Forty-three-year-old Jessica Beske from Fargo, North Dakota was pulled over by local police while traveling through Minnesota. Now she faces prison time for possessing bong water and other cannabis paraphernalia.

According to a report from the Minnesota Informer, Beske was pulled over for speeding on May 8. When officers approached her vehicle, they smelled cannabis and searched her car. While they didn’t find any cannabis products, they did find a bong (with bong water), as well as a glass jar with a “crystal substance” inside, and an undefined number of pipes.

A residue test revealed that the bong water, the paraphernalia, and the glass jar all contained traces of methamphetamine. Additionally, the bong weighted eight ounces, but the jar allegedly weighed 13.2 ounces “in total with the packaging.” According to Beske, the jar was the “packaging” and there wasn’t enough of what was inside for law enforcement to weigh on its own, so it had to be weighed along with the jar. She also claims that she had no drugs on her at the time of the incident.

However, Beske has now been charged with first-degree felony possession specifically because of the bong water. State law equates eight ounces of bong water with eight ounces of methamphetamine. 

Minnesota-based drug reform activist, Kurtis Hanna, told the Minnesota Informer that prosecuting Beske is an abuse of the law’s intent. “The legislative intent behind the weight-based thresholds is to approximate whether a person is an end user or a dealer,” Hanna said. “The fact that some county prosecutors are subverting that clear intent and are charging end users as though they are wholesalers, ruining their lives in the process, is shameful.”

Law enforcement also proceeded to seize her car, and $2,400 in cash (which was verified as casino winnings from the night before the incident). State law allows police to permanently forfeit any vehicles used to transport drugs that are “intended for distribution or sale,” as well as the cash which police claim are “the proceeds of a controlled substance offense.”

In an interview, Beske explained her frustration at the situation. “It’s against common sense. It’s against everybody’s common sense,” she said.

In May 2023, Gov. Tim Walz signed a bill into law that decriminalized drug paraphernalia, which specifically states that the law applies even if there is leftover drug residue present.

The outcome of a 2009 Supreme Court case, State vs. Peck, ruled that water in a pipe could be considered a “drug mixture.” A testimony from a Minnesota State Patrol officer stated that bong water can be saved “for future use…either drinking it or shooting it in the veins.” Out of a total of seven court justices, only three argued against the misinformation regarding bong water. “Treating bong water as a mixture capable of sustaining a first-degree felony controlled-substance charge does not meet the purposes, aims, or objectives of the legislature when it established the weight-based system. Bong water is not marketed or sold by dealers, large or small, nor is it purchased by consumers. It is not even ordinarily consumed,” the justices wrote. “Bong water is usually discarded when the smoker is finished with consumption of the smoke filtered through the bong water. A person is not more dangerous, or likely to wreak more havoc, based on the amount of bong water that person possesses.”

In 2010, legislators in the Senate and House passed a bill to make bong water from the definition of a “mixture” if it contained less than four ounces. However, former Gov. Tim Pawlenty vetoed the bill, claiming that he did so on behalf of law enforcement. Another bill was introduced in 2011, which eventually led to the final four-ounce rule when it was signed by former Gov. Mark Dayton. Hanna commented on the passage of that law, which remains current today. “There doesn’t seem to be any good reason why 4 ounces is ok, but 5 is not,” Hanna said.

Minnesota Informer obtained a statement from assistant county attorney Scott Buhler about the most recent charges against Beske. “I will not comment on any pending cases. The criminal complaint filed in Ms. Beske’s case speaks for itself,” he said, and concluded that the team “simply enforces the laws of this state as written.”

Buhler was also responsible for forcing people to pay taxes on illegal drugs in 2014. “I simply charge it a lot because it leaves all options available regarding plea bargaining and sentencing,” Buhler said 10 years ago. Beske’s charges include a first-degree felony possession, which can lead to a $1 million fine and up to 30 years in prison. Additionally, she is also being charged with violating that very same illegal drug tax law, which can lead to a $14,000 fine and up to seven years in prison, and a charge for refusing a drug test when she was arrested.

These charges are unnecessary when considering that legislators agree that over criminalizing drugs has never been beneficial. A report called the “Drug Policy State of the Evidence,” which was published in February 2024, which explored scientific evidence on current drug policy in Minnesota. “Arresting people for drug use does not deter future use, crime recidivism, arrest, or incarceration,” the report authors stated. “While the primary intent of imprisoning people is deterrence, there is no evidence that it is effective. Studies show that imprisonment does not impact rates of drug use or arrest. Critically, however, release from prison is positively associated with heightened overdose risk.”

