Mexico drug cartels

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Cartel Strategy May Signal Scary New Phase of Drug War

Chemistry students being recruited to ramp up fentanyl production, reports New York Times

(Newser) - It's like a work-study program, cartel-style. The New York Times reports that drug cartels in Mexico have been aggressively recruiting chemistry students from college campuses to ramp up their fentanyl game. The overriding goal is to figure out how to produce their own synthetic opioids from scratch and avoid...

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...

In Mexico, Two Mayoral Candidates Shot Dead

Murders in Maravatio raise concerns about drug gangs trying to sway local races

(Newser) - Two candidates for mayor in the Mexican city of Maravatio have been gunned down within hours of each other, raising worries that drug gangs are trying to influence the June 2 election. Campaigning doesn't formally begin until Friday.
  • State prosecutors said Tuesday that Armando Pérez was found shot
...

'Architect' of Mexico's War on Drugs Had a Big Secret

Genaro García Luna convicted of drug trafficking, accepting cartel bribes

(Newser) - As Mexico's top public safety official, Genaro García Luna was tasked with tracking down and stopping drug cartels. In fact, he was "widely considered the architect of Mexico's war on drugs," per the BBC . He didn't quite fulfill the role. On Tuesday, the highest-ranking...

Organization Counts Toll in Fight Over Environment

An activist has been killed every 2 days over the past decade, Global Witness says

(Newser) - An international organization has counted the number of people who have been slain over the past 10 years while trying to keep mining, drilling for oil, or logging from taking place on their lands: 1,700. That's an average of one activist killed every two days, Global Witness says....

As China Lost Its Fentanyl Crown, the Cartels Stepped In
2 Cartels Are Keeping
America Flush With Fentanyl
longform
Aug 30, 2022 4:48 PM CDT

2 Cartels Are Keeping America Flush With Fentanyl

'Wall Street Journal' looks at how the Sinaloa, Jalisco cartels ended up supplying the US after China cracked down

(Newser) - He's a 25-year-old cook who works six days a week and pulls in about $10,000 a month. It's a lucrative gig, but also an illegal one: He's cooking fentanyl that will be smuggled into the US, and his one-person lab churns out the equivalent of hundreds...

Cancun Tourists Flee Beach as Gunmen Storm It, Shooting

Armed drug gang storms beach near luxury hotels

(Newser) - On Thursday gunmen stormed ashore at a beach on Mexico's resort-studded Caribbean coast and executed two drug dealers from a rival gang in front of luxury hotels. The dramatic shooting attack sent tourists scrambling for cover at the resort of Puerto Morelos, just south of Cancun, the AP reports....

Cartel: We'll Kill Journalist Unless She Gives Equal Coverage

Men claim to represent Mexico's Jalisco New Generation cartel

(Newser) - Masked men claiming to represent Mexico’s most powerful drug cartel have taken the unusual step of circulating a video threatening to kill a national television news anchor for what they viewed as unfair coverage. The video circulated Monday showed masked and heavily armed men surrounding a man seated at...

Dozens Vanish Along 'Highway of Death'
Dozens Vanish From
Mexican Highway
Jun 26, 2021 3:00 PM CDT

Dozens Vanish From Mexican Highway

Drug cartels may be returning to attacking the public

(Newser) - As many as 50 people are missing after setting out on three-hour car trips this year between Mexico's industrial hub of Monterrey and the border city of Nuevo Laredo, on a well-traveled stretch of road the local media have dubbed "the highway of death." Relatives say family...

Caravan of Mormon Survivors Flees Mexico

More than 100 from communities rocked by massacre have crossed into Arizona

(Newser) - An 18-vehicle caravan carrying about 100 members of an offshoot Mormon community leaving their homes in Mexico after a violent attack arrived in Arizona on Saturday. The families came nearly a week after the attack Monday in which nine women and children were killed by what authorities said were hit...

After Massacre in Mexico, an Arrest, With 2 Hostages

Armed suspect was found near Arizona border

(Newser) - A suspect found holding two bound and gagged hostages has been arrested for alleged links to the massacre of nine women and children in northern Mexico. The suspect was found in the hills of Agua Prieta, the Mexican town across the border from Douglas, Ariz., with four assault rifles and...

