Mexican Cartel Chieftain Arrested Near Denver Told of Mass Slayings, Former Colleagues Police and federal agents pulled the car over in a suburb north of Denver. An FBI agent showed his badge. The driver appeared not startled at all. "My friend," he said, "I have been waiting for you." And with that, Jesus Audel Miramontes-Varela stepped out into the arms of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Over the next several days at his ranch in Colorado and an FBI "safe house" in Albuquerque, the Mexican cartel chieftain was transformed into one of the FBI's top informants on the Southwest border. [continues 1039 words]
Did Cop's Use of Informant Lead to Her Death? This is an ugly story. It's tragic and damning of the War on Drugs. The story seems like the plot of a television detective series such as The Closer or Law and Order but it is sadly a true tale of law and disorder. Michelle "Shelley" Hilliard went missing in the early hours of Oct. 23. Nearly three weeks later, her burned, dismembered body was found near I-94 on Detroit's east side. Once the body was identified, the killing was at first considered a hate crime because Hilliard was transgendered and there had been a recent trend of attacks against gays where burning was involved. [continues 1091 words]
CENTENNIAL - Former Arapahoe County sheriff Patrick J. Sullivan today waived his right to a preliminary hearing on charges of distribution of a controlled substance, possession of methamphetamine, prostitution and attempting to influence a public official. Sullivan appeared in court this morning and spoke only briefly when Chief Judge William Sylvester asked him if he was waiving his right to a hearing willingly. "Yes sir," he said. An arraignment was set for April 3. Sullivan, 69, was arrested in November in an undercover sting involving two confidential informants who said they had engaged in sex with Sullivan in the past and would be willing to ask him for meth in exchange for sex, according to court documents. Sullivan agreed to meet one of the men at a home in Aurora, where he was arrested. He posted a $50,000 bond and was released from the jail that bears his name Dec. 6. [end]
Almost four years ago, Margie Weiss of Safety Harbor was on the road to Tallahassee, fielding panicked calls from friends of her daughter, Rachel. The college kids were frantic, reporting that the 23-year-old had disappeared while working as an informant for the Tallahassee police. Wednesday, Weiss again was headed to Tallahassee when she learned the Florida Senate had joined the House in passing a claims bill that would grant a $2.4 million settlement to her and her ex-husband in the death of their only child. [continues 685 words]
Businessman, Now in U.S. Custody, Accused of Playing Middleman A Mexican businessman is in U.S. custody, accused of money laundering and serving as a liaison between drug cartels and powerful politicians, including a former governor who allegedly received millions of dollars in exchange for protecting the criminals, according to a 14-page court filing in Texas. Four confidential informants told the Drug Enforcement Administration that Antonio Pena-arguelles was paid millions by leaders of the Gulf cartel and the Zetas to help influence politicians, including Tomas Yarrington, the former governor of Tamaulipas state, which borders Texas. [continues 592 words]
ATF's Cartel Suspects Worked for Other Agency Mexican cartel suspects targeted in the troubled gun-trafficking probe known as Operation Fast and Furious were actually working as FBI informants at the time, according to a congressional memo that describes the case's mission as a "failure." The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has acknowledged that guns were allowed into the hands of Mexican criminals for more than a year in the hope of catching "big fish." The memorandum from staffers with the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform says the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration were investigating a drug-trafficking organization and had identified cartel associates a year before the ATF even learned who they were. At some point before the ATF's Fast and Furious investigation progressed -- congressional investigators don't know when -- the cartel members became FBI informants. [continues 712 words]
KEARNEY -- High-grade marijuana is quickly becoming the popular drug among area users, law enforcement officials say. Within the last six months to a year, drug investigators with the Buffalo County Sheriff's Office, the Kearney Police Department and the Nebraska State Patrol have seen an increase in the quality of marijuana. Known as kind bud, KB, medical or hydro, the higher THC content makes the drug a higher grade. THC is the main ingredient in marijuana. "Seventy-five percent of the complaints I receive are about people dealing pot," said Gabe Kowalek, a KPD investigator. "It's always been the most frequently used drug in our area." [continues 150 words]
What do we really want? Mary Boland "Prohibition is an attempted cure that makes matters worse for both the addict and the rest of us." - -- Milton Friedman Now the right-wing Cato Institute has just added its voice to the many from all parts of the political spectrum calling for an end to the Drug War. The Cato Institute is a respected think tank that owes its name to Cato's Letters, a series of 18th Century English essays attacking excessive government power. The institute is always on the side of individual liberty and very limited government. [continues 641 words]