Beske said in a statement that she suffers from substance abuse problems that stemmed from an abusive ex. “The only thing I’m guilty of is using substances to lessen my mental suffering caused by a sick and abusive predator,” said Beske. “Addicts—women especially—are made to feel like public enemy number one, when in fact most of us have been victims of serious crime that will never be prosecuted.”

She added that he she were to be sentenced to 30 years in prison, it would make her life worse and force her back into drug abuse. “That’s why people use drugs mostly, is to cope,” Beske said.

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Dozens of individuals allegedly linked to the most powerful cartel in Mexico were arrested and charged by federal agents in California and elsewhere in the western United States, the Department of Justice announced this week. 

The DOJ said that 14 “indictments were unsealed [on Wednesday] charging 47 alleged members of an Imperial Valley, California-based, Sinaloa Cartel-linked fentanyl-and-methamphetamine distribution network with drug trafficking, firearms, and money laundering offenses.”

The Sinaloa Cartel is one of the biggest crime syndicates in the world, and has increasingly been the focus of law enforcement in the U.S. It is perhaps best known as the cartel that had long been run by Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, who is currently serving a lifetime sentence at a maximum security prison in Colorao.

Describing it as a “coordinated takedown” executed on Wednesday morning, the Justice Department said that “more than 400 federal, state, and local law enforcement officials arrested 36 defendants and executed 25 search warrants in Imperial County; San Diego; Fresno, California; Los Angeles; Phoenix; and Salem, Oregon.” The agency said that, as of Wednesday afternoon, the search remained ongoing for 11 fugitives.

Court records show that, in June of 2021, “agents seized two pounds of methamphetamine and a cache of ghost guns and ammunition, including: 15 lower receivers, three upper receivers, multiple barrels and stocks, 18 magazines, 40 Luger 9mm rounds, and approximately 400 rounds of .223 Red Army ammunition, which are made in Russia,” the Justice Department said in the announcement on Wednesday.“

None of the firearms or firearm parts had any identifying serial numbers or markings. They were all ghost guns. Wiretap intercepts showed that defendant Cory Gershen supplied other members of the organization with ghost guns in exchange for methamphetamine. The investigation also revealed the assault rifles (depicted below) were destined for the organization’s source of supply in Mexico,” the announcement said.

On that same day in June of 2021, “agents seized additional ghost guns, ammunition, and methamphetamine from another member of the same drug trafficking organization,” according to the Justice Department, which added that “agents seized two AR-style ghost guns and a Colt .380 semiautomatic handgun, and additional Russian rifle ammunition from defendant Guadalupe Molina-Flores, one of the alleged members of the trafficking organization.” 

“According to a search warrant, after seizing the firearms, agents searched Molina-Flores’ residence and found 309.4 grams (0.68 pounds) of methamphetamine,” Wednesday’s announcement said.

The DOJ also noted that its investigation “revealed that the price per fentanyl pill has plummeted.” 

“For example, in June 2021, targets of the investigation were obtaining fentanyl pills in Imperial Valley at approximately $1.65 to $1.75 per pill. By December 2021, the prices being discussed had dropped to approximately $1.25 per pill. By May, the same pills were being sold at only 45 cents per pill — less than one-third of the price three years earlier. The precipitous drop in price reflects the increased supply and availability of fentanyl being smuggled into the United States and the close ties between targets of this investigation and their Sinaloa Cartel supplier of fentanyl pills,” the announcement said.

More from the DOJ’s announcement:

“Including seizures today and throughout the long-term investigation, authorities have confiscated more than four kilograms of fentanyl, which amounts to about two million potentially fatal doses; more than 324 kilograms (over 714 pounds) of methamphetamine; significant quantities of cocaine and heroin; and 52 firearms, including handguns and rifles. The investigation also resulted in the arrest of Alexander Grindley for alleged methamphetamine trafficking while employed as a U.S. Border Patrol agent and multiple spin-off investigations in this district and others. Crimes charged in the indictments include drug trafficking, money laundering, and gun-related offenses. Court documents indicated the defendants were operating throughout the Imperial Valley — in Brawley, El Centro, Westmoreland, Imperial, Calexico, Niland, Holtville, Calipatria — and in Mexicali, Mexico.”

Attorney General Merrick Garland said that the takedown means the Justice Department has “dealt yet another blow to the Sinaloa Cartel and its associates.”

