Department of Justice indictments against an accused drug trafficking organization operating out of Southern California were unsealed Tuesday, revealing a vast criminal network which allegedly moved millions of dollars worth of drugs from California to Canada.

According to a Department of Justice press release, the criminal network they targeted was responsible for trafficking hundreds of kilograms of cocaine, fentanyl and methamphetamine from Mexico into Los Angeles where they loaded it onto semi-trucks bound for Canada or other parts of the United States. 

Various law enforcement organizations executed arrests and search warrants in Los Angeles; Sacramento, California; Miami; Odessa, Texas; Montreal; Toronto; and Calgary, Canada Tuesday morning with 30 search warrants served in Los Angeles alone. “Operation Dead Hand” as it was so dubbed by the feds was responsible for ten arrests in multiple cities across the United States and Canada.

“Today’s charges and arrests across North America reflect the Justice Department’s close coordination with our Mexican and Canadian partners to disrupt international narcotics trafficking,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco. “These cases provide yet another example of how our agents and prosecutors work side-by-side to uncover and dismantle organized criminal networks peddling and profiting from deadly drugs.”

The many defendants charged in the two unsealed indictments are as follows:

• Jesus Ruiz Sandoval Jr., 45, of Guadalajara, Mexico;
• John Joe Soto, 42, of Guadalajara;
• Eduardo Carvajal, 50, of Guadalajara;
• Roberto Scoppa, 55, of Montreal;
• Ayush Sharma, 25, of Brampton, Canada;
• Subham Kumar, 29, of Calgary, Canada;
• Carlos Barragan, 51, of Long Beach, California;
• Corell Carbajal Garcia, 38, of Hemet, California;
• Humberto Luis Bermejo, 26, of Odessa, Texas; and
• Esteban Sinhue Mercado, 24, of San Jacinto, California.
• Guramrit Sidhu, 60, of Brampton, Canada;
• Ivan Gravel Gonzalez, 32, a resident of both the Dominican Republic and Montreal;
• Daniel Antonio Trejo Huerta, 43, of Riverside, California;
• Ignacio Lopez, 53, a resident of Santa Ana, California;
• Daniel Joseph Alan Herrera, 27, of Miami;
• Orlando Velasco Jr., 29, of Stanton, California;
• Angel Larry Sandoval, 32, of Bell Gardens, California;
• Jorge Pina Nicols, 22, of Long Beach, California; and
• Bryan Ureta Valenzuela, 24, of Ontario, California.

A notable name from that list is Robert Scoppa, whom the Department of Justice described as an alleged Canadian drug trafficker believed to be moving massive amounts of drugs on a regular basis with close ties to an Italian organized crime family. The other defendants were generally alleged to either be associated with Mexican crime groups involved in moving product over the southern border or handlers and dispatchers involved with a complex network of semi-truck drivers who made frequent border crossings into Canada via the Detroit Windsor Tunnel, the Buffalo Peace Bridge and the Blue Water Bridge. 

“Drug trafficking is a global problem being driven by sophisticated, organized crime groups who put profits over people’s lives,” said U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada for the Central District of California. “Motivated by greed, these criminals destroy lives, devastate families, and wreak havoc in our community. But this case shows that we will collaborate with our international partners to bring these criminal networks to justice. Those who traffic in highly addictive and dangerous drugs will be held accountable.”

Of the list of those indicted, 10 were arrested Tuesday, two were already in police custody and seven are considered to be fugitives. Those seven are as follows: 

• Angel Larry Sandoval
• Corell Garcia
• Eduardo Carvajal
• Esteban Sinhue Mercado
• John Soto
• Bryan Valenzuela
• Jesus Ruiz, Jr.

All those indicted face maximum penalties ranging from 40 years to life in prison. This organization has been accused of trafficking up to 845 kilograms of methamphetamine, 951 kilograms of cocaine, 20 kilograms of fentanyl, and 4 kilograms of heroin. The wholesale value of these drugs was estimated by the Department of Justice to be between $16-28 million and around $900,000 in cash was seized during this operation. 

