drug cartel

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Mexican Teen Hitman Suspected in 50 Murders

Alleged cartel assassin Francisco Miguel N., age 16, is arrested

(Newser) - Initially, police arrested Francisco Miguel N. for carrying a gun and drugs. But once he was in custody, the 16-year-old from Sinola made a confession: He was an assassin for Los Mazatlecos, a criminal group attached to the Beltran Leyva drug cartel. Now prosecutors believe the teen participated in at...

Mexico Nabs Gulf Cartel Boss 'Fatso'

Arrest seen as major blow to fading drug war power

(Newser) - In a huge victory for President Felipe Calderón, Mexican authorities have arrested the head of the infamous Gulf Cartel: Mario Cardenas, alias "Fatso." Marines captured Cardenas in a raid in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas on Monday, and authorities showed him off to the media yesterday, Reuters...

Uruguay&#39;s Prez: Legalize Pot
 Uruguay's Prez: Legalize Pot 

Uruguay's Prez: Legalize Pot

Users could sign up for registration cards to buy the drug

(Newser) - Uruguayan President José Mujica wants to end the reign of violent drug cartels in his country, and he thinks legalizing marijuana may be the answer. He released a proposal last month calling for the formation of a government-run industry that would manage the cultivation and sales of the drug, reports...

Whoops: Mexico Admits Suspect Isn't Kingpin's Son

Police arrest wrong man, a car salesman

(Newser) - Mexican authorities celebrated a huge arrest on Thursday, the son of Sinaloa cartel chief Joaquin Guzman. But it turns out that the man they paraded before the cameras wasn't Guzman's son after all; instead, it was a used-car salesman named Felix Beltran Leon, reports the BBC . Now Mexico...

Feds Bust Cartel Boss' Horse Racing Team

'New York Times' blows lid off Zeta operation

(Newser) - Hundreds of federal agents descended on the stables of a New Mexico horse racing company today, busting up what appears to have been a staggeringly transparent drug money laundering operation. Tremor Enterprises was officially owned by brick mason/trucker José Treviño Morales, but was funded by his brother Miguel Á...

5 Arizona Bodies Linked to Mexican Cartels

Bodies were torched in abandoned SUV

(Newser) - The violence of Mexican drug wars continues to seep into America. The bodies of five people burned beyond recognition in an abandoned SUV in Arizona are believed to be victims of a Mexican drug cartel, say law enforcement authorities. They were discovered in Vekol Valley, some 70 miles north of...

Mexican Cartel Torches PepsiCo Warehouses

Arsonists target Sabritas potato chip operations

(Newser) - In a first major attack on an American firm, members of a Mexican drug cartel have torched five warehouses owned by a PepsiCo subsidiary. Masked men were witnessed hurling firebombs that incinerated the Sabritas potato chip warehouses and dozens of delivery trucks parked outside in the states of Michoacan and...

Cartel Hitman Lived in Small-Town Ohio

Edgar Campos-Barraza arrested in Sandusky, home to Cedar Point

(Newser) - You never know who your neighbor might be. In January, authorities arrested an alleged assassin employed by the most powerful drug cartel in Mexico who had been living in the small town of Sandusky, Ohio, for 10 years, reports CNN . Edgar Campos-Barraza, also known as "El Cholo," is...

12 Cops Probing 10 Beheadings Killed in Mexico

Police ambushed as they searched for victims' bodies

(Newser) - A dozen police officers investigating the beheadings of 10 people were killed in an ambush in southern Mexico. Another 11 officers were injured. The officers were traveling in six patrol cars searching for the bodies of seven men and three women whose heads were found dumped outside a slaughterhouse in...

World's Murder Capital Is Honduras, Where Drug Cartels Control Police and Politicians
 The World's 
 Murder Capital Is ... 


interactive map inside

The World's Murder Capital Is ...

