Combating drug trafficking

Md. State Police: Major Drug Trafficking Bust Leads to 24 Arrests

EASTERN SHORE, Md.- Maryland State Police say a major drug trafficking bust in four Eastern Shore counties has led to 24 arrests and more are expected. 

The drug enforcement initiative Operation “Look Out" was conducted by the MSP Criminal Enforcement Division and the Eastern Upper Shore Drug Task Forces and ran from July 15 to Aug. 20 across Caroline, Queen Anne’s, Talbot  and Kent counties.

During the investigation, police said they found nearly $13 million worth of illegal drugs, including 926 marijuana plants, 919 grams of marijuana, more than 20 grams of heroin, 185 grams of cocaine, more than 500 ecstasy pills. Police said they also found five vehicles, almost $23,000 in suspected drug proceeds and 50 guns, including one rocket propelled grenade launcher.

Combating drug trafficking

The war on drugs, explained

The US has been fighting a global war on drugs for decades. But as prison populations and financial costs increase and drug-related violence around the world continues, lawmakers and experts are reconsidering if the drug war's potential benefits are really worth its many drawbacks.

Combating drug trafficking

Retired military dogs find new purpose in fighting meth

Five retired military dogs that spent years working in war zones are putting their noses to new uses by helping police in the U.S. combat methamphetamine and other drugs.

The dogs are being deployed to departments in Indiana, Texas, Tennessee, Nebraska and Georgia as part of a venture that organizers say gives police a resource they couldn't otherwise afford and provides the dogs with a new mission.

Combating drug trafficking

CBP P-3 Crew Interdicts Cocaine Runs Worth Half-A-Billion Dollars

Five separate incidents during the last week of May in the Pacific Ocean near Central America resulted in Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Office of Air and Marine (OAM) agents working as part of Operation Martillo interdicting several tons of cocaine worth more than $441.8 million, CBP announced.

CBP said, “The first incident was recorded May 28 when a CBP P-3 Airborne Early Warning (AEW) aircraft supporting Joint Inter Agency Task Force-South (JIATF-S) detected a go-fast vessel moving in the open waters near Costa Rica.

Combating drug trafficking

Frigate retirements likely to hamper drug busts at sea

Frigates are, hands-down, the heavy hitter in the Navy's fight to stop drug traffickers at sea. They nabbed 98 percent of the 164 metric tons of cocaine, valued at $3.2 billion, that Navy ships have seized in the last five years.

But the frigates' service coming to an end this summer, which could cripple drug interdiction efforts in the coming year. That's why planners are scrambling to assemble a hodgepodge of auxiliary ships to take on the mission until the littoral combat ships arrive in sufficient numbers.

Combating drug trafficking

Venezuelan Police Seize Top Narco, Supreme Court Justice at Airport

The news spread like wildfire through Venezuela early on Sunday. An image circulating on digital outlets showed a smiling woman pulling a suitcase behind her alongside two men in an airport corridor. The picture of complacent friendship was reportedly taken moments before the woman, former Supreme Court Judge Miriam Morandy, and one of her companions, Richard José Cammarano Jaime, were arrested by drug-trafficking police. 

Combating drug trafficking

US Attorney General Names New Drug Enforcement Administration Chief

Rosenberg will replace previous administrator Michele Leonhart, who announced her retirement in April 2015.

“The Department of Justice today announced the appointment of Chuck Rosenberg to serve as Acting Administrator of the DEA,” the statement said on Wednesday.

Leonhart left during an internal investigation into a scandal over DEA agents taking part in sex parties in Colombia with prostitutes bankrolled by drug cartels.