“Until today, the organized members of this conspiracy operated with impunity throughout the many thousands of miles that comprise the North American continent, poisoning communities along the way,” said Assistant Director in Charge Donald Alway of the FBI Los Angeles Field Office. “The strength of this partnership cannot be overstated. The agents and detectives on this case did an outstanding job of pooling resources and worked seamlessly across borders toward a mutual goal of putting this massive drug pipeline out of business.”

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Police seized nearly five tons of methamphetamine in Fiji, equivalent to more than $2 billion in Fijian dollars (approximately $886.2 million USD). The first Jan. 14 raid resulted in seizure of more than three tons of meth at a warehouse on the western side of Fiji’s main island near the country’s main international airport, according to an OCCRP report.

The second raid took place Jan. 20, with Fiji’s public prosecutor sanctioning charges against 13 people in connection to the raids, RNZ reports. Those accused have been charged with unlawful possession of illicit drugs, according to a statement from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP).

Drugs Down Under: The First of Many Possible Busts to Come

“Of the 13 accused persons, two are also charged with unlawful importation of illicit drugs. It is alleged that the accused persons without lawful authority, facilitated the importation and were found in possession of 4.8 tonnes of methamphetamines, an illicit drug, the statement says.

The ODPP also said that three of the 13 suspects were also charged with possession of property suspected of being proceeds of crime.

“It is alleged that the three accused persons were found in possession of cash (local and overseas currency) suspected of being proceeds of crime,” the statement said.

One of the 13, Justin Ho, was previously charged for exporting 2015.7 grams of cocaine from Sydney in 2018 while working as a flight attendant for Fiji Airways. Ho, and the other suspect, ended up walking free after the drugs went missing from the Namaka Police Station and the ODPP filed to discontinue proceedings.

A Fijian police officer was also charged in relation to the incident, after allegedly scooping up what was believed to be crystal meth powder from the first drug bust. The officer also allegedly fled the scene on Jan. 14 and was apprehended two days later.

An Ongoing Investigation

A Fiji court proceeded to grant bail to the 13 people charged after questioning and holding them in custody for 48 hours per country law. They are still under a curfew and must appear at the Lautoka High Court on Friday. 

Fiji Police are now working with their nearby counterparts, like the Australian Federal Police and the Pacific Transnational Crime and Coordination Centre, and expect to make additional arrests.

According to Fiji Police Assistant Police Commissioner Mesake Waqa, the drugs arrived in Fiji in late December and the country was “being used as a transit point and that the methamphetamine was destined for a foreign market.” Waqa also said that the exchange of the meth shipment was believed to have been made outside of the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone, and the packages were delivered through a barge.

“The Fiji Police Force will not be making further comments on the ongoing investigation until major developments are made,” Waqa said.

Fiji Leaders Unite Against Drugs

According to the Fiji Sun, three chiefs — Tui Nadi Ratu Vuniyani Navuniuci, Tui Sabeto Ratu Viliame Mataitoga and Tui Nawaka Ratu Joeli Naevo — have also united to address the issue and naming their concern about drugs in the country.

It’s looking as though this incident could ignite a War on Drugs in the region, as entities like the Nadi Chamber of Commerce and Nadi Town Council also urged for swift action to address what they called a “serious and worrying issue.” 

Dr. Ram Raju, president of the Nadi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that these drug busts were staggering and that Fiji is vulnerable acting as a middle country for illegal drug trade. Raju similarly called for major, sweeping measures, even suggesting that Fiji be deemed as “smoke and drug free.”

Pio Tikoduadua, Fijian Parliament minister and member, pointed to the need for legislative review and strengthening the country’s laws around illicit drug trade and border control. Tikoduadua also called for harsher penalties on those involved in the drug trade and building effective processes for police investigations while emphasizing that education is one of the best tools to discourage Fijians from using drugs.