“I am grateful to the more than 400 law enforcement officers whose work in this operation resulted in dozens of arrests, charges against 47 defendants, and the seizure of firearms, meth, cocaine, heroin, and two million potentially lethal doses of fentanyl. We will continue to be relentless in our fight to protect American communities from the cartels,” Garland said in a statement on Wednesday.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas said that his department “and our federal, state, and local partners are unrelenting in our work to keep deadly fentanyl off our streets and bring those who traffic in it to justice.” 

“The indictments unsealed today are the direct result of our multipronged and coordinated law enforcement approach — one that utilizes all of our government’s resources and capabilities. Together, we are preventing fentanyl and other deadly drugs from being produced, distributed, or consumed, and saving countless lives,” Mayorkas said.

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Two suspects are accused of allegedly using an Airbnb rental to store a massive stash of drugs. According to the Alhambra Police Department (APD) in California, police officers found over 200 pounds of meth inside an Airbnb, leading to the arrest of two suspects driving a van nearby.

Two suspects allegedly used an Airbnb as a place to stash hundreds of pounds of meth, but were unaware they were being recorded by a Ring camera that police were able to obtain. Officers posted photos and a description of the bust on Instagram.

“Officers responded to the 1400 block of Ethel Ave. regarding boxes that were found by a cleaning crew in an Airbnb residence,” the APD posted on Instagram. “Upon arrival, officers located approximately 235 lbs. of methamphetamine. The suspects were caught on RING camera footage using a U-Haul van to transport the narcotics.”

The post shows large bundles of meth containing smaller bags, lined up on the ground, spread out. Police said the van was approaching the residence to return, then did a 180-degree turn the other way when they saw police approaching.

“While Officers were at the scene, the U-Haul van returned to the location, saw your APD, and quickly made a U-turn, thinking they would get away,” the post continues. “Ultimately, the two suspects were arrested and booked in APD Jail for transporting narcotics.”

According to Alhambra Police Sgt. Efren Tamayo, police waited for the suspects to return to pick up their stash. Tamayo said that details on the case were limited, however a Ring camera captured footage of both the two suspects and the van that was used to transport the meth. 

Airbnb quickly responded, indicating that the service does not tolerate illegal drugs in any case.

“The reported criminal activity has no place on Airbnb and we have removed a booking guest from the platform as investigations continue,” an Airbnb spokesperson told The Los Angeles Times. “Our team is working closely with the host to provide support, and we stand ready to assist the Alhambra Police Department with their investigations.”

The identities of the suspects were not released. 

Drug solicitation isn’t the only problem at Airbnbs. Parties taking place at Airbnb rentals in California have become a nuisance, with out-of-control events taking place more often, and many times, it involves illegal drugs. A few weeks ago nearby in Long Beach, California, neighborhood residents got sick of parties and banned unsupervised Airbnb rentals over concerns about drug-filled parties taking place. 

Andy Oliver, of the College Estates neighborhood of Long Beach, filed a petition to the city’s Community Development Department after out-of-state tourists renting out unhosted houses, throwing parties with drugs and blasting music loud. A shooting victim ended up outside Oliver’s house at one of such parties. “People have to live with this knowing that your house, your safe place, has now been violated by violent crime,” Oliver told CBS News at the time. Due to Oliver’s efforts,  over half of the approximately 800 homes in his area agreed to sign the petition. 

Cannabis At Airbnbs Is Another Story

While drugs are not tolerated on Airbnb rentals, some find ways to incorporate hemp or cannabis in ways that don’t conflict with the law. Airbnb partnered with a Sonoma County-based cannabis farm in 2022 to offer exclusive one-night stays.

The farm is located on 60 acres in Sonoma County, located southeast of Mendocino County, which is a famous region for prime cannabis cultivation. As is customary with Airbnb listings, this home’s official name is descriptive of what its hosts hope guests will experience during their stay: “Live the High Life at Sonoma Hills Farm.”

Staying at the farm doesn’t connect guests directly with any licensed cannabis plants or products, however. “Due to regulations and legal limitations, guests will not be visiting a licensed cannabis marijuana grow or interacting with cannabis marijuana,” the Airbnb listing reads. 

“Guests instead have access to a neighboring private home, vegetable garden and cannabis hemp farm. These plants look and smell identical to the cannabis marijuana plants, but contain less than 1% THC and are federally legal. In addition, they’ll have access to all of the other produce on the property.” The listing does mention a selection of CBD products from various companies in California, such as Green Bee Botanicals, Potli, Rose Los Angeles, and Jane West, as well as candles from Garden Society.

