Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Federal authorities are alarmed at what appears to be an increase in cartels recruiting children and teenagers to smuggle drugs over the U.S. border, NBC 7 in San Diego reports. Federal agents said children as young as 12 are being used as drug mules. “It shocks me and saddens me that kids…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com New York has had its share of big drug busts. But when it comes to methamphetamine, the state has never seen a bigger one than the 50 pounds seized from a boardinghouse in Westchester County, CBS New York reports. The DEA called it the biggest meth bust in New York State history….
By The New York Times Editorial Page The recklessness of federal officials in their harebrained scheme to assist in illegal gunrunning to Mexican drug cartels was laid bare in a scathing report by the Justice Department’s inspector general. Primary blame for the botched program — known as Operation Fast and Furious — was placed on…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com The U.S. likes to think that it contributes positively to many countries. In Mexico, that’s not always the case. ATF reports that 68,000 guns recovered by Mexican authorities between January 2007 and December 2011 were traced back to the U.S., USA Today reports. The paper reported that many weapons were recovered…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com The Mexican drug cartels just aren’t selling drugs to make cash. AHN News reports that the cartels are increasingly extorting protection money from retail stores on the U.S. side of the border. Citing the DEA, the news agency reports that businesses often don’t report the extortion demands because they employe illegal…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com Fed prosecutors in Chicago are denying claims that a major Mexican cartel member had struck a deal with the DEA granting him immunity and others prosecution from immunity in exchange for information, Reuters news service reported. Jesus Vicente Zambada-Niebla, the son of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, the right-hand man of Sinaloa…
By Richard A. Serrano Los Angeles Times WASHINGTON — Congressional investigators probing the controversial “Fast and Furious” anti-gun-trafficking operation on the border with Mexico believe at least six Mexican drug cartel figures involved in gun smuggling also were paid FBI informants, officials said Saturday. The investigators have asked the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration…
