laws Are Based On The View That Drug Users Need Treatment, Not Criminal Punishment. RIO DE JANEIRO - On the continent that produces most of the world's cocaine and much of its heroin and marijuana, its largest country is softening punishment on recreational drug users. The Brazilian Congress adopted landmark legislation that substitutes alternative punishments such as community service and rehabilitation for custodial sentences. The government will now treat recreational drug users not as criminals, but as people in need of medical and psychological help. [continues 815 words]
Jamaican Drug Barons Tempt Couriers With Money The amount of drugs brought into the UK by courier is not negligible - - it is currently between four and five tons a year -but compared to the large consignments smuggled by road and sea, it is not a huge amount. But it is a high-risk enterprise for the "mules", as they are known. =46irst, there is the danger to health. Many secrete substances like cocaine by swallowing it or inserting it into body orifices (which explains the soubriquet, "stuffers and swallowers"). [continues 345 words]
Regarding a recent letter entitled "The debate goes on," as a police officer for more than 35 years I can say I never have used or knowingly tolerated anyone who uses a "mind-altering drug." I have arrested or detained hundreds of coke heads, pot heads, and crackheads in Saigon, the former West Germany, Washington, D.C., and other areas of interest to the government. Certain drugs are mind-altering. While they don't kill right away, and maybe never, I never arrested an old drug addict. They create a danger to others on the road, in the air, on ships and trains. [continues 55 words]
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Federal law overrides an Oklahoma law that exempts homes used in drug crimes from being taken by state authorities, an appeals court ruled. That means the federal government can take an Oklahoma home if its owner is selling or possessing drugs. The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver ruled 3-0 Wednesday that a federal law on property forfeiture preempts a state law that prohibits home seizure. The case began with Nanette Lees, a Wagoner grandmother who is awaiting trial on a state charge of possessing Valium. Federal authorities want to seize and sell her $136,000 home. [continues 190 words]
Acupuncture is widely used as a treatment for cocaine addiction. But the results of a large clinical trial suggest that when used alone without other treatments the therapy is not effective in reducing cocaine dependency, researchers report yesterday. Needles inserted into four acupuncture zones in the ear that are commonly used in treating addiction did no more to curtail cocaine use than relaxation exercises or a sham procedure in which needles were inserted into the rim of the ear. The study participants received the acupuncture or the other treatments five times a week for eight weeks. [continues 525 words]
Editor: Re: Shots fired in grow house bust, Dec. 19. Lord, save us from a free, but lazy press. At a time when your drug laws are being questioned as never before, how is it possible that, as far as one can determine, your reporter failed to ask the police officer a single question about the efficacy or otherwise of the law prohibiting certain drugs? Isn't that what reporters are supposed to do, ask questions? Here are a few pertinent questions your reporter should ask the next time a drug cop crows about the latest drug bust: [continues 664 words]
