drug trafficking

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Family: Unjustly Held American Was Raped in Chinese Prison

Father, brother call attention to case of Chicago woman Dawn Michelle Hunt

(Newser) - Dawn Michelle Hunt thought she'd won a free trip from Chicago to Australia in 2014. Instead, the US woman landed in a Chinese prison for life, narrowly escaping execution. As the New York Times reports, the trip she thought she'd won was part of a drug trafficking scheme....

Drug Kingpin Eluded Cops as a So-So Soccer Player
Drug Kingpin Eluded Cops
as a So-So Soccer Player
longform
Jul 28, 2024 8:03 AM CDT

Drug Kingpin Eluded Cops as a So-So Soccer Player

Sebastian Marset of Uruguay didn't just bankroll teams, he played for them

(Newser) - Drug kingpins, including Pablo Escobar, have been known to bankroll local soccer teams in Latin America, writes Kevin Sieff in the Washington Post . It's a smart move in a few ways: Not only is soccer the "bedrock of power and politics," it's also an easy way...

An Ex-President on Trial May Use Trump's Praise in Defense

Ex-Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernández accused in drug conspiracy

(Newser) - Standing before Juan Orlando Hernández in December 2019, then-President Trump applauded the leader of Honduras for working "very closely" with the US to stop the flow of drugs "at a level that has never happened," per the Guardian . Indeed, both the Trump and Obama administrations considered...

40 Nabbed in Mississippi Drug Bust
40 Nabbed
in Mississippi
Drug Bust
Jan 24, 2024 1:12 PM CST

40 Nabbed in Mississippi Drug Bust

Some charged with threatening to murder with explosives

(Newser) - Approximately 40 people with connections to multiple states and Mexico were arrested Tuesday after a four-year federal investigation exposed multiple drug trafficking operations in east Mississippi, federal prosecutors announced, per the AP . In 10 federal indictments filed in the US Southern District of Mississippi, those arrested are accused of distributing...

Ohio Woman Is Alleged Serial Killer
Serial Killer Suspect
Pleads Not Guilty
updated
Oct 30, 2023 4:38 PM CDT

Serial Killer Suspect Pleads Not Guilty

Rebecca Auborn is accused of drugging 5 men in Ohio, 4 of whom died

(Newser) - An Ohio woman who police say fatally drugged four men pleaded not guilty to 28 charges at an arraignment Monday and will be held in jail awaiting trial after waiving her chance for bond. Rebecca Auborn's pleas were entered through her attorney, Mark Hunt, the Columbus Dispatch reports. Investigators...

US Musician Held for Drug Trafficking in Russia

Michael Travis Leake appeared on Anthony Bourdain's show in 2014, has long lived in Moscow

(Newser) - An American musician who has lived in Russia for more than 10 years has been detained, accused of drug trafficking. A Moscow court has ordered Michael Travis Leake to be held for two months before his trial, until Aug. 6, after he was arrested for allegedly selling the drug mephedrone,...

Cops Arrest Suspect in Thai 'Face/Off' Case

Alleged drug dealer had plastic surgery to look like 'handsome Korean man'

(Newser) - A suspected drug dealer in Thailand not only changed his name to a Korean name, he changed his face to a Korean face in an effort to evade authorities, police say. In what the Thai media has dubbed the Face/Off case, Saharat Sawangjaeng was arrested in Bangkok last week, the...

Judge Orders Cocaine Trafficker to Finish Law School

'She couldn’t afford counsel, and this motivated her to try and become a lawyer'

(Newser) - A woman who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute narcotics last month will be spending the next few years in law school, not prison. Records show that a federal judge in Texas sentenced Chelsea Maddill to three years of supervised release on Jan. 9 with the condition that she "...

Flight Attendant Admits to Fentanyl Smuggling Scheme
Drug-Smuggling Plot Goes
Awry for Flight Attendant
in case you missed it
Dec 31, 2022 4:50 PM CST

Drug-Smuggling Plot Goes Awry for Flight Attendant

Terese White admits taping 3 lbs. to her abdomen, a tiny fraction of total fentanyl seized in US in 2022

(Newser) - A flight attendant pleaded guilty last week to drug trafficking charges after being busted with 3 pounds of fentanyl taped to her body in San Diego International Airport. Per the San Diego Union-Tribune , Terese L. White, 41, entered her plea in a San Diego federal courtroom. White is from Dallas,...