Mounties Put New Emphasis on Dealers Trading in Powders Nanaimo Mounties unleashed the newly formed White Team on drug dealers who trade specifically in powdered drugs. The team is a specialized enforcement unit created to tackle the distribution and sale of heroin, cocaine, crack cocaine and crystal methamphetamine in Nanaimo. It made its debut Wednesday at about 7:30 p.m. when team members netted several ounces of cocaine, plus stolen wallets and identification, along with two suspects at an apartment in the 400 block of Third Street. [continues 460 words]
TALLAHASSEE -- Tallahassee city commissioners approved a $2.6 million settlement Friday in the wrongful-death suit of a police informant who was fatally shot during a 2008 drug sting. The parents of Rachel Hoffman, 23, sued after her death, claiming police were negligent in setting up the Florida State graduate as an undercover informant after she was caught with marijuana and pills without a prescription. Jury selection for the lawsuit began this week and the trial was scheduled to begin Monday. [continues 412 words]
Jeremy Harris' household was winding down for the night. It was about 10 p.m., his children were getting ready for bed and he was watching TV, when a uniformed deputy and two undercover detectives knocked on the door of his Dunedin home. Harris says the Pinellas sheriff's detectives told him they had gotten an anonymous tip that he was growing marijuana, and they asked if they could search his property. Harris stepped outside and was astonished to see other deputies standing nearby in groups of two - 10 to 14 of them, he estimates. [continues 836 words]
Former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Sam Hurd was arrested last week on federal drug charges for dealing a large amount of drugs in the Chicago,Ill., area. One of Hurd's contacts, who met with informants, was employed at a business in Coppell. Hurd's contact, who goes by the name of T.L., is a co-conspirator, according to U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. According to court documents, T.L. was employed at a repair shop in Coppell and conducted deals with informants multiple times in Coppell over a five-month period. [continues 432 words]
HUNTSVILLE -- The use, manufacturing and selling of methamphetamines is the latest drug epidemic to plague this country and like it is in a lot of areas, there is a growing problem in Walker County. Meth, as it is known on the streets, is a psychoactive drug that increases alertness, concentration, energy and could enhance euphoria. It is highly addictive and easy to make, which are two of the reasons as to why it is becoming increasingly popular for both users and dealers. [continues 877 words]
Brazil's Fernando Henrique Cardoso on Why Legalization of Marijuana Will Reduce the Cartels' Threat to Latin Democracies. Washington - The classical argument in favor of marijuana legalization rests on personal liberty. Why, proponents ask, should the federal government tell free citizens what they may consume? It is also one reason why many conservatives fear it. They worry that legalization will mean more pot heads, an increase in the consumption of hard drugs, and a decrease in the quality of life for the sober and for society at large. [continues 779 words]
Undermanned Police Play Whack-a-Mole Hunting Down Soda-Bottle Outfits. Police across the U.S. are struggling with a proliferation of busts for methamphetamine production, fueled by the rise of small but dangerous "one pot" labs. The increasingly popular technique has largely replaced the kitchen-size meth lab with a single, two-liter soda bottle. Ingredients for a batch can easily be obtained on a single trip to a pharmacy and mixed almost anywhere. One-pot labs aren't new, but they are spreading just as budget cuts are reducing police forces. [continues 662 words]
WASHINGTON --- American law enforcement agencies have significantly built up networks of Mexican informants that have allowed them to secretly infiltrate some of that country's most powerful and dangerous criminal organizations, according to security officials on both sides of the border. As the United States has opened new law enforcement and intelligence outposts across Mexico in recent years, Washington's networks of informants have grown there as well, current and former officials said. They have helped Mexican authorities capture or kill about two dozen high-ranking and midlevel drug traffickers, and sometimes have given American counternarcotics agents access to the top leaders of the cartels they are trying to dismantle. [continues 1265 words]
DEA Informant Plays Star Role As Agency Expands National-Security Portfolio The informant at the center of an alleged Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi Arabian ambassador marks the latest example of how the U.S. government's war on drugs has expanded into the war on terrorism. U.S. authorities say the informant was providing information to the Drug Enforcement Administration office in Houston. They say he began cooperating after facing drug charges in the U.S. This past spring, the informant told agents that an Iranian-American man named Manssor Arbabsiar had asked him to help put together terror attacks in the U.S. and elsewhere, according to law-enforcement officials. [continues 756 words]