The 'El Chapo' Trial Was Crazy. Now It's Up to the Jury


Trial of 'El Chapo'
Was an 'Amazing
Open Book'
THE RUNDOWN
Feb 1, 2019 1:24 PM CST

Trial of 'El Chapo' Was an 'Amazing Open Book'

Now Joaquin Guzman's fate is in the hands of the jury

(Newser) - Closing arguments wound down Thursday in the trial of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, leaving in their wake in a Brooklyn courthouse tales "that at times echoed a Shakespearean drama and at others detailed a Sinaloa cartel bloodbath," per NBC News . The 61-year-old drug kingpin's fate is...

Witness Drops Bombshell in 'El Chapo' Trial

'Right-hand man' claims Mexican president was given $100M bribe

(Newser) - Shocking allegations in the "El Chapo" trial: Drug lord Joaquin Guzman paid former Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto $100 million to avoid recapture, and it was Peña Nieto who reached out first, a witness claimed in the trial Tuesday. Alex Cifuentes, a Colombian drug trafficker who describes...

Cartel Boss Who Sent Cops Execution Video Is Sentenced

'Seriously evil' Texas-born 'La Barbie,' extradited from Mexico, gets nearly 50 years in prison

(Newser) - A Texas-born man who prosecutors say rose to the top ranks of a Mexican drug cartel using ruthless violence was sentenced Monday by a federal judge in Atlanta to nearly five decades in prison. Edgar Valdez Villarreal, known as "La Barbie" because of his light eyes and complexion, was...

Cops Reveal Gruesome Fate of Missing Mexican Film Students

3 students tortured, killed by cartel members

(Newser) - Frustration over the disappearance of three university students in Mexico turned to outrage Monday as authorities revealed the men were tortured and killed by cartel members who wrongly suspected them of belonging to a rival gang. Enrolled at Guadalajara's University of Audiovisual Media, Javier Salomon Aceves Gastelum, 25; Marco...

Judge Who Oversaw Drug Kingpins' Appeals Shot Dead

Details are scant so far

(Newser) - The Mexican federal judge who handled the appeals of drug kingpins Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman and Miguel Trevino was shot dead outside his house Monday, Reuters reports. Mexico's president has ordered the country's attorney general to investigate Vicente Bermudez's murder. Guzman, leader of the Sinaloa Cartel,...

Mexican Mayor Sworn in, Killed a Day Later

Gisela Mota vowed 'frontal and direct' fight against crime

(Newser) - The mayor of a city south of Mexico's capital was shot to death on Saturday, less than a day after taking office, officials said. Gunmen burst into the house of Mayor Gisela Mota in the city of Temixco and killed her, said the government of Morelos state, where Temixco...

Mexico Busts Drug Lord Hiding in Plain Sight

Feds arrest Hector Beltran Leyva in sleepy mountain city

(Newser) - San Miguel de Allende is a sleepy artists' enclave nestled in the mountains of central Mexico, equally popular with artists and retired Americans. But the city jolted awake yesterday as federal special forces swept into a seafood restaurant and nabbed one of the nation's most notorious drug lords, Hector...

Vultures Help Uncover Mass Grave in Mexico

31 bodies, some decapitated, found in Veracruz

(Newser) - Some 31 bodies have been found in a mass grave in Veracruz, Mexico, thanks in part to some hungry vultures. A local newspaper notes, per the AP , the grave was uncovered Monday on a ranch outside Tres Valles after marines spotted vultures on a dirt road. The BBC reports an...

90-Year-Old Drug Mule Handed Prison on Birthday

Leo Sharp is also a World War II veteran

(Newser) - Leo Sharp turned 90 yesterday ... while sitting in federal court in Detroit, where he was sentenced to three years in federal prison for his role in a drug smuggling operation. The Indiana man, a World War II veteran, was convicted of hauling cocaine between Mexico and Detroit for a Mexican...

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