The listing also mentioned a partnership with Airbnb, which will be donating to a worthwhile nonprofit organization that strives to promote regenerative agriculture and restore climate stability. The rental was available for a limited time.

Airbnb does not allow illegal drugs at any of their rentals.

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A new California program incentivizes people using meth or cocaine with money if they can prove they are clean in an evidence-based system in which participants can earn incrementally more the longer they stay clean. Why? Because California is grappling with substance use disorder “crisis” with deaths from cocaine, meth, and other stimulants soaring in recent years. In 2021 for instance, 65% of drug-related overdose deaths involved stimulants, compared to 22% in 2011. The impulsive nature of stimulant cravings and addiction calls for alternative approaches.

A Medi-Cal initiative called CalAIM provides social and behavioral health services, including addiction treatment to individuals in California . California Healthline reports that CalAIM provides people who use meth and cocaine with an incentive to quit habit-forming drugs that are difficult to kick on your own.

Contingency Management (CM) is a program that provides motivational incentives to treat people who use stimulants like meth or cocaine, and support their path to recovery. It recognizes and reinforces individual positive behavioral change, and requires them to prove it with drug tests showing negative results for stimulants. “CM is the only treatment that has demonstrated robust outcomes for individuals living with stimulant use disorder, including reduction or cessation of drug use and longer retention in treatment,” the program states.

“The Recovery Incentives Program increases access to new evidence-based treatments for Californians living with substance use disorder,” the program’s Fact Sheet states. “Starting in 2023, the program is available to members living with stimulant use disorder in participating counties, in outpatient, intensive outpatient, and Narcotic Treatment Program settings. As part of the program, eligible Medi-Cal members participate in a structured 24-week outpatient program, followed by at least six months of additional recovery support services. Participants meet with a trained contingency management coordinator twice weekly for the first 12 weeks of the program, then weekly for weeks 13 to 24 to complete a drug test. Participants receive a small gift card each time they test negative for stimulants and can earn up to $599 per year in incentives.”

California is the first state in the country to receive federal approval of CM as a benefit in the Medicaid program through the CalAIM 1115 Demonstration. CM also tested other sources of funding.

According to the state Department of Health Care Services, about 2,700 patients from 19 counties have enrolled in the program since April 2023.

Quinn Coburn, 65, who is in the program, told California Healthline, “It’s that little something that’s holding me accountable.”  Coburn received $10 for each clean urine test he provided the first week of the program, and the pay increases in subsequent weeks: $11.50 per test in week two, $13 in week three—up to $26.50 per test.

The program promises as much as $599 a year, and Coburn is proof that it’s doable: As of mid-May, Coburn had completed 20 weeks of clean drug tests and made $521.50.

“The way stimulants work on the brain is different than how opiates or alcohol works on the brain,” said John Duff, lead program director at Common Goals, where Coburn receives treatment. “The reward system in the brain is more activated with amphetamine users, so getting $10 or $20 at a time is more enticing than sitting in group therapy.”.

The average recovery rate for people suffering from meth addiction is around 37%, which is about equal to other physically addictive drugs such as cocaine, heroin, and prescription drugs. Cannabis is also being explored as a potential treatment to help reduce stimulant cravings.

Fighting Meth Abuse at the National Level

The fight against meth abuse is also taking place at the national level.

In 2022, President Joe Biden signed legislation designed to address the rising scourge of meth abuse in the United States.

The new law, titled the Methamphetamine Response Act, “requires the government to declare methamphetamine an ‘emerging drug threat’ and to develop a response plan specific to methamphetamine,” according to a press release.

The bill had bipartisan support in the House of Representatives and Senate: its sponsors were Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Reps. Scott Peters (D-Calif.) and John Curtis (R-Utah).

According to a study from the National Institutes of Health, “overdose deaths involving methamphetamine nearly tripled from 2015 to 2019 among people ages 18-64 in the United States.” That study showed that the “number of people who reported using methamphetamine during this time did not increase as steeply, but the analysis found that populations with methamphetamine use disorder have become more diverse,” suggesting that “increases in higher-risk patterns of methamphetamine use, such as increases in methamphetamine use disorder, frequent use, and use of other drugs at the same time, may be contributing to the rise in overdose deaths.”

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The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) recently released a report sharing new data on U.S. truck drivers. The report consists of a year-end compilation of data from 2023, as well as data specifically from December 2023, published by the Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse. This includes other data regarding “queries conducted, violations reported, and drivers in the return-to-duty (RTD) process.”

