Social justice
fromThe Atlantic
1 hour agoWhen ICE Shows Up to Family Court
A 67-year-old volunteer witnessed a woman being taken by ICE after testifying against her ex-boyfriend in court.
This was a fantastic seizure by our colleagues at Border Force, and taking this amount of cocaine out of circulation will have deprived the organised criminals involved of millions in profits.
The inquest concluded that Robinson's prescription for medicinal cannabis had probably contributed to his death, with the coroner stating that it acted as an obstacle to appropriate care.
Proposition 36, a state ballot measure, enacted harsher penalties for minor theft and drug offenses, with proponents pledging the crackdown would lead to mass treatment to keep people alive, out of jail, and off our streets. Case records, however, suggest the state is largely failing to meet the central goal of getting people help and instead conducting mass arrests and incarcerating more people with addiction.
The US Southern Command, which oversees military activities in Latin America, wrote in a social media post that the strike had taken place the previous day. Intelligence confirmed the low-profile vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations.
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.
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.
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.
In early February, Canadian researchers reported that rates of severe mental illness among young people have risen alongside increased access to high-potency cannabis (Callaghan, et al., 2022). Around the same time, a new book, A Killing in Cannabis (Kohn, 2024), revisited a 2019 California murder and highlighted how violence tied to the marijuana trade has persisted even after legalization. On February 9, 2024, an opinion piece from the New York Times editorial board
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.
A meeting between two drug traffickers in the Amazon jungle region of Putumayo has become a new lever of pressure for Donald Trump on the governments of Colombia and Venezuela. A U.S. intelligence report reveals that Giovanny Andres Rojas aka Arana, the top leader of the Border Commandos and currently imprisoned in La Picota prison in Bogota, is making illegal deals with the Serbian kingpin Antun Mrdeza, who has been held in Venezuela since 2025.
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.
In separate operations across three statesSinaloa, Sonora, and Guerreroauthorities reported the seizure of more than 41,000 liters and 12 tons of chemicals to be used in drug production. The announcement includes the dismantling of a clandestine laboratory in Guerrero and 11 other methamphetamine production sites in Sonora. In Sonora, between the towns of Culiacan and Mexicali, a vehicle containing 212 kilograms of methamphetamine was seized by the Army and the National Guard.
According to his eight-count indictment, the ex-cop took more than $30,000 in exchange for transporting drugs, including approximately eight kilograms of cocaine; providing unauthorized armed protection for a drug trafficking enterprise; and submitting false reports to the NYPD to help a co-conspirator avoid repayment of a drug-trafficking-related debt. Nguyen entered a guilty plea to three of the indictment's eight counts bribery and narcotics distribution conspiracy, and a firearm charge before U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres Thursday.
The Alaska Department of Corrections does not provide comprehensive access to this life saving medication. "I'm gonna give you a little pinch," Spencer said, sliding the needle into a fold of skin on the patient's belly for the subcutaneous injection. Alaska's not an outlier. Despite the fact that those recently released from incarceration are some of the most vulnerable to dying from drug overdose, addiction experts say that many jails and prisons around the country don't provide medication treatment.
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.
The drug is growing in popularity, sold online in custom baggies and is referenced regularly on social media by enthusiasts and musicians. Catch up quick: Authorities from Los Angeles to Miami in recent months have reported busts or issued strong warnings involving pink cocaine, also known as tuci or tusi. In 2025, New York investigators seized pink cocaine along with dozens of guns in a Tren de Aragua-linked trafficking case.