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Things got a bit spicy for border patrol officers in San Diego last week.

It was there, near the United States-Mexico border, that officers discovered more than $10 million worth of hard narcotics that had been hidden in a shipment of jalapeño paste.

The bust went down on December 13.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers said that they encountered a 28-year-old male driving a commercial tractor-trailer with a shipment manifested as jalapeño paste” at the Otay Mesa Cargo Facility.

“The driver, a valid border crossing card holder, was referred for further examination by CBP officers along with the tractor-trailer and shipment,” the agency said in a press release issued this week. 

“In the secondary inspection area, a CBP K-9 unit screened the shipment and alerted officers to examine the trailer more closely. Upon further examination, CBP officers discovered and extracted a total of 349 suspicious packages from vats of jalapeño paste. The contents of the packages were tested and identified as methamphetamine with a weight of 3,161.43 pounds and cocaine with a weight of 522.50 pounds,” the press releases continued.

As Customs and Border Protection spokesperson Michael Scappechio told the Los Angeles Times: “It was an extremely spicy situation.” 

“You never really know what you’re dealing with just in terms of dangerous narcotics and then you throw in there all that organic material; we had to break out the full [personal protective equipment],” Scappechio said.

“We won’t expose the reasons that led to the further examination,” Scappechio added, “but agent suspicion is often used.”

Rosa Hernandez, the director at the Otay Mesa Port, credited the unit’s K-9 teams for the bust.

“Our K-9 teams are an invaluable component of our counter-narcotics operations, providing a reliable and unequaled mobile detection capability,” said Hernandez “By implementing local operations under Operation Apollo and CBP’s Strategy to Combat Fentanyl and other Synthetic Drugs, we will continue to secure communities and stifle the growth of transnational criminal organizations, one seizure after another.”

According to local news station NBC San Diego, the “narcotics-in-jalapeño-paste seizure was just one of many successful drug busts in the border town recently.”

The United States Coast Guard said that it seized 18,219 pounds of cocaine, with an estimated street value of more than $239 million in the Pacific Ocean that was offloaded in San Diego earlier this month.

According to the Coast Guard, the offload was the “result of six separate suspected drug smuggling vessel interdictions or events off the coasts of Mexico and Central and South America by the Coast Guard Cutters Waesche and Active in November.”

According to the Coast Guard, the Waesche “is one of four Legend-class national security cutters homeported in Alameda, California.” National security cutters “can operate in the most demanding open ocean environments, including the hazardous fisheries of the North Pacific and the vast approaches of the Southern Pacific, where a large amount of narcotics traffic occurs,” the Coast Guard said.

“The biggest of the six interdictions was the most recent interdiction, occurring Nov. 20, which was an interdiction of a self-propelled semi-submersible (SPSS) carrying more than 5,500 pounds of cocaine. The interdiction of the SPSS was the first in the Eastern Pacific since 2020,” the Coast Guard said in a press release.

Capt. Robert Mohr, commanding officer of the Waesche, said that all “four of our interdictions on this patrol are crucial to the Coast Guard’s efforts to keep illicit drugs off the streets, but our last interdiction of a semi-submersible vessel was noteworthy since it was the first semi-submersible interdicted in the Eastern Pacific in over three years.” 

“I am extremely impressed with the crew’s dedication throughout this dynamic patrol. They overcame multiple challenges with collective hard work, ingenuity, and positive attitudes to keep us in pursuit of these cartels and their dangerous drugs. A successful patrol like this one is rewarding and leads to better retention and recruiting efforts because everybody feels a sense of accomplishment,” Mohr said.

Vice Adm. Andrew Tiongson, commander, U.S. Coast Guard Pacific Area, said he was “proud of the unity of effort displayed by U.S. Coast Guard members aboard the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Waesche and our partners who stopped these narcotics from entering our Nation through the maritime domain.”

