Six people from the lower Rio Grande Valley entered their pleas in a Corpus Christi federal courtroom late last week. They were involved with smuggling large loads of cocaine to Dallas and Atlanta from Brownsville. They also received millions of dollars in drug proceeds to be smuggled into Mexico.
ICE agents raided six homes, including one in Brownsville, last month. They seized more than half a million dollars during the raid, which has been forfeited already.
Investigators say five people were involved in transporting 5 kilos of cocaine out of the Valley over the last two years. They say Arturo Gomez was the ringleader and used his auto repair shop as a front. That's where the drugs and money proceeds were received and delivered.
They say Magda Zendejas, Reyna Ceballos, Julio Gonzalez and David Alcala all helped with the drug trafficking and money laundering operation.
All five will be sentenced in august and face up to life in prison.
Prosecutors say Vanessa Weaver took $16,000 into Mexico without declaring it. She'll face as much as five years in federal prison when she gets sentenced in late June.
The U.S. Attorney's Office is trying to get the defendants to forfeit a 38-acre property in Georgia, a half million dollars in drug proceeds and 20 vehicles seized in the raid. Together, they are worth $1.5 million.
Six people involved in a Brownsville drug trafficking and money laundering scheme plead guilty in a South Texas federal court.
Two Philadelphia Police officers, a detective and 12 others have been arrested by the DEA on charges involving the sale of steroids.
These arrests come come on the heels of a long-term investigation by the DEA and the Philadelphia Police Department.
A 17-count indictment was unsealed on Wednesday morning. All 15 individuals have been charged with conspiracy to distribute anabolic steroids.
The indictment alleges that Keith Gidelson, a Philadelphia Police Detective, operated an anabolic steroid and human growth hormone (HGH) distribution organization in Philadelphia and throughout the United States. The indictment goes a step further to detail that Gidelson's co-conspirators, who he allegedly sold the drugs to, distributed the drugs to their own customers.
Gidelson allegedly obtained the drugs from overseas suppliers. He, and his wife, who was also named in the indictment, stored and packed steroids in their Philadelphia home.
Police Officers Joseph McIntyre and George Sambuca were also named in the indictment.
Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey spoke about the latest arrests. "It's a hard day when our own members tarnish the badge. It's also a sign that we are committed, however, to fighting for out values of honor, service and integrity for all men and women in blue who do the right thing and work every day to make Philadelphia a safer city."
If convicted, each defendant faces a maximum of ten years in prison and hefty fines.
Ignacio Alvarez Meyendorff is suspected of working for the once-powerful Colombian Norte del Valle drug cartel.
authorities in Argentina say they have detained a Colombian man they accuse of being the brains behind the submarines used to smuggle drugs to the United States.
Ignacio Alvarez Meyendorff is suspected of working for the once-powerful Colombian Norte del Valle drug cartel.
Mr Alvarez denies the allegations.
Drug traffickers are increasingly using submarines to avoid being caught by the security forces patrolling the water's surface.
Deputy Security Minister Miguel Robles said Mr Alvarez was arrested on Sunday with help from the US Drug Enforcement Administration, but news of his arrest were only made public on Wednesday.
Mr Robles accused Mr Alvarez of being in charge of the logistics behind the underwater smuggling scheme, and of perfecting the system.
He said Mr Alvarez was detained as he arrived in Buenos Aires on a flight from Tahiti.
Local media reported that he had been living in Argentina since 2005, and had resided in an exclusive area of the Puerto Madero neighbourhood.
cocaine smugglers had bought the plane with money they had laundered through one of the biggest banks in the United States: Wachovia, now part of the giant Wells Fargo.
cocaine smugglers had bought the plane with money they had laundered through one of the biggest banks in the United States: Wachovia, now part of the giant Wells Fargo.
The authorities uncovered billions of dollars in wire transfers, traveller's cheques and cash shipments through Mexican exchanges into Wachovia accounts. Wachovia was put under immediate investigation for failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering programme. Of special significance was that the period concerned began in 2004, which coincided with the first escalation of violence along the US-Mexico border that ignited the current drugs war.