A Multimillion-Dollar Drug Bust in Southern Ontario Could Decide Whether Police Can Conceal the Names of Fellow Officers WHO Tip Them Off, Writes Douglas Quan. When Niagara Regional Police took down one of Ontario's largest marijuana-grow operations three years ago, they compared it to "winning the World Series." But last month, the case unravelled when a judge stayed charges against two of the accused after it came to light that detectives had deliberately withheld from the Crown the fact that their tipster was an off-duty cop from another police agency. [continues 552 words]
Ruling Threw Out Charges Over 'Illegal' Practice Mayor Eddie Francis says he plans to look into Windsor police strip search practices after a Superior Court judge ruled that four strip searches conducted locally two years ago were illegal. " I take the comments made by the court very seriously," Francis, who chairs the Windsor Police Services Board, said Wednesday. "And the board and myself will raise those issues and questions and ask for a response." Speaking one day after the court ruling, Francis said that he could not comment further until the drug trafficking case which spawned the strip-search decision concludes. [continues 426 words]
Reading Texts May Go Too Far: Dean The student whose text messages were read by a viceprincipal in Prince Albert could potentially have an argument that his right to privacy under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms was violated, says the head of the University of Saskatchewan's college of law. The student's grandparents are suing the Saskatchewan Rivers school division for negligence and breach of privacy after the vice-principal at Riverside Community School read a message on the student's confiscated cellphone that referred to a stolen vehicle. [continues 544 words]
WASHINGTON - The United States is expanding its role in Mexico's bloody fight against drug trafficking organizations, sending new C.I.A. operatives and retired military personnel to the country and considering plans to deploy private security contractors in hopes of turning around a multibillion-dollar effort that so far has shown few results. In recent weeks, small numbers of C.I.A. operatives and American civilian military employees have been posted at a Mexican military base, where, for the first time, security officials from both countries work side by side in collecting information about drug cartels and helping plan operations. Officials are also looking into embedding a team of American contractors inside a specially vetted Mexican counternarcotics police unit. [continues 1522 words]
WASHINGTON The United States is expanding its role in Mexico's bloody fight against drug trafficking organizations, sending new CIA operatives and retired military personnel to the country, and considering plans to deploy private security contractors in hopes of turning around a multibillion-dollar effort that so far has shown few results. In recent weeks, small numbers of CIA operatives and U.S. civilian military employees have been posted at a Mexican military base, where, for the first time, security officials from both countries are working side by side in collecting information about drug cartels and helping plan operations. Officials are also looking into embedding a team of U.S. contractors inside a specially vetted Mexican counternarcotics police unit. [continues 909 words]
NEW YORK - Federal prosecutors in New York have charged four men as part of two undercover overseas drug stings by U.S. officials. The criminal charges represent the latest efforts by U.S. officials to crack down on what they say is a "growing nexus" between illegal narcotics trafficking and terrorism funding. "Both [sets of defendants] were prepared to traffic in terrorism, not just drugs," said Preet Bharara, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, at a news conference on Tuesday. The undercover operations included heroin buys by U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration informants in Afghanistan and in Romania, according to two criminal indictments unsealed Tuesday. [continues 445 words]
Four Community Voices - Two From the U.S., Two From Mexico - Share Their Insights Part 4 When President Felipe Calderon took office in December 2006, he went after drug cartels in an effort to end their lawless grip on much of Mexico. "I had to act because I knew that people were being kidnapped, being extorted, being killed," Calderon said during a nationally televised forum in June with civic activists and victims' relatives. "And that is what I did. ... In good conscience, I couldn't do what others have -- wait for the day when things change." [continues 2257 words]
McALLEN - A former Hidalgo County sheriff's deputy faces federal charges that he conspired to possess and distribute pot bundles while on the job. Heriberto Diaz, a former burglary investigator, was indicted by grand jurors last week in U.S. District Court in McAllen. Documents detailing the charges were filed Friday in federal court. Diaz's former partner, Omar Salazar, pleaded guilty last month in federal court to the conspiracy charge. Both men also face state charges in the corruption case. [continues 243 words]