The Coast Guard said that multiple agencies, including the Departments of Defense, Justice, and Homeland Security, “collaborate in the effort to combat transnational organized crime. The Coast Guard, Navy, Customs and Border Protection, FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, along with allied and international partner agencies, all play a role in counternarcotic operations.” 

“The fight against drug cartels in the Eastern Pacific Ocean requires unity of effort in all phases, from detection and monitoring to interdictions and criminal prosecutions,” the press release said.

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Dramatic new footage released by Mexico’s Navy shows officers carrying out a major drug bust after a high-speed chase at sea.

The footage, which has been widely reported on in the media, depicts a pair of operations carried out by the Navy; in one, an officer can be seen descending from an overhead helicopter to arrive on a boat that was carrying a large amount of drugs.

According to CTV News, “Mexican authorities say they have seized some 9,700 pounds of cocaine during two operations on Aug. 22 and 23 in the Pacific Ocean.”

“Both operations resulted in high-speed boat chases at sea,” CTV News reported. “Mexican authorities say they also found more than 5,000 litres of fuel. Eleven people were detained and handed over to the prosecutor’s office.”

Cocaine trafficking has exploded in recent years.

A report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released earlier this year indicated that production of cocaine had skyrocketed to record levels after lagging for a stretch during the pandemic.

“The COVID-19 pandemic had a disruptive effect on drug markets. With international travel severely curtailed, producers struggled to get their product to market. Night clubs and bars were shut as officials ramped up their attempts to control the virus, causing demand to slump for drugs like cocaine that are often associated with those settings,” the report said.

“However, the most recent data suggests this slump has had little impact on longer-term trends. The global supply of cocaine is at record levels. Almost 2,000 tons was produced in 2020, continuing a dramatic uptick in manufacture that began in 2014, when the total was less than half of today’s levels.”

According to the report, the surge in cocaine has “partly [been] a result of an expansion in coca bush cultivation, which doubled between 2013 and 2017, hit a peak in 2018, and rose sharply again in 2021.”

“But it is also due to improvements in the process of conversion from coca bush to cocaine hydrochloride. In parallel, there has been a continuing growth in demand, with most regions showing steadily rising numbers of users over the past decade. Although these increases can be partly explained by population growth, there is also a rising prevalence of cocaine use. Interceptions by law enforcement have also been on the rise, at a higher speed than production, meaning that interdiction has contained the growth of the global amount of cocaine available for consumption,” the report stated. 

Given all that, perhaps it isn’t a coincidence that news of major cocaine busts seem to surface regularly these days.

In June, law enforcement officials in Uruguay broke up an international drug ring after police there were alerted to half a dozen surfboards that contained a total of 50kg (110lb) of cocaine.

Three Italians were arrested as part of the bust.

In May, police in Hong Kong seized $82.97 million worth of cocaine and cannabis. 

And in February, law enforcement authorities in New Zealand announced that they had sezied “3.2 tonnes of cocaine afloat” in the Pacific Ocean, saying they had taken roughly a half-billion dollars worth of the drug out of circulation.

The report from the United Nations explained that consolidation has upended the cocaine trade in one of the drug’s longstanding hubs, Colombia.

“The cocaine trade in Colombia was once controlled by just a few major players. As a result of a fragmentation of the criminal landscape following the demobilization of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) in 2016, it now involves criminal groups of all sizes, structures and objectives,” the report said. “But, signs of consolidation of some of these groups have recently emerged. These developments have led to an increasing presence of foreign actors in Colombia. Mexican and Balkan criminal groups have moved closer to the centre of production to gain access to supplies and wholesale quantities of cocaine. These foreign groups are not aiming to take control of territory. Instead, they are trying to make supply lines more efficient. Their presence is helping to incentivize coca bush cultivation and finance all stages of the supply chain.” 

It continued: “In established cocaine markets, the proportion of the general population using the drug is high. But these markets only cover around one-fifth of the global population. If the prevalence in other regions increases to match established markets, the number of users globally would increase tremendously because of the large underlying population. This type of market convergence has already been happening in the case of Western and Central Europe, where purity levels and prices have harmonised with the United States, although prevalence of cocaine use in Western and Central Europe has not yet reached the level in the United States.”

