US politics
fromwww.npr.org
6 days agoICE acknowledges it is using powerful spyware
ICE is using spyware tools to intercept encrypted messages to combat fentanyl trafficking.
Oseguera Cervantes was wounded in an operation to capture him Sunday in Tapalpa, Jalisco about two hours drive southwest of Guadalajara Sunday and died while being flown to Mexico City, the Defense Department said in a statement. The state is the base of the cartel known for trafficking huge quantities of fentanyl and other drugs to the United States. During the operation, troops came under fire and killed four people at the location.
According to Trump, Maduro was responsible for trafficking colossal amounts of deadly and illicit drugs and fueled the overdose deaths of countless Americans. Critics have pushed back on this, arguing even Drug Enforcement Administration data shows virtually no fentanyl comes from Venezuela and very little cocaine comes in compared to Mexico, a country where a large percentage of fentanyl does come from.
A 31-year-old man was sentenced to five years in federal prison for trafficking fentanyl throughout the Bay Area, in a case where authorities say he was arrested inside a home that contained 54 pounds of the deadly drug. Darwin Licona, of Oakland, pleaded guilty to a federal fentanyl trafficking charge, stemming from a traffic stop in 2023, in Oakland, where more than two pounds were recovered, according to court records.
Cuba has arrested an alleged Chinese fentanyl kingpin who escaped custody in Mexico in July and is also wanted by the US, Mexican security sources told AFP on Wednesday. Zhi Dong Zhang, known by the alias Brother Wang and with alleged ties to Mexico's Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation drug cartels, will remain in Cuba awaiting a decision on his possible extradition, the sources added.
OAKLAND A man who allegedly struck it rich through fentanyl sales in the Bay Area has been sentenced to seven years in federal prison, court records show. Milton Varela-Arteaga, 29, was sentenced last month by U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, after pleading guilty to possession with the intent to distribute fentanyl. He must serve a four-year supervised release term afterwards, but because he's already been deported to Honduras once, a similar fate likely awaits him after completion of his prison term, according to court records.
After a comprehensive investigation known as Project Chatter, York Regional Police uncovered extensive fentanyl and firearms trafficking involving 23 suspects, leading to over 300 charges.