By Will Grant 

Twenty seven years ago, the kidnap, torture and murder of a US Drug Enforcement Administration agent by Mexican drug traffickers sparked one of the biggest manhunts the US government has ever launched in North America. It also offered an ominous warning of things to come.

The picturesque Mexican city of Guadalajara is bustling with life. By day, its busy plazas are filled with street vendors and shoeshine boys. At night, the mariachis line up to play for the tourists.

The country’s drug violence feels very far from here and, most of the time, it is. But that was not always the case.

“In 1985, Guadalajara was the base of operations for most of the major narcotics traffickers in North America,” says James Kuykendall, then-head of the Guadalajara office of the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

To read more click here.

OTHER STORIES OF INTEREST:

• FBI, Texas Rangers Question County DA Staff (West University Examiner)
• FBI, State Get Audit of Police Unit (Commercial Appeal)
• Should Recent Grads Consider a Career in Public Service (Washington Post)
• Phone Scammers Claim to be DEA Agents (Houston Chronicle)
• FBI Investigating Two NOPD Officers (FOX)
• Victim: FBI Saw Bank Robbers Steal My Truck (WoodTV)
• FBI Steps Up Murdoch Inquiry (the Telegraph)
• DEA: Oxycodone Orders by Pharmacies 20 Times Average (USA Today)

By Danny Fenster

Some DEA agents in the Caribbean are not too happy with the way things are.

Ten Puerto Rican agents filed suit against the agency claiming they receive less pay and riskier assignments than agents sent to the island from the US, the Huffington Post reports.

Attorney Bamily Lopez Ortiz said on Monday that the agents were reluctant to file charges but felt deprived of bonuses and incentives given to agents hired on the mainland. The ten agents were all hired in Puerto Rico.

Because Puerto Rico is considered a high-intensity drug trafficking area, agents hired in the US to work in Puerto Rico are eligible for bonuses equal to a quarter of their base pay, meaning some Puerto Rican agents may be owed more than $100,000 in lost pay and damages, Lopez said.

To rea more click here.

By Danny Fenster

Known in recent years for the young artists that have taken over abandoned parts of the hulking structure, Detroit’s Russell Industrial Center was raided at 10 a.m. on Friday as a part of a federal investigation into illegal marijuana production, the Detroit News reports.

Four people were arrested at the building after DEA agents executed search warrants at the large warehouse, which also houses printing, bindery, woodworking and graphics firms, according to the Detroit News.

“We need this; the city has lost control. The drug dealers control everything,” said Detroit resident James Turner, who works near the building.

To read more click here.

Michael Braun

Former DEA chief of operations Michael Braun told members of a House Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday that the reach of influence of Hezbollah, the Iranian-supported Shi’ite terrorist group based in Lebanon, has reached the US-Mexico border, reports CNS News.

Hezbollah developed relationships with Mexican drug cartels to “move their agendas forward,” Braun is quoted as saying. A plot recently uncovered by the DEA alleges that an Iranian operative in Mexico had plotted to  the assassinate the Saudi ambassador in DC, according to CNS.

“Hezbollah are absolute masters at forming close relationships with existing organized crime groups around the world that helps them facilitate what they need to do to move their agendas forward,” Braun told CNS. “And if anyone thinks for a moment that they don’t have their eye on the southwest border and all of our country, then they couldn’t be more wrong.”

To read more click here.

file photo/dea

One moment you’re driving down a New York state Thruway and the next you’re in prison facing drug charges in connection with violent Mexican drug cartel.

Texas residents Ruby Irene Maxwell, Mary Ann Selgado and Matthew Octavious Sandoval were arrested after their vehicle was searched on a state thruway and police officers found 10 kilos of cocaine, reports ABC. The DEA also accused the trio of being associated with a mid-level member of Los Zetas, the infamous Mexican drug cartel, according to ABC. The agents had notified New York State Police, who then stopped the three near the town of Salina.

To read more click here.

By Danny Fenster

A three-month-long DEA operation ended with federal drug and firearm charges filed against 31 people, CBS reports. The charges were made in the Texas towns of Midland and Odessa by the DEA’s Mobile Enforcement Team.