... a country even more dangerous than Mexico or Iraq

(Newser) - Violence in Honduras is so widespread—so steeped in drug cartels and official corruption—that even Mexico and Iraq are safer places to reside. Yes, Honduras boasts the world's worst murder rate: 82.1 murders per 100,000 residents. By comparison, Mexico's is 18.1 and Iraq's...

15 Bodies Dumped at Mexico Gas Station

Cartels at war again in Michoacan

(Newser) - The drug war appears to be heating up again in Mexican President Felipe Calderon's home state. Some 15 semi-naked bodies were found in a pile outside a gas station in Zitacuaro, Michoacan state, the BBC reports. All of the victims were male and three were minors. Police say threatening...

Feds Helped Mexican Drug Honcho Move Millions

Transferred cash, drugs across international borders

(Newser) - The New York Times last month revealed that undercover US agents have laundered and smuggled millions of dollars for Mexico's drug cartels—and today the paper shines a light on one such operation, in which federal agents helped one drug trafficker and his Colombian supplier move cash and cocaine...

Mexico's Bloody Toll in 2011: 12K

Country sees increasing torture, beheadings, violence against women

(Newser) - The sixth year of Mexico's murderous war against drug cartels claimed a staggering 12,000 lives, according to bleak tallies being reported in the Mexican press that show upticks in beheadings, torture, and violence against women and children. There is no official number from Felipe Calderon's government, which...

Zetas' New Tool in Mexico: National Radio Network

Military has seized huge amounts of equipment

(Newser) - The Zeta cartel has secret weapons hidden in Mexican bushes and rooftops everywhere: radio antennas. Current and former US law enforcement officials tell the AP that the infamous cartel has a sophisticated, nationwide radio network that helps them coordinate their movements and keep tabs on law enforcement. “They're...

Motorbike Passengers Banned in Honduras

Lawmakers try to curb drive-by killings

(Newser) - Honduran lawmakers have banned passengers on motorcycles in an attempt to curb drive-by killings, the BBC reports. With two such murders recently on the books—one of a journalist, the other a former government security adviser—the nation's Congress imposed the 6-month ban, and approved a new wiretapping law...

Anonymous Gets Cold Feet on Plan to Hit Cartel

Some decide it's too dangerous

(Newser) - It looks like Anonymous may not be quite so eager to take on the Zetas as advertised. The plans for “Operation Cartel” have “fallen into disarray,” the Guardian reports, with two members announcing that they were backing out for fear of getting someone killed, and other Anonymous...

Anonymous Takes On Zetas Cartel

Hackers demand release of kidnapped member

(Newser) - Anonymous is getting truly ambitious: In its latest video, the hacker collective takes on Mexico's Zetas cartel. An Anonymous member wearing a Guy Fawkes mask speaks Spanish and uses Mexican slang in the video, translated by the Houston Chronicle , and threatens to reveal the cartel’s associates and businesses...

Mexico Nabs Casino Fire Mastermind in Gun Battle

He's third in command of the Zetas

(Newser) - Mexican soldiers apprehended the Zetas boss accused of ordering the horrific Casino Royale fire yesterday after a pitched gun battle across the city of Saltillo. Carlos Oliva Castillo, aka la Rana (the Frog), is the third-highest ranking member of the Zeta cartel, in charge of operations in three northeastern states,...

5 Severed Heads Left at Mexican School

Discovery comes as teachers strike over extortion threats

(Newser) - Another gruesome discovery in Mexico: Police found a crate with five severed heads outside a primary school in Acapulco, reports the BBC . The victims haven't been identified. The not-so-subtle threat comes amid a teachers' strike in the once-popular resort city, notes NPR . Educators refuse to reopen schools because they...

Mexican Drug Lord's Twins Born in LA County Hospital

Joaquin Guzman's wife, daughters hold US citizenship

(Newser) - Mexico's most wanted drug lord is the proud father of two of America's newest citizens. Emma Coronel, the wife of Sinalao cartel kingpin Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman, gave birth to twin girls in an LA County hospital last month, the Los Angeles Times reports. The 22-year-old former beauty...

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