The report shows that there has been an increased number of truck drivers with positive drug tests in 2023, as well as a high number of drivers who refused to be screened. The number of registered truck drivers has dropped every year since 2020, landing at the current number of 858,000 in 2023. Trucker drug violations rose between 2022 and 2023, with 67,775 recorded in 2022, followed by 68,229 in 2023. However, the number of trucker drug tests decreased, with 57,597 in 2022 and 54,464 in 2023. 

The FMCSA wrote that there were fewer trucker screenings overall because they refused to be tested. “We’ve observed that even though the number of positive drug tests dropped for the first time in relation to the previous calendar year, the number of overall drug violations reported to the Clearinghouse continued to increase.”

“The overall rise in drug violations in 2023, even though there are fewer positive tests, is attributed to a nearly 40% increase in reported drug test refusals—9,214 in 2022 versus 12,804 in 2023,” the report stated. “Drug test refusals include employer reported refusals like failing to show up for a random test, or leaving a test collection facility after a test has begun but before it’s complete.”

A more complete breakdown shows that in 2020, there were 44,243 positive drug tests (with 7,092 refusals). This was followed by 48,407 positive drug tests in 2021 (with 7,941 refusals), 57,597 positive drug tests in 2022 (with 9,214 refusals), and finally 54,464 positive drug tests in 2023 (with 12,804 refusals).

Alcohol drug tests are also conducted for truck drivers, although the rate of positive alcohol tests pales in comparison to positive drug tests. In 2020, 697 truck drivers tested positive for alcohol (with 257 refusals), followed by 859 positive tests in 2021 (with 305 refusals), 904 positive alcohol tests in 2022 (with 330 refusals), and finally 1,036 positive alcohol tests in 2023 (with 315 refusals).

Overall, drug tests had decreased over time for all major substances. This includes cannabis (40,916 positive tests in 2022 versus 37,657 in 2023), cocaine (10,953 in 2022 versus 10,326 in 2023), methamphetamine (5,569 in 2022 versus 4,515 in 2023), and amphetamine (5,349 in 2022 versus 4,222 in 2023).

The news outlet Transport Topics discussed the newest data from the report. The article points out that the one thing that hasn’t changed is that drivers who previously tested positive for one of the aforementioned drugs, a majority of them did not return to driving. “Of the 226,598 CDL/CLP [commercial driver’s license/commercial learner’s permit] drivers who tested positive for at least one drug since the Clearinghouse opened in January 2020, 158,330 remain in ‘prohibited driving status,’” Transport Topics wrote. “A total of 68,268 drivers with at least one violation are currently in ‘not-prohibited status,’ and 15,699 drivers have successfully completed follow-up testing.”

American Trucking Associations (ATA) senior vice president of regulatory affairs and safety policy, Dan Horvath, explained that the Clearinghouse system is the leading cause of a decrease in positive drug tests for truckers. “While there could be a few unknown variables that are impacting the decline, I’m cautiously optimistic that the decline in the number of positives is simply because the Clearinghouse is working,” Horvath told Transport Topics. “We are now more than four years into having an active Clearinghouse system, and I’m hopeful that the message is out there that illegal drug use will be detected.”

Horvath also added that this data shows the increase in education for truckers, and knowledge about the consequences of receiving a positive drug test. “Motor carriers have increased the education they provide to drivers to ensure they are aware of the consequences of testing positive. Now, we must ensure that oral fluid testing labs are approved so that carriers can begin using that testing method if they choose,” Horvath said. “ATA has also reiterated the need to correct and finalize the long-overdue hair testing guidelines that have been in Office of Management and Budget review for over a year now.”

American Transportation Research Institute senior vice president, Dan Murray, also provided a comment about the drug test changes seen in 2023 data. “2023 was a really bad year for the trucking industry.” We were technically in a recession,” said Murray. “So I think the number of people entering the industry was considerably smaller than the previous years.”

Murray believes that truckers are leaving the industry before they get drug tested, knowing what will happen. “So I think some people are proactively thinking ‘Well, before I get caught, I’m outta here,’” Murray explained. Additionally, he thinks that another portion of drivers don’t want to risk their jobs. “They say, ‘It’s not worth it to push my luck. If I use, I’m going to get tested. If I get tested I’m going to lose my job. So it’s time to clean up my act.’”

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Mexican authorities have raided and dismantled the biggest meth lab found under the current presidential administration in the northern state of Sonora.