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Monday, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO) in Orlando, Florida posted a photo on X, formerly known as Twitter, gloating over a large bust involving 18 pounds of what appears to be brick weed that was found at Orlando International Airport.

“Karma ruins Central Florida marijuana delivery,” Yahoo! News reports. Cannabis isn’t tolerated quite yet in Florida airports, especially not in amounts that large.

While Florida approved Amendment 2, allowing for medical cannabis, airport officials went out of their way to clarify no pot is allowed onsite. The Greater Orlando Aviation Authority Board promptly issued a policy that bans visitors from traveling with their prescription cannabis at the airport. The reason for the policy is to avoid potential conflicts with the Federal Aviation Authority board, which provides grants to the Orlando International Airport.

Police proudly posed Karma in front of the suitcase. “OCSO K9 Karma would like to meet the owner of this suitcase found at baggage claim with 18lbs of marijuana inside of it. Thanks to K9 Karma and her skilled detection, these drugs will never make it to the streets of Orlando.”

Eighteen pounds of pot is below the 25-pound threshold that normally enhances a possession charge to a trafficking charge, as defined under Florida Statute 893.1351(4). But at airports, federal law trumps state law.

Commenters were not having it. “Imagine liquor is legal where you live, which ruins far more lives than weed ever could, but you can’t relax with a joint & munchies to watch your favorite movie,” one commenter posted. “How ridiculous.”

“This was a waste of money, resources, and time,” another commenter wrote. “I know y’all have to be transparent, but sounding proud of it sounds, really bad.”

This comes at a time when police routinely get roasted for bragging about pot busts that are posted on social media. In one post, cops in Tenaha County in Texas fanned out one-dollar bills on a table after arresting three twenty-some-year-olds in a post that was supposed to impress people. Commenters roasted details in the photo, like an empty canister and empty baggies spread across the table.

Pot busts aren’t celebrated by all when dozens of states have legalized it in one form or another—even when it involves 18 pounds of the plant.

Drug-Sniffing Dogs and Pot

Karma’s days as a drug dog could be numbered, however. At least when it comes to common traffic stops on the road.

Cannabis legalization is putting police dogs out of work. The Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office in Minnesota, for instance, recently told USA Today last July that their last few drug-sniffing dogs are headed for retirement.

According to USA Today, a 2005 Supreme Court decision essentially means that if a dog detects drugs during a traffic stop, the officer has probable cause to search your car without a warrant. He adds that when a dog smelled weed in his jurisdiction, it could often lead to the discovery of illegal firearms or other drugs. But that could fall apart fast in court in states that have legalized forms of cannabis.

In 2015, the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote that searching a vehicle involving drug-sniffing dogs was a clear violation of the shield that is supposed to protect Americans from unreasonable seizures. 

“We hold that a police stop exceeding the time needed to handle the matter for which the stop was made violates the Constitution’s shield against unreasonable seizures,” the ruling states. “A seizure justified only by a police-observed traffic violation, therefore, ‘becomes unlawful if it is prolonged beyond the time reasonably required to complete the mission’ of issuing a ticket for the violation.”

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According to a press release from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, the raid occurred on May 4 around 5:30pm. The Jurupa Valley Sheriff’s Station Special Enforcement Team (SET) responded to a disturbance at the 1700 block of Production Circle, located within a business area that is home to other businesses off of Rubidoux Boulevard.

Multiple people attempted to flee the scene, but the sheriff’s department reports that many were detained. “Jurupa Valley SET deputies located evidence of an illegal/unlicensed marijuana dispensary and secured the location. Jurupa Valley SET deputies obtained a search warrant for the property and requested assistance from the Riverside Sheriff’s Marijuana Enforcement Team (MET),” the department stated.