Most defendants were arrested Thursday morning or were already in custody, according to CBS. The charges include conspiracy, possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, distribution of a controlled substance and possession of firearms by prohibited persons. The controlled substances involved in the charges include crack cocaine, powder cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, BZP and hydrocodone.

To read more click here.

OTHER STORIES OF INTEREST:

• Why Doesn’t Rep. Issa Want Former ATF Chief Melson to Testify? (PoliticalCorrection.org)
• Corruption Probe Targets Miami Undercover Cops (Miami Herald)
• ATF Welcomes New Chaplain (PR Newswire)
• Suspicious Package Found at Local DEA Office (10News.com)
• DEA: Fancy NYC Doormen Sign for Drugs on the Side (Gothamist)
• 12 Indicted in Large-Scale Drug and Money Laundering Case (PoliticalNews.me)
• AG Tells Congress DEA Not of Cash Seizure in Panama (Houston Chronicle)

By Danny Fenster

A Montana state legislator claims the DEA is investigating her because of her support of medical marijuana laws.

Diane Sands, a Democratic in the State House, told the Missoulian that a possible witness in a DEA investigation into medical marijuana businesses was asked if she was  part of a conspiracy to sell medical marijuana. DEA Agents from Billings, Mont., asked the questions, Sands learned from the witness’ attorney.

Sands has worked on and supported medical marijuana laws in the past.

“So now, if you’re a state legislator who has been working on medical marijuana laws, you are somehow part of a conspiracy,” she said. “It’s ridiculous, of course, but it’s also threatening to think that the federal government is willing to use its influence and try to chill discussion about this subject.”

To ead more click here.

DEA cocaine photo

A DEA bust has led to the arrest of a local firefighter in Albuquerque, reports KQRE.

Acquaintances of firefighter Steve Chavez said he was the last guy they’d expect to be involved in a drug ring. Chavez had been with the department for seven years, according to KQRE. The drug ring he was involved in had links to a Mexican cartel, authorities say.

The investigation involved more than 100 officers from numerous agencies, working for multiple months investigating a ring of large amounts of cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana smuggling. Officials raided three homes and an addition property on Thursday, taking 15 into custody.

To read more click here.

Rep. Issa/gov photo

WASHINGTON — The powerful chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform increased his pressure on the Justice Department on Friday, raising new questions about how the Drug Enforcement Administration conducts its undercover money-laundering investigations and whether those operations cross the line between fighting and facilitating crime.

In a letter to Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., Representative Darrell Issa, a California Republican who is chairman of the committee, accused the Justice Department of dragging its feet in responding to his request more than a month ago for a briefing on the operations, which allow D.E.A. agents to pose as money launderers and smugglers in order to infiltrate drug-trafficking organizations.

Mr. Issa wrote that he was concerned about whether there was sufficient oversight of these operations. He said an inquiry by his office had revealed evidence of potential impropriety, including the arrests of two American pilots who were held in a Panamanian jail for seven months.

To read more click here.

By Danny Fenster

You never know where the next big shipment of cocaine may end up.

DEA agents and New York City police are investigating a shipment of a reported $2 million worth of cocaine intercepted last week at the United Nations headquarters, in New York, reports FOX.

Around 35 pounds of cocaine, stuffed inside hollowed out books and in two mailbags stamped with bogus UN logos, was intercepted by security personnel at the UN headquarter’s mail processing center, according to FOX. The UN insists that none of its staff is involved in the incident.

The shipment originated in Mexico and came through a DHL center in Cincinnati.

To read more click here.

OTHER STORIES OF INTEREST:

• Patient Advocates File Appeal Brief in Federal Case to Reclassify Medical Marijuana (ENews Park Forest)
• Barrio Azteca Member Pleads Guilty to Racketeering (KVIA)
• FBI Busts Unruly Passanger Unaware that You Can’t Light Up Cigarettes Inside An Airplane (The Smoking Gun)
• SF Supervisors Weigh Local of FBI Terrorism Investigations (SF Public Press)
• Shot-Up Image of President Draws a Secret Service Inquiry (NY Times)
• Brother of Man Convicted in Terror Case Charged with Hiring Hit Man to Kill Federal Witnesses (AP)