drug cartel

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Along the Border, a 'Virtual Wall' Is Emerging on Both Sides

Drone tech escalates as police, drug cartels in Mexico face off

(Newser) - Local police along the US-Mexico border are increasingly turning to AI-powered drones to track drug traffickers, seek out migrants trying to cross into the US, assist in emergencies, and compensate for staff shortages and reduced federal funding. While US officials have long used drones along the border, creating what...

Report: Trump Administration Ready to Move on Mexico

Pentagon plans strikes on drug cartels there, apparently with or without Mexico's OK

(Newser) - The Trump administration has reportedly instructed the US military to ready plans for direct attacks against Mexican drug cartels, with preparations to be managed by the Northern Command and a target date for the plans set for mid-September. According to three military sources who spoke to independent journalist Ken...

Famed Boxer Deported, Lands in Mexico Prison

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. has been accused of involvement with Sinaloa cartel

(Newser) - Former world champion boxer Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. has been deported from the US. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed Tuesday that the 39-year-old professional boxer was returned to Mexico following his ICE arrest last month. The Department of Homeland Security claimed he was living in the US illegally after overstaying...

US Sends Destroyers Toward Venezuela to Pressure Cartels
US Destroyers Head
Toward Venezuela
Aug 19, 2025 6:00 PM CDT

US Destroyers Head Toward Venezuela

Deployment is part of Trump's effort against Latin American drug cartels

(Newser) - The US is deploying three Aegis guided-missile destroyers to the waters off Venezuela as part of President Trump's effort to combat threats from Latin American drug cartels, according to an American official briefed on the planning. The USS Gravely, the USS Jason Dunham, and the USS Sampson are expected...

After Yearslong Investigation, US Indicts 5 Cartel Honchos

Car accident in Tennessee leads to US charges against major Mexican drug operation

(Newser) - The investigation began years ago after two drug dealers got into a car accident in a small Tennessee town. What followed was a series of secret wiretaps, a shoot-out with police, and the discovery of drugs hidden in a tractor trailer that would eventually lead federal investigators back to cartel...

Trump OKs Military Action on Latin American Drug Cartels

Move signals a shift from law enforcement to military involvement

(Newser) - President Trump has quietly authorized the Pentagon to use military force against certain Latin American drug cartels, stepping up an already aggressive push to label these organizations as foreign terrorist threats. The directive, confirmed to the New York Times by sources familiar with internal discussions, paves the way for...

Colombia Seizes Unmanned Starlink-Powered Narco Sub

Capable of carrying 1.5 tons of cocaine, sub was being tested and was empty

(Newser) - Drug traffickers are reportedly testing a new generation of unmanned "narco subs" in the Caribbean—equipped with cutting-edge satellite technology from Elon Musk's Starlink. Colombia's navy said Wednesday it has seized its first unmanned "narco sub" equipped with a Starlink satellite antenna off the country'...

They Thought They Were Going to a Gig. Now, a Tragic End

Bodies of 5 missing Mexican musicians found near US border, with suspicions directed at Gulf Cartel

(Newser) - Five members of the band Grupo Fugitivo, which performed Mexican regional music at parties and other events, had been missing since Sunday. Now comes sad news on their fate: Authorities say the bodies of the men, ages 20 to 40, have been found on the outskirts of the Mexican city...

Colombia Says Cartel Paid Bounty for Dead Cops

President says the Gulf Clan plotted to 'systematically murder' security force members

(Newser) - A massive wave of arrests has gone down in Colombia, with authorities there claiming they've detained more than 200 members of the nation's largest drug cartel. On Monday, armed forces chief Francisco Cubides held a presser in which he disclosed that 217 members of the Gulf Clan have...

Cartel's Warning to Mexican Singer: 'You Will Be Shot'

Mexican authorities say corridos singer Natanael Cano, others are now under 'protective measures'

(Newser) - Just because you rap about drug cartels doesn't mean you have immunity from them. Authorities in Mexico are now offering state protection to famed regional Mexican singer Natanael Cano and other artists after a drug cartel in northern Mexico publicly threatened them, prosecutors tell the AP . Photos of a...