On site, officers found a variety of illegal cannabis products. “During the service of the search warrant, deputies located approximately 115 pounds of processed marijuana, 10 pounds of psilocybin mushrooms, 100 pounds of marijuana concentrate, 2,400 marijuana vapes, and 1,200 edible marijuana items. The estimated value of the seized items was determined to be over $1,000,000,” the department reported.

As of May 9, the investigation is still ongoing and no further information has been shared at this time.

Last summer, the California Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) announced that between 2021-2022, law enforcement had seized more than $1 billion worth of illegal cannabis products. “This important milestone was reached through close collaboration with local, state, and federal partners and furthers California’s efforts to go after activities that harm communities and the environment, including water theft, threats of violence, elder abuse, and human trafficking to name a few,” the DCC stated. “These operations and the products they produce threaten consumer safety and the vitality of legal and compliant licensees.”

More recently in March, the DCC released its enforcement statistics for 2021 and 2022. During that time frame, search warrants increased from 62 in 2021 to 155 in 2022, with over 41,726 pounds of illegal product seized in 2021 and 144,254 pounds in 2022. 

Bill Jones, the DCC’s Chief in the Law Enforcement Division, explained the importance of continuing to target illegal operations. “Through each enforcement action our teams gain a better understanding of how these criminal operations work which helps us better focus our resources and amplify our results to protect the health and safety of all Californians,” said Jones. “I would like to thank the dedicated group of officers in our department who work closely with our law enforcement partners to make these operations successful. Together, we are cracking down on the illicit cannabis market and ensuring California maintains a well-regulated and legal marketplace that benefits Californians.” 

Additionally, the DCC reported that it destroyed 19,221 illegal cannabis plants in 2021, and 264,196 plants in 2022—a 1,274% increase.

The city of Riverside is one of many that are still working on establishing a regulatory framework in their respective areas. According to The Press Enterprise, the Riverside City Council recently approved an ordinance on Feb. 28 that would allow up to 14 cannabis retail permits. On March 1, a city press release shared statements from a few key individuals.

According to Councilmember Ronaldo Fierro, it’s high time Riverside kept up with the times. “Today’s long overdue decision to overturn the ban on cannabis retail was the result of a multi-year effort that included intensive community and stakeholder input,” said Fierro. “This is the first step in a pragmatic and sensible policy process that is centered around providing benefit and opportunity for all Riverside residents.”

Riverside Mayor Pro Tem Clarissa Cervantes also released a statement about cannabis finally moving forward in Riverside. “With a little over 18 months until the November 2024 ballot, we have the time we need to create a program that is socially equitable and ensures voters are informed about what the tax measure will do,” Cervantes said. “Riverside voters approved this measure years ago, and the Council voted to move forward with creating a pathway for safe access, and quality workforce opportunities.”

City staff will continue to develop a process for permit review and implementation, and plan to propose their plan to the Riverside City Council sometime this summer.

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Mexican authorities seized a massive cache of fentanyl pills this week in what they are describing as a record-setting bust. 

The country’s Ministry of Defense said on Wednesday that the “Mexican Army personnel seized a fentanyl pill manufacturing center and the laboratory with the largest methamphetamine production capacity in the municipality of Culiacán, Sinaloa,” which is located in the northwestern part of Mexico.

The raid, which was carried out on Tuesday, yielded “629,138 pills of probable fentanyl, weighing approximately 68,576 kilograms,” government officials said in the announcement. 

The Ministry of Defense listed the soldiers’ other findings in the raid: “Approximately 128.03 kg of possible granulated fentanyl; Approximately 100 kg of possible methamphetamine; Approximately 750 kg of probable tartaric acid; Approximately 275 kg of possible mannitol; Approximately 225 kg of probable caustic soda; [and] 28 organic synthesis reactors.”

“Due to the number of reactors, the laboratory is the one with the largest synthetic drug production capacity that has been recorded historically and during the present administration,” the authorities said in the announcement. 

