Drug Trafficking

Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum is calling for an investigation into why two U.S. agents were allegedly operating in her country alongside Mexican state authorities. The Mexican president has largely remained quiet about how a drug trafficking organization was able to set up and operate one of the largest meth labs in history with almost complete impunity until those two agents worked with Mexican state authorities to shut them down.

A recent cocaine seizure in southern Mexico points to a new trend as traffickers have increased land smuggling operations in response to the aggressive interdiction actions taken by the U.S. government, which have sunk numerous vessels in international waters.

Two European non-governmental organizations (NGOs) published a report this week that found Iran conducted 1,639 executions in 2025 — an increase of 68 percent over the previous year, and the largest number of executions since 1989.

Mexican military forces found a narco-tunnel that was being built connecting Nogales, Sonora, with its sister city in Arizona. The tunnel is connected to the Los Chapitos faction of the Sinaloa Cartel.

France said China has executed a French citizen convicted of drug trafficking after keeping him on death row for more than 15 years.

The second-highest-ranking leader of the Gulf Cartel pleaded guilty this week to a federal drug conspiracy charge as part of a plea agreement with federal prosecutors. The feared cartel boss is one of the top cartel figures that Mexico’s government sent to the U.S. in early 2025 after the Trump Administration began pressuring Mexico to take a hard line against drug cartels.

A letter allegedly penned by Nicolás Maduro calling for “reconciliation and forgiveness” in Venezuela was published over the weekend.

Two Chinese pharmaceutical companies and six Chinese citizens have been indicted for allegedly supplying chemical precursors used to make fentanyl to be smuggled into the United States. According to FBI Director Kash Patel, the indictments handed down by a federal grand jury in Ohio were connected to Operation Box Cutter and revealed an alliance between the Chinese companies and Mexico’s Gulf Cartel.

A multi‑agency raid on a Southeast Houston apartment uncovered a heavily armed drug operation stocked with 40 pounds of meth, more than 100 pounds of marijuana, cocaine, 20 grams of fentanyl, and 17 firearms. Authorities credited the coordinated work of the Houston Police Department, Texas Department of Public Safety, and the DEA.

Far-left President of Colombia Gustavo Petro is the subject of several ongoing probes by U.S. federal prosecutors over his alleged ties to drug traffickers, several outlets reported over the weekend.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced a ten-count indictment against five illegal aliens from Mexico for their role in running a large-scale meth production and distribution operation in California. The two leaders of the operation had been released under Biden-era catch-and-release policies after entering the country illegally.

Mexican military forces clashed with several gunmen from the Sinaloa Cartel, killing 11 of them. The shootout came as a result of a series of raids in a luxurious suburb of Culiacan, where forces arrested the daughter of jailed cartel kingpin Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada. Hours later, Mexican authorities released the woman despite U.S. authorities having identified her in the past as a money laundering operator for the cartel.

Venezuela’s deposed socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores on Thursday reiterated before a federal court in New York that they do not have the financial means to fund their defense in the ongoing drug trafficking case, outlets reported.

Ecuador’s Defense Ministry on Tuesday announced that, with the help of the United States, Ecuadorian Armed Forces officials seized 1.9 tons of presumptively U.S.-bound suspected drugs at sea.

Colombia’s Gustavo Petro criticized that his country was not included in President Donald Trump’s “Shield of the Americas” initiative.

Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum fired back at U.S. President Donald J. Trump over some mocking comments made about her refusal to use military forces from both Mexico and the U.S. to eliminate cartels.

Belgian judge Bart Willocx, President of the Antwerp Court of Appeal, warned Monday the country is at risk of turning into a narco-state as a result of international drug crime and mafia groups forming a “parallel force” in society.

President Donald Trump rolled out a sweeping anti‑cartel doctrine Saturday, rallying a 17‑nation coalition behind a new hemispheric security pact that authorizes direct military action against cartel strongholds. The president’s speech highlighted the administration’s hard line, including the declaration that “the heart of our agreement is a commitment to using lethal military force to destroy the sinister cartels and terrorist networks.” Conspicuously absent from the conference was Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.

Ecuadoran military and police forces seized a cartel sub and clashed with gunmen in a swamp region of Ecuador. The raid came soon after the nation announced the start of joint operations with U.S. military forces aimed at stopping drug cartels in Latin American countries.

The United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) announced Tuesday it launched a military operation against narco-terrorists in Ecuador together with the Ecuadorian military.

A drag show host from Reynosa, Tamaulipas, and a cosmetologist pleaded not guilty to their alleged roles in a cocaine smuggling scheme that took place in Hidalgo, Texas. Axl Omar Palacios, 27, who lives in the Mexican border city, entered a not guilty plea on Tuesday at the federal courthouse in McAllen, Texas.

The U.S. military conducted airstrikes on three vessels allegedly operated by “designated terrorist organizations,” U.S. Southern Command announced on Tuesday.

El Salvador’s Navy seized 6.6 tons of cocaine from an African-flagged drug-trafficking vessel, President Nayib Bukele announced on Sunday.

Mexican drug cartels are conducting drone operations along the U.S.–Mexico border at industrial scale, with federal agencies now confirming tens of thousands of unmanned flights used to track Border Patrol agents, coordinate smuggling, and probe American airspace. In a statement to Breitbart Texas, U.S. Customs and Border Protection revealed that agents detected more than 42,000 unmanned drone flights near the border in FY25, calling the threat “rapidly evolving” as cartels expand their aerial surveillance capabilities.

The Venezuelan terrorist organization Tren De Aragua (TdA) is expanding dramatically in Mexico City and has become one of the leading criminal organizations in the Mexican capital city. TDA is one of several criminal organizations designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations by the U.S. government. The expansion in Mexico appears to be closely tied to the push by the U.S. government to track down its members and remove them from U.S. soil.

The United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) announced Monday a lethal kinetic strike on a drug -trafficking vessel as part of Operation Southern Spear left two dead and one survivor.

DHS announced the arrest of several dangerous criminals in various localities, including multiple murders, violent assailants, and drug dealers

Colombian Military forces on Wednesday carried out a bombing attack in the Catatumbo region against the warring National Liberation Army (ELN) and Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) Marxist terrorist groups.

Fifty-five suspects were arrested during a massive drug trafficking bust in Georgia involving fentanyl and linked to communist China.

Authorities in Mexico arrested two active Mexican military soldiers who were moonlighting as members of a security company and trying to smuggle a cocaine load on behalf of a cartel from Michoacan.

The FBI has quietly carried out a three‑month offensive against the Latin Kings, arresting 50 gang members and seizing cash, drugs, and assets in a coordinated takedown across 13 field offices. Officials say the operation marks another major strike against

President Donald Trump signs an executive order at the White House addressing drug addiction on Thursday, January 29.

Portuguese law enforcement officials on Monday announced they seized a narco-submarine off the Azores islands carrying a record-breaking nine tons worth of Europe-bound cocaine.

Ryan Wedding, a fugitive Canadian drug boss who is a former Olympian and had made the FBI’s Top Ten Most Wanted list, surrendered to authorities in Mexico. Almost immediately following the arrest, FBI agents flew Wedding to the United States to stand trial on numerous federal charges.

Ryan Wedding, the former Canadian Olympic snowboarder who is accused of sitting atop an international drug trafficking empire, was arrested Thursday in Mexico.

An Indian couple was arrested for their involvement in allowing illegal activity, such as the selling of drugs and prostitution, to occur in their roadside hotel in Virginia.