Cocaine is a hell of a drug. With the emphasis on “hell”. It makes drug cartels so much money that they can corrupt every layer of society. The prize is so big that the fight to win sows death and destruction everywhere. Most of us are familiar with
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The ‘Ndrangheta, Calabria’s Mafia, is Europe’s chief cocaine importer. It has managed to reach that top spot not just by having close contacts in South American drug cartels, but also many corrupt contacts at ports throughout Italy. On Tuesday, Itali
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The leader of a Colombian drug trafficking organization pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute cocaine on vessels subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. 38-year-old Hugo Gomez-Garcia, a/k/a “Simon,” “Guava,” and “Guavita,” used semi-su
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Drug trafficker Eliezer De Leon-Lopez (38, Guatemala), a/k/a “Wiro Loco” and “Daniel Martinez,” pleaded guilty last week to conspiring to import cocaine into the United States. He faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 10 years, up to life, in federal
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An Albanian drug dealer who supplied more than £1 million of cocaine in just four months was imprisoned last Friday. Investigators of Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) identified Xhuljan Shehu as a prolific drug dealer who used the encrypted comm
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A former high-ranking member of the Los Zetas cartel entered a guilty plea last week to a conspiracy to import tons of cocaine into the United States. 43-year-old Jose Maria Guizar-Valencia, of Tulare, California, is considered one of the last number
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A Colombian man has been sentenced in federal court in Boston this week for his role in a drug trafficking conspiracy connected to organized crime in the Republic of Colombia. 41-year-old Mario Zapata Velez, of Medellín, was sentenced to five years i
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The Spanish Civil Guard (Guardia Civil) dismantled a criminal organization smuggling large quantities of cocaine from South America to Europe via the Canary Islands. The investigation identified a significant threat; criminal organizations’ increasin
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A federal drug trafficking investigation has resulted in charges against a dozen individuals for allegedly trafficking fentanyl-laced heroin, cocaine, or other drugs on the South Side of Chicago. Some of the defendants allegedly supplied or sought to
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Authorities in Germany, Italy and the Netherlands dismantled a network of drug traffickers composed mainly of Albanian nationals. Last week, during a joint action, 35 suspects were arrested and 51 places were searched in the countries involved.
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Branding is important. Even when you have a product as successful – and addictive - as cocaine. Though the stuff practically sells itself to everyone - from junkies and sports fans to Wall Street Gordon Gecko wannabes and vegan yoga instructors - it
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German and Belgian authorities took down an Albanian organized crime group involved in large-scale drugs trafficking and money laundering across Europe. On 25 May, over 300 officers, including special intervention and K9 teams, carried out a series
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Four men who conspired to supply drugs from the Netherlands to the United Kingdom and Ireland have been convicted following an investigation by Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA). The “kingpin” of this operation was 49-year-old Anthony Terry, from
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Drug traffickers have to be creative. Always one step ahead of the cops. They have to think outside the box in order to get their boxes filled with narcotics across borders. Authorities in Colombia discovered cocaine inside blood transfusion bags. Th
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A man from Lowell, Massachusetts, was sentenced Tuesday in federal court in Boston for conspiring to distribute cocaine. 61-year-old Miguel Colindres got a sentence of over 4 years in prison.
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The 39-year-old brother of a former leader in the Gulf Cartel was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Monday. Lee Roy Villarreal was found guilty in July of 2019 following an eight-day trial of conspiracy to distribute more than five kilograms of coca
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A Fitchburg man pleaded guilty last week in federal court in Worcester for his role in a wide-ranging fentanyl, heroin, crack and cocaine trafficking conspiracy. Pedro Villot-Santiago, 33, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and p
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A British drug boss who went on the run for 8 years over his role in a large-scale international drug trafficking plot has been jailed for 12 years. 37-year-old Michael Paul Moogan, who was one of the UK’s most wanted men, fled in October 2013 after
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A high-level drug cartel boss from Guatemala was sentenced on January 27 to over 17 years in federal prison. 51-year-old William “Humilde” Estuardo Lemus-Lara was identified as the leader of a transcontinental criminal organization that moved multi-t
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Law enforcement in Italy and Albania with support from Europol dismantled a network of drug traffickers, Europol reported on Thursday. During a joint action day which saw the involvement of some 350 officers in the field, 30 suspects were arrested an
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