The drugs were stored inside a pair of backpacks at Palma's apartment, prosecutors said. One was hidden in a laundry hamper in Palma's bedroom closet. It contained more than 400 grams of methamphetamine, 200-plus grams of a mixture containing fentanyl, other controlled substances and digital scales. A loaded gun was found in the same pack.
Sunday's attack brought the death toll to at least 157 people since the Trump administration began targeting those it calls "narcoterrorists" in small vessels in early September. As with most of the military's statements on the more than 40 known strikes in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea, U.S. Southern Command said it targeted alleged drug traffickers along known smuggling routes.
More than 100 law enforcement agents conducted high-risk search warrants across three locations. The first was an active methamphetamine lab in the 8000 block of Center Drive in Valley Springs. A second site was located in the 2000 block of Golf Road in Turlock, which contained all the equipment necessary to operate as a lab but was shut down before production began. The third site, located in the 900 block of Reno Avenue in Modesto, was used by the drug trafficking organization to store and distribute illicit narcotics.
These semi-submersible boats have been used for years by drug gangs to smuggle cocaine from South and Central America. In more recent months as the price of cocaine has plummeted, gangs have changed tactics: instead of letting the boats sink on delivery, they have started to reuse the vessels, setting up a refuelling platform at sea and sending the boats back so they can make as many journeys as possible.
The ability of criminal groups to exercise this type of power and exercise this type of violence is closely linked to firearms trafficking, said Cecilia Farfan-Mendez, an expert on Mexican organised crime. If we want to see less violence in Mexico, this is a very important conversation.
The cartel said it was seizing the store, which would only be allowed to sell online outside the state. That was in early 2022, when vapes were still legal in Mexico, a market worth $1.5 billion. But earlier this month, the country banned the sale - although not the use - of electronic cigarettes. Experts believe organized crime will now consolidate its control over the sale of the devices.
Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Caribbean and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations, the Southern Command said in a statement. The command included a video of the strike with its announcement, which shows a boat traveling through the water as it explodes into flames after being hit with what looks like a missile. The Southern Command and the Pentagon did not immediately return requests for additional information.
The US military on Thursday said it killed two people in a strike on a boat suspected of carrying illegal drugs in the eastern Pacific. "Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations," the US Southern Command posted on X. It added that "no US military forces were harmed" in the operation. The statement did not offer any evidence that the boat pictured was actually carrying narcotics before it was blown up in the attack.
At the direction of the commander of U.S. Southern Command, Marine Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted three lethal kinetic strikes on three vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations, Southern Command said in the statement, which as has become customary was accompanied by a video showing the boats exploding after being hit by a missile. Intelligence confirmed the vessels were transiting along known narco-trafficking routes and were engaged in narco-trafficking operations, it added.
Their attackers had tried to burn them to cover their tracks, but the double femicide left no doubt: it bore the mark of the Tren de Aragua criminal organization. In the wake of the crime, investigations and news reports about the Venezuelan gang followed. And arrests began. Although the Mexico City Security Secretariat tried to downplay its role, police operations proved that this criminal network, after spreading across the continent, was already operating in Mexico.
Mexico has sent another 37 alleged members of Mexican criminal organisations to the United States, the country's security minister said, amid US President Donald Trump's threat of ground attacks against drug cartels in the region. The handover of alleged drug cartel members on Tuesday is the third major transfer to the US in the past year and brings the total number of suspects transferred to 92.