Probe Reveals That the U.S. Agency Running the 'Fast and Furious' Anti-Gun-Trafficking Operation Didn't Know About the Alleged FBI Informants. Congressional Investigators Are Looking into the Matter. Reporting from Washington-- Congressional investigators probing the controversial "Fast and Furious" anti-gun-trafficking operation on the border with Mexico believe at least six Mexican drug cartel figures involved in gun smuggling also were paid FBI informants, officials said Saturday. The investigators have asked the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration for details about the alleged informants, as well as why agents at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which ran the Fast and Furious operation, were not told about them. [continues 851 words]
Congressional reports in recent weeks paint a disturbing picture. The federal government has spent nearly $10 billion since 2005 in the war on drugs -- and has literally nothing to show for it. Narcotics continue to flow into the United States, and violence associated with the drug-dealing underworld has spiked dramatically. That is especially so in Mexico's border states, where mass murders and war-like shootouts occur almost daily, with a staggering death toll. These aren't East-L.A. drive-bys. These are full-on assaults by drug cartel gunmen. [continues 517 words]
The head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives told congressional investigators he wasn't to blame for a troubled gun-tracking operation, saying he wasn't aware of its details until after public questions had been raised. Kenneth Melson, the acting ATF director, in his first detailed comments on the gun program, contradicted testimony and documents previously released by lawmakers suggesting he was more familiar with the initiative known as Fast and Furious. Sen. Charles Grassley and Rep. Darrell Issa, both Republicans, released details Wednesday of the Melson interview, which took place Monday, in a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder. [continues 329 words]
Amsterdam Authorities Try Rolling Back the Country's Successful Experiment in Decriminalization When I got back to Amsterdam last week and checked into my headquarters at the 420 Cafe, I received an urgent message from the proprietor, Michael Veling, in response to my last column, which talked about attempts to restrict access to cannabis in the Netherlands: Mike has owned and operated the 420 Cafe (formerly Cafe deKuil) for more than 20 years and has been a cannabis activist even longer. He's worked through the coffeeshop registration edicts of the mid-1990s, the imposition of the on-site 500-gram limit, the reduction from 30 to five allowable grams per consumer, the replacement of Dutch currency with the euro in 2000, the banning of alcohol sales in coffeeshops in 2007 (deKuil was a bar for 100 years or so), and the proscription against tobacco smoking the next year. Through it all, he has conformed with official policy while maintaining a successful establishment that supplies its patrons with the finest of weed and hash in a friendly, comfortable environment. [continues 1065 words]
Every kid who's ever played cops and robbers knows that the good guys try to keep guns away from the bad guys. The last thing you'd do is sit around and watch crooks sell each other weapons, let them walk off with hundreds of AK-47s, sniper rifles and revolvers, then sit back and wait for the carnage. But that's exactly what leadership within the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms are charged with doing, in an apparently harebrained ploy to get close to Mexico's drug cartels. [continues 671 words]
As a paid undercover informant, Jaime Martinez helped federal agents take down the San Francisco chapter of Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, a violent gang spanning the U.S. and Central America. But while providing information to federal authorities from 2005 to 2008, Mr. Martinez also served as the gang's leader. He ordered underlings to kill and steal, while he himself stole cars and led a home robbery that ended with a stabbing, among other transgressions. Federal rules allow informants to engage in certain nonviolent criminal acts-such as drug dealing-to maintain their covers as long as they get prior authorization from agents. In testimony last month, Mr. Martinez detailed a pattern of violent behavior that violated those rules. [continues 2146 words]
ST. PETERSBURG - They give police the location of a drug buy, a lead on a witness, the name of a killer. In exchange, confidential informants get cash or a good word put in with a judge to help reduce a criminal sentence. 'Informants are incredibly necessary to solve crime,' said retired Pasco County sheriff's Lt. Bobby Sullivan, a former vice commander. 'Nobody knows crime like the criminal, but you have to keep in mind that they are a criminal. 'They are on the other side.' The distinction was blurred this week when the FBI arrested St. Petersburg police Detective Anthony Foster on charges that he extorted $8,000 in cash and goods from an informant who was trying to avoid jail time. [continues 943 words]