Aussie Feds Celebrate One of Their 'Most High-Profile Arrests'

Extradition fight ends for Tse Chi Lop, dubbed 'Asia's El Chapo'

(Newser) - Almost two years after his arrest in the Netherlands , the alleged kingpin of a global multibillion-dollar drug operation has arrived in Australia, where he could face life in prison. Tse Chi Lop, dubbed "Asia's El Chapo," is accused of running the crime supersyndicate Sam Gor , also known...

Thai Temple Cleared of All Its Monks After Drug Test

Buddhist foursome in Phetchabun province came up positive for meth, a major issue in Thailand

(Newser) - Thailand has been trying to crack down on drug trafficking, especially when it comes to the methamphetamine pouring in from neighboring Myanmar, and drug testing has been a part of the nation's campaign against it. The latest group to be busted, however, is a bit of a surprise—and...

'Monumental Seizure' After Truck Crosses Into US

4 men arrested in Calif. for drug trafficking, accused of transporting 5K pounds of meth

(Newser) - When California law enforcement agents started trailing a truck this week in San Diego County, little did they know they were about to make a huge bust—one that's now being deemed one of the county's largest ever seizures of methamphetamine. City News Service reports four men from...

For Spanish Police, a Drug-Smuggling First

Cops say they seized 3 underwater drones meant to carry 'large quantities of cocaine'

(Newser) - A probe that lasted more than a year has led to the arrest of eight and the seizure of three underwater drones that were apparently built to smuggle drugs across the Strait of Gibraltar. The BBC reports Spain's police force seized the unmanned submersibles—one completed and two still...

World's 'Most Dangerous Drug Trafficker' Brought to US

Dairo Antonio Usuga, aka Otoniel, extradited from Colombia

(Newser) - Colombia has extradited the alleged head of the feared Gulf Clan, who had been the country's most wanted drug lord before his capture, to the US, where he faces indictments in three federal courts. Colombian President Iván Duque said Dairo Antonio Úsuga David is "comparable only...

Premier of British Territory Claims Immunity in Drug Case

British Virgin Islands leader allegedly accepted bribe from undercover DEA agent

(Newser) - Update: The premier of the British Virgin Islands said Monday that as the elected, constitutional head of government of the British overseas territory, he is immune from prosecution on charges of cocaine-smuggling and the US must immediately release him from custody. One former federal prosecutor, however, tells the AP that...

US Wants Honduras to Arrest, Extradite Ex-President
US Extradites Leader
Who Left Office in January
UPDATED
Apr 21, 2022 8:11 PM CDT

US Extradites Leader Who Left Office in January

Former Honduras president Juan Orlando Hernández accused of drug trafficking

(Newser) - Update: Honduras extradited former President Juan Orlando Hernández to the United States on Thursday to face drug trafficking and weapons charges in a dramatic reversal for a leader once touted by US authorities as a key ally in the war on the drugs. Just three months after leaving office,...

Lawyer Who Scammed Major Drug Dealers Hears His Fate

Attorney James Morris Balagia sentenced to 15-plus years in prison for defrauding drug traffickers

(Newser) - A Texas attorney who specialized in representing clients facing charges of drug possession and driving while intoxicated is now seeing the culmination of his own legal troubles. The New York Times reports that on Monday, James Morris Balagia, known as the "DWI Dude," was sentenced to more than...

'Scuba Steve' Sentenced in Drug Smuggling Case

Canadian man was found in river unconscious, tethered to 185 pounds of pot

(Newser) - A Canadian man who was found unconscious and tethered to 185 pounds of marijuana in the Detroit River was sentenced Wednesday to about six years in a US prison. The capture of Glen Mousseau—nicknamed "Scuba Steve" by authorities—last June capped a strange few weeks in his dealings...

Head of $70B Drug Syndicate Arrested at Airport

Chinese Canadian is known as 'Asia's El Chapo'

(Newser) - Before he was sentenced to nine years in 1988 for importing heroin to the US, lawyers for Tse Chi Lop pleaded for leniency, saying he planned to open a restaurant when he got out. Instead, authorities say the Chinese-born Canadian citizen massively expanded his drug empire and became known as...

Ex-Mexico Army Chief Arrested in Los Angeles

General is accused of drug trafficking, money laundering

(Newser) - Former Mexican defense secretary Gen. Salvador Cienfuegos, who led the country’s army for six years under ex-President Enrique Peña Nieto, has been arrested on drug trafficking and money laundering charges at Los Angeles International Airport, US and Mexican sources told the AP Thursday. Two people with knowledge of...

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