In Colombia, a Gold Heist Plays Out Underground

Wall Street Journal reports on a drug cartel helping rogue miners

(Newser) - Drug trafficking is big business in Colombia, of course, but it turns out that gold trafficking isn't too shabby, either. The Wall Street Journal reports on a remarkable underground war playing out within the nation's largest gold mine. The mine is owned by China's Zijin Mining Group,...

Captured Drug Lord 'Kidnapped,' Forced on Plane, Lawyer Says

Account suggests Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada was betrayed by El Chapo's son

(Newser) - A lawyer for Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, the alleged co-founder of the Sinaloa cartel now in US custody , says his client was kidnapped and flown to the US against his will. Zambada "neither surrendered nor negotiated any terms with the US government," but was instead kidnapped by...

We May Soon See a Spike in Avocado Prices
A Big Avocado Supply to
the US Just Got Shut Down
in case you missed it
Jun 23, 2024 11:10 AM CDT

A Big Avocado Supply to the US Just Got Shut Down

Imports of avocados, mangos from Michoacan, Mexico, halted after 'incident' with USDA inspectors

(Newser) - The US Department of Agriculture has indefinitely put the kibosh on inspections of avocados and mangos imported from Mexico, citing "security concerns" for USDA staff. Inspections of those food items "will remain paused until the security situation is reviewed and protocols and safeguards are in place," the...

Kristi Noem Now Banned From All Tribal Lands in State She Governs

9th Native American tribe votes to bar her from reservation

(Newser) - Kristi Noem was already banned from one-fifth of the state she governs ; now she's banned from even more of it. Indigenous groups in South Dakota have now barred the far-right governor from any and all tribal lands in the state, the Guardian reports. Nine Native American tribes reside in...

Kristi Noem Is Now Banned in 20% of the State She Governs

Another 2 South Dakota tribes ban governor over comments she made in March

(Newser) - South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem is now banned from entering nearly 20% of her state after two more tribes banished her this week over comments she made earlier this year about tribal leaders benefitting from drug cartels, reports the AP .
  • What she said: "We've got some tribal leaders
...

Bishops Take Drug Cartel Matters Into Their Own Hands

Catholic clergy is trying to negotiate for peace, says Mexican government isn't doing its job

(Newser) - Four Roman Catholic bishops met with Mexican drug cartel bosses in a bid to negotiate a possible peace accord, and President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Thursday he approves of such talks. The revelation by the bishop of Chilpancingo-Chilapa, Jose de Jesus Gonzalez Hernandez, illustrates the extent to which the...

Report: Sinaloa Cartel Now Killing Fentanyl Producers

Cartel appears to be enforcing ban on the drug, though authorities still have doubts

(Newser) - When banners went up announcing that the Sinaloa drug cartel had given up the sale and production of fentanyl , authorities were understandably wary. But members of the cartel, the leading exporter of fentanyl to the US, say cartel leaders are serious—deadly serious. A "midlevel Sinaloa cartel operative" who...

Boy, 14, Arrested After Murder of 8 in Mexico City

Police arrest 'El Chapito' in shooting linked to drug cartels

(Newser) - Mexican authorities have arrested a 14-year-old boy nicknamed "El Chapito" in the drug-related killing of eight people near Mexico City, the federal Public Safety Department said Thursday. The boy allegedly rode up on a motorcycle and opened fire on a family in the low-income Mexico City suburb of Chimalhuacan,...

Cocaine 'Super Cartel' Is Busted in Europe

Ring controlled about one-third of the trade on the continent

(Newser) - Law enforcement authorities in six different countries have joined forces to take down a "super cartel" of drug traffickers who controlled about one third of the cocaine trade in Europe, Europol said on Monday. The European Union crime agency said 49 suspects have been arrested during the investigation, with...

Mom Searching for Abducted Son Is Slain in Mexico

Rosario Rodríguez Barraza killed on day dedicated to the disappeared

(Newser) - Yet another mother searching for her disappeared son has been killed in northern Mexico, becoming the third volunteer search activist killed in Mexico since 2021. Rubén Rocha Moya, the governor of the northern state of Sinaloa, identified the dead woman Wednesday as Rosario Rodríguez Barraza—"a tireless...

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