WILMINGTON -- A criminal case making its way to the Delaware Supreme Court could help define personal privacy and set limits on how far police can go when using electronic surveillance in Delaware and perhaps across the United States. The American Civil Liberties Union this week filed a brief in Delaware v. Michael D. Holden, urging the state justices to uphold a lower court ruling that essentially bars police from using Global Positioning Systems (GPS) to track people without a court-approved warrant. [continues 958 words]
U.S. Agents Allege Chapter Was Involved in Operation That Saw Up To Tonne of Pot, 200 Kilograms of Coke Change Hands Per Month The White Rock chapter of the Hells Angels supplied marijuana and muscle to a multimillion-dollar cross-border drug-smuggling ring in which 22 people have so far been charged, U.S. court documents allege. U.S. law enforcement agents allege Hells Angel associate Trevor Jones was the Canadian "boss" of the drug ring alleged to have distributed up to a tonne of pot and 200 kilograms of cocaine a month for several years. [continues 749 words]
Informants Reveal How Dealers Destroy Drugs Flushing drugs down the toilet is the most common method of destroying evidence. But a 16-pound sledge hammer always wins versus a ceramic commode. Smashing toilets is just one method narcotics investigators use to recover flushed evidence. They will dig up a septic tank or dismantle the pipes underneath a house if necessary. "It's a nasty job, but someone has to do it," said Richmond County sheriff's Sgt. Allan Rollins. The potential for losing evidence factors heavily into the logistics of serving a search warrant. When possible, they'll seek out informants who can tell them beforehand how a dealer plans to get rid of his drugs when police knock down the door. [continues 414 words]
Throughout this week the Alaska highway News will be taking a closer look at how each of the units within the RCMP contribute to the safety and well-being of the residents of Fort St. John and area. In a young community, plush with cash, drug enforcement necessarily becomes a big part of police work. Constable Gary Grey is one of the Fort St. John officers on the local drug beat and spends most of his time targeting the local cocaine trade. [continues 741 words]
There was a time when methamphetamine was the biggest drug menace in Maricopa County and resources against meth use were aligned appropriately. Millions of dollars were spent on public-relations campaigns to highlight the dangers of meth, through televised specials, public-service announcements and those ominous-looking posters depicting a meth user's decline through the years. Although meth use is still a concern in Arizona, the drug's production has declined enough that a county task force charged with eradicating meth has started to concentrate on a new menace: organizations smuggling meth and other drugs through a well-traveled corridor along Interstate 8 to get their cargo from Mexico to locations across the United States. [continues 411 words]
Chandler police Detective Carlos Ledesma was sitting at a card table when the drug bust went sour. He did not even have time to stand before being cut down by four rifle shots to the chest, and he died a short time later. When the carnage ended, two other Chandler narcotics detectives lay bleeding on the floor of the home in west Phoenix. One suspected drug peddler died by the front door, another a short distance away in the back seat of a getaway car. [continues 5004 words]
The FBI's blow against the Barrio Azteca last week showed that the region's dominant gang has continued to operate in spite of past racketeering cases that sent gang bosses to prison for life. Experts said breaking a criminal organization as large as the Barrio Azteca is not done in one swing, but could take years in the same fashion the Italian mob was eventually crippled. U.S. Attorney John E. Murphy on Wednesday announced a federal indictment of 35 alleged leaders, members and associates of the Barrio Azteca. [continues 1312 words]
The U.S. will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with Mexico in its fight against drug cartels in spite of the fatal attack Tuesday in Mexico in which one U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent was killed and another from El Paso was wounded, officials and experts said Wednesday. Some, like University of Texas at El Paso professor Howard Campbell, also said it was no surprise the agents were attacked, and admitted he had been surprised it had not happened before. [continues 1026 words]
The following is an excerpt from James Cockcroft's new book, Mexico's Revolution: Then and Now (Monthly Review Press, 2010). U.S. Intervention For decades, Washington, D.C., has been pouring military aid into Mexico. In 2008 there were 6,000 U.S. troops on the Mexican border, and in 2010 President Barack Obama decided to send in more. The U.S. side of the border is militarized, as it was before and during the Mexican Revolution of 1910-1917 and periodically since then. Drones routinely fly over Mexican soil. In the United States, video games show American troops invading Mexico. [continues 2896 words]
THE US Drug Enforcement Administration has grown into a global intelligence and diplomatic body. And its reach extends far beyond narcotics, leaked cables reveal The DEA's operations have become so expansive that the agency has had to fend off struggling foreign leaders who want to use it against their enemies. One cable from August last year reported that Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli sent an urgent message to the US ambassador asking the DEA to go after his political rivals. "I need help with tapping phones," the President said, according to The New York Times yesterday. [continues 487 words]
