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Sylvia Longmire

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Marijuana Legalization

Marijuana Legalization in U.S. Cuts Mexican Pot Profits by 70 Percent

As marijuana legalization in states like Colorado and Washington continues, marijuana farmers in Mexico are starting to see a steep decline in the profits their crops once fetched. Some growers report they’re seeing a decline in income as high as 70 percent, and they blame the popularity of higher quality legal marijuana in the U.S.

Border Tunnel

Arizona Border Tunnel Collapses Under Weight of Tourist Bus

Mexican officials notified US Customs and Border Protection on December 30 that a four-foot section of a cross-border drug tunnel collapsed near the Nogales, Arizona port of entry. The tunnel was discovered in mid-November and efforts had not yet begun to fill the tunnel with concrete.

AP Photo/Marco Ugarte

US Reducing Mexico Aid Amid Human Rights Abuse Concerns

As allegations of human rights abuses reportedly committed by police and military forces have persisted in Mexico, the U.S. has started to withhold aid payments. For many years, the U.S. has been providing security aid to Mexico, much of it through the Mérida Initiative as a way to counter the efforts of violent drug cartels.

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Miami Reemerging as Trafficking Hub for Colombian Cocaine

Recent drug seizures and indictments indicate that Miami is back on the map as a trafficking hub for cocaine passing through Caribbean waters. After the fall of the Cali and Medellín drug cartels in Colombia, both the Florida Straits and the streets of south Florida quieted down dramatically.

drug traffickers fired upon military helicopters

Mexican Aircraft Fired Upon by Drug Traffickers Near El Chapo’s Hometown

A major gunfight occurred on December 26 between elements of the Mexican navy and drug traffickers in Sinaloa cartel kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s hometown of Badiraguato, Sinaloa state. Some reports indicate military aircraft sustained minor damage, but two cartel attackers were killed and firearms, ammunition, and four and a half tons of marijuana were seized.

Alien Children

New Mexico Air Base to House 400 Illegal Immigrant Children in January

In an attempt to prevent the chaos of the immigrant border surge that occurred in the summer of 2014, Department of Homeland Security officials are securing various locations to temporarily house Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) and family units from Central America. As a result of that effort, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter has directed Holloman Air Force Base in Alamogordo, New Mexico to house up to 400 children starting in January.

AP Photo

Somali Citizen Arrested for Smuggling People Across U.S.-Mexico Border

A citizen of Somalia has been arrested for helping smuggle human beings across the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona. The Somali was operating from the U.S. side of the border. According to a criminal complaint filed in federal court, Omar Haji Mohamed, a Somali national, was stopped at a border checkpoint in Why, Arizona, near the Tohono O’odham Nation. He had two passengers in his vehicle, Gilberto Alcantar and Alma Delia Reyes-Castillo—both illegal immigrants from Mexico.

Money Laundering Network

Money Laundering Network Between Colombian and Mexican Cartels Disrupted

The drug trafficking ties between Colombia and Mexico go back decades, to when Colombian cartels started supplying Mexican drug runners with cocaine in the late 1970s. Those ties have since strengthened, and the recent discovery of a money laundering network between the two countries’ more powerful cartels is evidence of this.

military-grade weapons

Two Arrested in Spain for Allegedly Buying Military-Grade Weapons for Mexican Cartels

Two alleged gun-runners were arrested in Spain on charges of buying military-grade weapons for drug cartels in Mexico. The controversy over how high-powered weapons get into the hands of Mexican drug cartels has been raging for years. US suppliers are often in the cross-hairs, so the recent arrest of individuals buying military-grade weapons for the cartels in Spain put a twist on perceptions of weapons trafficking to Mexico.

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Media Jump on El Chapo-ISIS Bandwagon Again

A blog about Mexican drug cartels reported on December 7 about a leaked encrypted email supposedly sent by notorious Sinaloa cartel kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán to prominent Islamic State (ISIS) leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi. In the email, Guzmán allegedly threatens to retaliate against ISIS for destroying drug shipments and interfering in cartel business. Despite numerous mainstream media outlets reporting this “story” on December 10, the sole unverified source for this information is an unidentified Mexican blogger.

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Mexican Drug Cartels Fighting Escalates over Supposed ‘Conflict Free’ Gold Money

Many Americans are familiar with the term “blood diamond” or “conflict diamond,” which defines a diamond mined in a war zone and sold to finance an insurgency, an invading army’s war efforts, or a warlord’s activity—most commonly in Africa. Less commonly known; however, is “conflict gold.” Violent Mexican drug cartels are now fighting over revenues being paid to poor communities by corporations mining gold in areas of Mexico they have turned into war zones.

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Salvadoran Illegal Alien Arrivals Spiking in South Texas

The surge of illegal aliens arriving in south Texas during the summer of 2014 stunned law enforcement agencies and social service providers across the Rio Grande Valley. The numbers haven’t been as high in 2015, but some organizations are noticing a spike in the numbers of illegal aliens from El Salvador walking through their doors in recent months.

Drug Raid Horse Track

Zetas Smuggler: Horse Racing in Mexico, South Texas ‘Part of Narco Culture’

One of the biggest blows to the Los Zetas drug cartel was dealt when a money laundering empire involving horse racing in Texas was dismantled in 2012. A drug smuggler now testifying in that case in San Antonio told the jury that horse racing was part of the trafficking culture, and Los Zetas leaders had been heavily involved in the sport well before the laundering scheme’s ringleaders were arrested.