The defense ministry said that while “carrying out intelligence work to strengthen the rule of law in the country and detect criminal organizations with a presence in said federal entity, military personnel obtained information about a property and an area on the land that was used as a laboratory for the production of drugs in the Municipality of Culiacán, Sin.”

“Derived from the above and from the operational planning, elements of the Mexican Army carried out ground reconnaissance in the vicinity of Pueblos Unidos, municipality of Culiacán, Sin., where they located a production center and a clandestine laboratory for the production of synthetic drugs, for which military personnel implemented a security device,” the ministry said.

The announcement continued: “What was insured was made available to the competent authorities, in order to carry out the corresponding investigations and expert actions to confirm the type and quantity of drugs, as well as chemical substances.

These actions were carried out in strict adherence to the rule of law and with full respect for human rights. In this way, the Mexican Army reaffirms the indeclinable decision of the federal government to continue acting against organized crime, meeting the needs that society demands; Likewise, it endorses its commitment to ensure and safeguard the well-being of citizens, guaranteeing the peace and security of the population.”

The historic bust comes at a time when the United States is also struggling to contain the fentanyl trade within its own borders.

As CBS News noted, Tuesday’s bust “came on the same day that the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing on the huge number of U.S. fentanyl overdoses that occur annually, currently around 70,000,” with the committee chairman, Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey, pressing Mexico to step up its efforts to combat the problem.

“This means asking Mexico to do more to disrupt the criminal organizations from producing and trafficking fentanyl, although a politicized judiciary and incidents of Mexican security forces colluding with drug cartels will make that difficult,” the senator said, as quoted by CBS News.

CBS also noted that “Mexican drug cartels produce the opioid from precursor chemicals shipped from China, and then press it into pills counterfeited to look like Xanax, Percocet or Oxycodone,” and that people often “take the pills without knowing they contain fentanyl and can suffer deadly overdoses.”

According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, more than “150 people die every day from overdoses related to synthetic opioids like fentanyl.”

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Police in Laos confiscated more than a ton of methamphetamine recently in what international law enforcement authorities are characterizing as one of Asia’s largest drug busts ever. More than 1.5 tons of crystal meth and 55 million amphetamine tablets were discovered on October 27 in a truck traveling in the northern Bokeo province of Laos, which borders Thailand and Myanmar in a region of Southeast Asia commonly referred to as the Golden Triangle.

Jeremy Douglas, Southeast Asia regional representative for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), said that the find was “by far the largest seizure in the history of East and Southeast Asia,” according to the BBC.

“It is three times the meth tablets that Laos seized all last year, and close to a third of the crystal meth,” Douglas told the AFP news agency.

Police discovered the record drug haul after receiving a report of a suspicious truck from a resident of Bokeo’s Hoeyxay district. After stopping the vehicle, they found 10 million amphetamine tablets hidden in crates from the Lao Brewery Company. In a statement, the beer company said that it had “no involvement in this case whatsoever”.

“We are deeply disappointed that our crates have been abused as a cover for illegal activities and will not hesitate to take immediate legal action towards anyone misusing our company assets,” the company added.

Law enforcement officers arrested the 22-year-old driver of the truck and took him into custody. After two hours of questioning, the man reportedly told authorities that the drugs belonged to a 40-year-old resident of Hoeyxay. Police then searched the man’s home, where they found more amphetamine tablets and 65 plastic bags of crystal methamphetamine, or “ice.” Lao National Radio reported that the seized drugs weighed a total of 1,537 kilograms (3,380 pounds), according to media reports.

Third Massive Drug Bust in a Week

The record seizure was the third major drug bust in the Bokeo province in the span of a week. On October 20, a truck heading to the Lao capital city Vientiane was stopped and found to be carrying 10 million amphetamine pills. Two days later, police seized six million more meth pills in the Tompheung district of Bokeo, although they were unable to make any arrests in the case.

“The suspects might have fled across the Mekong River to the Myanmar side. They are residents of a small island on the Mekong River on the Lao side,” an unidentified police officer told Radio Free Asia.