Criminal proceedings were brought against Wachovia, though not against any individual, but the case never came to court. In March 2010, Wachovia settled the biggest action brought under the US bank secrecy act, through the US district court in Miami. Now that the year's "deferred prosecution" has expired, the bank is in effect in the clear. It paid federal authorities $110m in forfeiture, for allowing transactions later proved to be connected to drug smuggling, and incurred a $50m fine for failing to monitor cash used to ship 22 tons of cocaine.
More shocking, and more important, the bank was sanctioned for failing to apply the proper anti-laundering strictures to the transfer of $378.4bn – a sum equivalent to one-third of Mexico's gross national product – into dollar accounts from so-called casas de cambio (CDCs) in Mexico, currency exchange houses with which the bank did business.
"Wachovia's blatant disregard for our banking laws gave international cocaine cartels a virtual carte blanche to finance their operations," said Jeffrey Sloman, the federal prosecutor. Yet the total fine was less than 2% of the bank's $12.3bn profit for 2009. On 24 March 2010, Wells Fargo stock traded at $30.86 – up 1% on the week of the court settlement.
The conclusion to the case was only the tip of an iceberg, demonstrating the role of the "legal" banking sector in swilling hundreds of billions of dollars – the blood money from the murderous drug trade in Mexico and other places in the world – around their global operations, now bailed out by the taxpayer.
At the height of the 2008 banking crisis, Antonio Maria Costa, then head of the United Nations office on drugs and crime, said he had evidence to suggest the proceeds from drugs and crime were "the only liquid investment capital" available to banks on the brink of collapse. "Inter-bank loans were funded by money that originated from the drugs trade," he said. "There were signs that some banks were rescued that way."
Wachovia was acquired by Wells Fargo during the 2008 crash, just as Wells Fargo became a beneficiary of $25bn in taxpayers' money. Wachovia's prosecutors were clear, however, that there was no suggestion Wells Fargo had behaved improperly; it had co-operated fully with the investigation. Mexico is the US's third largest international trading partner and Wachovia was understandably interested in this volume of legitimate trade.
José Luis Marmolejo, who prosecuted those running one of the casas de cambio at the Mexican end, said: "Wachovia handled all the transfers. They never reported any as suspicious."
"As early as 2004, Wachovia understood the risk," the bank admitted in the statement of settlement with the federal government, but, "despite these warnings, Wachovia remained in the business". There is, of course, the legitimate use of CDCs as a way into the Hispanic market. In 2005 the World Bank said that Mexico was receiving $8.1bn in remittances.
During research into the Wachovia Mexican case, the Observer obtained documents previously provided to financial regulators. It emerged that the alarm that was ignored came from, among other places, London, as a result of the diligence of one of the most important whistleblowers of our time. A man who, in a series of interviews with the Observer, adds detail to the documents, laying bare the story of how Wachovia was at the centre of one of the world's biggest money-laundering operations.
Martin Woods, a Liverpudlian in his mid-40s, joined the London office of Wachovia Bank in February 2005 as a senior anti-money laundering officer. He had previously served with the Metropolitan police drug squad. As a detective he joined the money-laundering investigation team of the National Crime Squad, where he worked on the British end of the Bank of New York money-laundering scandal in the late 1990s.
Juan Ortiz-Lopez was arrested at his home in Quetzaltenango by a US and Guatemalan joint task force on Wednesday.
Guatemalan and US agents have captured Guatemala's top drug trafficker in a joint effort to prevent the Latin American country from being absorbed into Mexico's drug wars.
Considered Guatamela's most important drug smuggler, Juan Ortiz-Lopez was arrested at his home in Quetzaltenango by a US and Guatemalan joint task force on Wednesday.
He was being protected by only two bodyguards, who were arrested as well.
The 41-year-old is suspected, along with others in his gang, of exporting tons of cocaine into Mexico and the US.
Manuel Orozco, of the US-based think tank Inter-American Dialogue, says that while Ecuador has a weaker economy, drug money is easier to launder in Guatemala.
The United States signed a deal six years ago to prevent Guatemala from falling into the same pattern as neighbouring Mexico.
Throughout Mexico, drug gangs fighting for territory have killed more than 36,000 people during the past four years.
Earlier this month, US President Barack Obama pledged another 140 million euros to combat drugs in central America after visiting El Salvador.