WASHINGTON - The Drug Enforcement Administration has been transformed into a global intelligence organization with a reach that extends far beyond narcotics, and an eavesdropping operation so expansive it has to fend off foreign politicians who want to use it against their political enemies, according to secret diplomatic cables. In far greater detail than previously seen, the cables, from the cache obtained by WikiLeaks and made available to some news organizations, offer glimpses of drug agents balancing diplomacy and law enforcement in places where it can be hard to tell the politicians from the traffickers, and where drug rings are themselves mini-states whose wealth and violence permit them to run roughshod over struggling governments. [continues 1926 words]
No other state has produced more guns seized by police in the brutal Mexican drug wars than Texas. In the Lone Star State, no other city has more guns linked to Mexican crime scenes than Houston. And in the Texas oil town, no single independent dealer stands out more for selling guns traced from south of the border than Bill Carter. Carter, 76, has operated four Carter's Country stores in the Houston metropolitan area over the past half-century. In the past two years, more than 115 guns from his stores have been seized by the police and military in Mexico. [continues 2995 words]
The Collapse Is an Embarrassment for Efforts to Crack Down on Drug Corruption. When 35 mayors, prosecutors, police chiefs and other officials in the state of Michoacan were hauled into jail and accused of taking bribes from a cartel last year, it looked as if the federal government was finally attacking the political collusion that has long nurtured the drug gangs. But instead of heralding a bold new front in Mexican President Felipe Calderon's 4-year-old drug war, the case has turned out to be an embarrassing example of how that offensive is failing. [continues 1747 words]
U.S. and Mexico editors who supervise news coverage of Mexico's drug violence agreed that reporters face dangers similar to those encountered in war zones. Some of the hazards include being shot at, traveling through regions controlled by violent drug-traffickers, encountering "carjacking stations" posing as military checkpoints, and being used by informants with hidden agendas. Bulletproof vests are part of the equipment the Associated Press provides to its reporters in Mexico, said Wendy Benjamin, the AP's Texas news editor and leader of the news organization's international drug war beat team. [continues 415 words]
Two More Warehouses Found, 20 Tons of Pot Seized, Eight Arrested in San Diego, Tijuana. Federal authorities have unearthed another cross-border tunnel in a San Diego warehouse district, the second major tunnel discovery and multi-ton seizure of marijuana believed to be from Mexico's most powerful drug cartel in a month. The tunnel, which started in a residence in Tijuana, stretched nearly half a mile and split into two passageways, with the branches emerging at separate warehouses nearly 800 feet apart. [continues 421 words]
As Montana legislators prepare to tackle the voter-approved 2004 Medical Marijuana Act, stories about the act's unexpected consequences continue to hit the newsstands. In July, Jason Christ, founder of the Montana Caregivers Network -- and the most visible medical marijuana lobbyist in the state -- was arrested in Missoula after he allegedly got in a dispute with mechanics at an automotive repair shop and started to smoke marijuana. Christ on numerous occasions has publicly bragged that he runs a $1.2 million medical marijuana business and helped 80 percent of the state's 23,000-some marijuana cardholders sign up through use of mass clinics and "cannabis caravans" that traveled Montana. [continues 956 words]
Fighting Crime In One Of Manhattan's Rougher Neighborhoods. The New York City of today is so far from the 1980s version of the city depicted in "Alphaville," a real-life account of crime fighting in what was then one of Manhattan's rougher neighborhoods, that many readers may find the stories of criminality and chaos improbable. Hollywood's version of New York before the mid-1990s ascent of Rudolph Giuliani is a good reminder of how bad things once were. Think only of "Midnight Cowboy" (1969), "Taxi Driver" (1976) or, for that matter, "Alphabet City" (1984), a film about drugs wars on the Lower East Side. Perhaps appropriately, Michael Codella, a former detective with the New York City Police Department, and Bruce Bennett, a freelance writer, tell the story of Mr. Codella's policing days in an almost film-like fashion. [continues 907 words]
He was called "Don Chuy," a narco-trafficker who swaggered in his Stetson, flashy gold jewelry and expensive cowboy boots. Don Chuy mastered obscenity-laced tough talk that stopped arguments, a stare that could disarm men and the attitude of a big-time player in border drug dealing. He carried a .380-caliber handgun in a boot. A backup gun dangled from a gold chain on his chest. It was a five-shot .22-caliber pistol so small that a police officer once missed it during a pat-down search. [continues 1404 words]