Law enforcement officials said that they did not know if the three recent massive drug seizures in Bokeo are related. 

“They might be members of the same drug smuggling network,” the police officer opined.

Golden Triangle a Hotbed of Trafficking

Officials do know, however, that the Golden Triangle has long been a major drug-producing region with international reach. The area is a major production center for illicit methamphetamine and other stimulants, which are distributed by Asian crime syndicates to countries as far away as Japan and New Zealand.

Douglas said that Laos has seen a spike in illegal drug activity because a military coup in neighboring Myanmar in February has led to unrest in the border region. The strife, particularly in the Myanmar state of Shan, has resulted in a shift in drug smuggling routes in the area. 

“This is related to the security and governance breakdown in the Triangle and Shan Myanmar—spillover is hitting the region,” Douglas said.

Conditions in other countries in the region have also contributed to the increase in drug traffic in Laos. COVID-19 restrictions and security measures on China’s Yunnan border with Myanmar “appear to be at least partly why trafficking has increased east into Laos and south into Thailand” to avoid losses amid the unrest, Douglas added.

“Neighbors and the wider region are getting absolutely flooded with methamphetamine, and there is little doubt it is connected to the governance situation in Shan,” he said.

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Cops in New Jersey scoped out a cannabis candy manufacturing ring for a year before they swooped in on December 19. They eventually fingered 24 individuals with criminal charges in an endeavor they called “Operation On the Ropes,” after the suspects’ use of Nerd Ropes in their extra-legal business scheme.

The suspects had been allegedly purchasing commercial candy like the Nerds products and Sour Patch Kids. They turned them into their own doctored, creatively monikered cannabis treats by pouring them into pans covered in parchment paper and, said the cops, “spraying” them with THC. Once the candies had been infused, police say the suspects had labeled the former products as “Stoner Patch” edibles.

The mastermind behind the operation was allegedly a 27-year-old from Freehold, New Jersey named Dylon Addvensky.

Police were particularly concerned that kids could be boondoggled into consuming the cannabis products.

“Colorful and sugary candy like what we seized are among the best selling edible pot products on the black market,” said Monmouth County prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni. “Counterfeit candy is making the rounds and they constitute an extreme danger to our community, particularly the children.”

The Monmouth County prosecutor’s office announced in a press conference on Tuesday that they had raided 21,000 pieces of candy, 1,100 pounds of marijuana, and around 6,500 flavored THC vaporizer cartridges in relation to the case.

Addvensky has been charged with running a narcotics trafficking network, plus drug distribution and conspiracy charges. One individual has been charged but not apprehended by authorities — allegedly, the person that oversaw the shipment of the THC products from California to New Jersey.

A Continuing Concern

This is not the first time that an operation has been detained by law enforcement that looked to turn commercial candy into THC-infused snacks. In the run up to Halloween, police from Peabody, Massachusetts announced they had detained an individual who had been doctoring Wonka bars, Nerds Ropes, and Rice Krispies Treats with THC. In June, a similar case was reported in West Virginia. In that instance, cops intercepted a multi-pound package of altered candies like Nerds Rope while the supply was transiting the state.

Each time, authorities issued a special warning to parents to protect their kids from doctored sweets.

Attracting young people to cannabis is precisely the motivating factor behind much of the nation’s strictest marijuana product packaging guidelines.

In some cases, this ban extends even to product names that could be appealing to kids. In San Francisco, dispensary chain Cookies — the town’s first Black-owned cannabis store — was forced to change its business name before opening its doors in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood so that it wouldn’t prove appealing to young sugar fiends.

In New Jersey, the cops seemed intent that kids wouldn’t be led into cannabis candy on their watch.

“It is all of our jobs to make sure our kids will not be fooled by the smoke screen of vapes infused with THC that could have a harmful effect on the development of the minds,” said Monmouth County chief of detectives John McCabe.

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