Mexican Drug Cartels Smuggled Hundreds of Kilograms of Cocaine to Kansas City - Kansas City, Missouri News
infoZine - Mexican Drug Cartels Smuggled Hundreds of Kilograms of Cocaine to Kansas City - Kansas City, Missouri News: "Adrian Dunn, also known as “A.D.,” 37, Vincent E. Charles, also known as “Zeno” or “Z,” 42, Danny R. Moore, 54, Cheo D. Miles, 38, and Dennis Westbrook, also known as “Westcrook,” 31, all of Kansas City, Mo., were found guilty of participating in a conspiracy to distribute cocaine and marijuana from January 2007 to August 2009. In addition to the drug-trafficking conspiracy, Dunn, Moore and Westbrook were each convicted of using a telephone to facilitate the distribution of cocaine and marijuana
. All of the defendants remain in federal custody pending a sentencing hearing.":Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder
Drug Bust: Canadian man arrested in Newport Beach after authorities find $19 million worth of cocaine at his home. - ktla.com
Drug Bust: Canadian man arrested in Newport Beach after authorities find $19 million worth of cocaine
at his home. - ktla.com: "A 35-year-old Canadian man was sentenced to 13 years in prison after he was busted with 200 pounds of cocaine in Newport Beach.On Friday, Jean Francois Gosselin plead guilty to possession of a controlled substance with the intent to sell, according to Orange County Superior Court records.
Gosselin's sentence was enhanced because of the amount of drugs he had in his possession. The judged sentenced him to 3 years for possession and an additional 10 years because he had more than 10 kilograms (22 pounds), according to court documents.
On Jan. 20, Orange County Regional Narcotics Suppression officers served a search warrant at his mobile home and Gosselin was arrested after authorities say they found 92 individually wrapped packages of cocaine."
DISCLAIMERText may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder
Drug Bust: Canadian man arrested in Newport Beach after authorities find $19 million worth of cocaine at his home. - ktla.com
On Friday, Jean Francois Gosselin plead guilty to possession of a controlled substance with the intent to sell, according to Orange County Superior Court records.
Gosselin's sentence was enhanced because of the amount of drugs he had in his possession. The judged sentenced him to 3 years for possession and an additional 10 years because he had more than 10 kilograms (22 pounds), according to court documents.
On Jan. 20, Orange County Regional Narcotics Suppression officers served a search warrant at his mobile home and Gosselin was arrested after authorities say they found 92 individually wrapped packages of cocaine."
DISCLAIMERText may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder
Jose Rodolfo Escajeda, also known as 'Rikin,' was extradited to the U.S Alleged drug trafficker extradited by Mexico to US | AP Texas News | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle
Alleged drug trafficker 
extradited by Mexico to US AP Texas News Chron.com - Houston Chronicle: "The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration says that a suspected Mexican drug gang leader linked to a 2006 border incursion by armed traffickers into Texas has been extradited by Mexico to the U.S.The DEA said Saturday that Jose Rodolfo Escajeda, also known as 'Rikin,' was extradited to the U.S. to stand trial on marijuana and cocaine trafficking charges.
Escajeda, who allegedly worked for the Juarez cartel, was indicted by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas in 2006. From a base in Chihuahua, Mexico, he is alleged to have controlled a drug trafficking corridor for marijuana and cocaine in the area of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, located across from El Paso, Texas.
He was arrested by Mexican authorities last year"
:Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder
Customs Sniff Out Record Cocaine Shipment | News | ERR
'This is the biggest quantity of cocaine seized in Estonia's history,' state prosecutor Helga Aadamsoo was quoted by rus.err.ee as saying. She said that the amount was enough to get 5 million people intoxicated.
Rene Kanniste, head of the Tax and Customs investigation unit, said that the cocaine 
was hidden in an air shipment of coffee that arrived from Venezuela, and had an estimated street value of over 6.4 million euros.According to the State Prosecutor, two of the suspects are Estonian citizens, while the other two are citizens of “other countries.” If convicted they face sentences ranging from six years to life in prison.
Before this haul, Estonia's largest cocaine bust was in 2005 when a 43.1 kg of the drug was found hidden in a large cog wheel shipped from Peru. In that case three Israeli citizens were convicted and received sentences of nine, 11 and 15 years."
:Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder
BBC News - Warning over heroin emergencies in Dorset
Paramedics were called to eight locations in Bournemouth, Dorchester and Wareham on Saturday night.
In total, four men and two woman were taken to hospital.
Two men have since been discharged and conditions of the four remaining in hospital are not thought to be life-threatening.
Another man received treatment from an ambulance crew but was not admitted to hospital, while a further man refused treatment when paramedics attended."
'Superman logo' drug dealer jailed
Police seized drugs with a total street value of £500,000 at a youth club in Poplar, east London, in April and at a house in Loughton, Essex, in June.
Wiltshire, of Romford, Essex, along with Larry Hammersley, 44, of Poplar, Jay Putinas, 25, of Woodford Green, Essex, and Daniel Vann, 32, of Ongar, Essex, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine.
Hammersley was jailed for six years, Putinas for four-and-a-half years, and Vann for four years, following the investigation by City of London police.
Judge Martin Stephens told the men: 'You did it to make money quite unconcerned about the misery that the trade would bring to so many people.'
He said the operation to prepare and distribute cocaine across the South East on a 'very substantial scale' was 'sophisticated and professionally organised'."
The Press Association: 'Superman logo' drug dealer jailed
Police seized drugs with a total street value of £500,000 at a youth club in Poplar, east London, in April and at a house in Loughton, Essex, in June.
Wiltshire, of Romford, Essex, along with Larry Hammersley, 44, of Poplar, Jay Putinas, 25, of Woodford Green, Essex, and Daniel Vann, 32, of Ongar, Essex, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine.
Hammersley was jailed for six years, Putinas for four-and-a-half years, and Vann for four years, following the investigation by City of London police.
Judge Martin Stephens told the men: 'You did it to make money quite unconcerned about the misery that the trade would bring to so many people.'
He said the operation to prepare and distribute cocaine across the South East on a 'very substantial scale' was 'sophisticated and professionally organised'."
Customs officials at Newark, JFK airports seize pounds of cocaine, heroin in separate drug busts | NJ.com
In a separate incident two days later, inspectors at JFK airport arrested two men arriving from Ecuador as they attempted to smuggle more than 16 pounds of heroin in six pairs of pants and five pairs of cargo shorts.
Customs officials said the men's clothing was 'unusually heavy.'
Both of these drug busts followed routine checks of luggage for which U.S. Customs and Border Protection inspectors need no probable cause to conduct, said John Saleh, a spokesman for the federal agency. The cocaine seized at Newark Liberty has a street value of more than $660,000, and the heroin is worth more than $744,000."
Three men accused of selling cocaine to undercover officers | Amarillo Globe-News
All three were arrested in the 3800 block of Northeast 18th Avenue and booked into the Potter County jail, police said. About $80,000 worth of cocaine was seized. The Amarillo SWAT team, Randall County sheriff's office and the 47th District attorney's office assisted with the investigation, the release said.
Police said Palacios, Nunez and the third man were charged with manufacturing and delivery of a controlled substance more than 400 grams."
large quantity of the class A drug was discovered in the property in Mallard Close, Croxteth, on Friday afternoon
A large quantity of the class A drug was discovered in the property in Mallard Close, Croxteth, on Friday afternoon.
A significant amount of cash was also seized, police said.
The men aged 30, 21 and 27 years, all from the Huyton area, have been arrested and are being questioned."
seized $1 million worth of heroin from two suitcases before they were loaded onto a flight for Indianapolis.
Police say they were alerted to suspicious suitcases by routine surveillance at McCarran International Airport and found more than 12 pounds of black tar heroin inside, making it one of Las Vegas's largest heroin seizures.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department announced the seizure on Sunday. Police say the suitcases were checked in for a flight from Las Vegas to Indianapolis by way of Chicago.
TEENAGE girl claimed she was injected with heroin in her sleep just days before her death, an inquest heard.
Isha John, of Caerau, Bridgend, was 16 when she died in February this year.
DC Huw Evans, of Bridgend Police Station, told an inquest at Aberdare Coroner’s Court that on February 14, she moved into a bedsit with Carl Melbourne in Nantyffyllon.
DC Evans told the court Mr Melbourne was a known heroin addict and 16-year-old Isha also had a drug habit which included the misuse of valium.
Read More http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2010/11/10/teenager-isha-claimed-she-was-injected-with-heroin-days-before-death-91466-27629876/#ixzz14sMFhsAY
Drug bust: One Million in black tar heroin headed to Indianapolis from Vegas - wsbt.com
A drug dog sniffed out the bags containing the heroin at McCarron Airport Saturday around 3:30 p.m. The heroin was wrapped in plastic inside the luggage on a flight with a stop in Chicago. Jessie Gallegos, 47, and Jose Villarreal-Gazaviz, 31, had boarded the flight. Police say one of them paid cash for the tickets and checked the two bags.
When police discovered the first bag filled with heroin, they pulled the second bag that also contained more of the drug."
$20K In Heroin Found In Traffic Stop - News Story - WHIO Dayton
The heroin was estimated at about four ounces.
Deputies said they believe that the driver may have bought the drugs in Dayton and was headed west to Richmond, Ind., to sell it."
Dumfries dealer jailed over anthrax heroin
Sheriff Kenneth Ross said he accepted Darren Scott, 24, had not known the drug was infected.
Scott admitted supplying heroin at the Lochside and Lincluden housing estates in Dumfries between September last year and the end of March.
He was jailed at the town's sheriff court for a total of four years.
Depute fiscal Pamela Rhodes said Scott's dealing came to light during a police operation following a number of anthrax cases among heroin users.
The court heard the total value of drugs passing through his hands had a street value of up to £20,000.
Solicitor Liz Dougan said that Scott, described as a prisoner in Dumfries, had developed a cocaine habit and had agreed to become involved with the heroin to write off a debt of about £1,000."
Ezequiel Cárdenas Guillén, alias “Tony Tormenta”, one of the top capos of the Gulf cartel, shot and killed along with four of his henchmen
.jpg)
Ezequiel Cárdenas Guillén, alias “Tony Tormenta”, one of the top capos of the Gulf cartel, shot and killed along with four of his henchmen in a battle in Matamoros, Tamaulipas.
Cardenas had escaped capture this past September when a raid by Marines on a safehouse in Matamoros where he was staying was repulsed by his bodyguards, "Los Escorpiones".
Jose Luis Vergara, a spokesman for the agency, declared that Cardena’s death has dealt a major blow to the structure and organization of the Gulf Cartel organization.
Ezequiel Cardenas was the brother of Osiel Cardenas Guillen, the former head of the Gulf cartel and founder of “Los Zetas”, who is now imprisoned in the United States.
Since August the Army and Marines have intensified the search for the leaders of the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas. Los Zetas are lead by Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano “El Verdugo” “El Lazca” and Miguel Angel Trevino Morales “Z-40” who is in charge of the Nuevo Laredo trafficking corridor. The Gulf Cartel is lead by Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sanchez “El Coss”.
San Diego-to-Tijuana drug tunnel uncovered; 25 tons of pot seized - ivpressonline.com
The 1,800-foot transnational passageway — roughly equivalent to six football fields in length — isn't the longest or the most sophisticated ever built, but it is one of the few instances in which authorities were able to seize drugs on both sides of the border.
The scale of the operation pointed to the work of a major Mexican drug cartel, authorities said, and comes two weeks after Mexican authorities discovered a record 134 tons of marijuana in an industrial area near Tijuana. Officials don't know if there is a connection between the two events, but called this week's discovery another significant blow against organized crime groups."
DEA: 45 Mexican drug cartel suspects arrested in Atlanta - CNN.com
The arrests were made by members of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, the Clayton County District Attorney's Office and other law enforcement agencies, the DEA said. The investigation, called Operation Choke Hold, started in May 2009.
The suspects are believed to be connected with La Familia Michoacana, which 'was responsible for the importation of bulk quantities of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and marijuana into the metro Atlanta area,' the DEA said.
In addition to distributing narcotics in metro Atlanta, the drug-trafficking organization also shipped large quantities to Florida, Alabama, Indiana, Illinois and North Carolina, the DEA said."
Cocaine and cash found in Co Galway search - RTÉ News
Gardaí recovered cocaine with an estimated value of €245,000 and €200,000 in cash.
The drugs and money were recovered in a search of a house at Annaghdown yesterday evening.
A high-powered Honda motorcycle was also seized. No arrests were made."