According to the Mexican Navy, a clandestine “mega-laboratory” was discovered recently in the area of Rancho Viejo, Quiriego, Sonora. That laboratory was raided by naval personnel on an undisclosed date and effectively neutralized.

“In coordination with [the Attorney General’s Office] [and the Attorney General’s Office of the State (FGE) of Sonora] and authorities of the state of Sonora, in recent days a mega laboratory was located and dismantled, the largest insured during the current administration, which was made up of six drug generation points and represents more than 50% of the drugs and precursors secured during the current year,” The Secretary of the Navy of Mexico said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

This particular raid was responsible for the seizure of 41,310 kilograms of bulk methamphetamine as well as 12,705 kilograms of precursor chemicals used to synthesize methamphetamine capable of producing a total of 54,015 kilograms of methamphetamine. The Mexican Navy indicated in a press release that if individually bagged and tagged for personal use, this would constitute over 1 billion doses of meth (not to split hairs but by my count it’s more like 540 million).

The Mexican Navy also indicated that 72 reactors, 102 condensers, 32 centrifuges, three vehicles, two motorcycles, a trailer and other miscellaneous material were seized during this operation. Before this raid the largest lab found was in Sinaloa and had only13 reactors. It was also noted in the same press release that after distribution, the amount of narcotics seized in this raid would have netted the cartels over $700 million USD. Including this raid, a total of 73,520 kilograms of methamphetamine and 141,470 kilograms of precursor chemicals have been seized and destroyed in Mexico thus far this year.

The United States has been ramping up pressure on President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and subsequently the country of Mexico to crack down on the flow of illegal narcotics from Mexico into the United States, the vast majority of which are fentanyl and methamphetamine produced by the cartels. As a result of this increased pressure, Mexico has been increasingly raiding drug labs around the country but a Reuters investigation released in March of last year found via leaked government documents that Mexico has been dramatically inflating the number of drug raids it performs.

This inflation was reportedly performed by including a large number of raids in the tallies shared with the U.S. which were labs that were already inactive by the time the military got there. In fact, a report released last December found that 89% of raids on suspected fentanyl-producing labs were performed on inactive labs. 

“These numbers are outrageous and not worth the paper they are written on,” said Matthew Donahue, former U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Regional Director to Reuters, calling the number inflation an attempt at “placating the United States and to make it appear they are doing something, when clearly they are not.”

Data obtained from the Mexican Defense Ministry by Reuters showed that in 2023, Mexican military units performed 503 raids on inactive labs and 24 raids on active labs. In 2022 the military raided 450 inactive labs and 42 active labs.  In 2021 it was 195 inactive and 22 active. In 2020, 267 inactive and 55 active.

This increased pressure by the U.S. on Mexico has been consistent to the tune of several in-person meetings and conversations between the Biden administration and President Obrador. It even led to an ominous warning to all drug cartels being posted on signs throughout SInaloa in October of last year expressly telling people to stop producing fentanyl in the area, though by all accounts fentanyl production has not slowed down whatsoever since the notices were posted. 

“Attention. Due to the incessant disinformation of some media and the obvious omission of the government in not investigating and prosecuting the true culprits of this epidemic,” the banners said (in Spanish). “In Sinaloa, the sale, manufacture, transportation or any type of business that involves the substance known as fentanyl is strictly prohibited, including the sale of chemicals for its preparation. We have never been nor will we be related to that business. [Be warned of] the consequences. Att: Chapitos,” the signs read.”

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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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Nine convicted drug traffickers have been recently hanged in Iran, according to several middle eastern news sources all citing the Islamic Republic News Agency.

Details on the matter were sparse, but it appeared that three drug traffickers were hanged at a prison in the northwest Iranian province of Ardabil on charges of buying and transporting heroin and opium. Iran is located more or less dead center on a major opium smuggling route between Afghanistan and Europe which has led to sky-high rates of opiate addiction in the area.

The other six convicted traffickers were executed separately for trafficking charges related to methamphetamine, heroin and cannabis though it was unclear if all six were charged for all three substances. 

Iran has some of the harshest penalties in the world for drug dealing and executions. A Reuters article from July of this year reported that Iran had executed 20 drug traffickers in one day. Figures released in June by Amnesty International, a United Kingdom-based human rights advocacy group, reported that Iran had executed 173 people for drug-related offenses and 282 people total in the first half of 2023 after what they described as “systematically unfair trials.”

“The shameless rate at which the authorities are carrying out drug-related executions, in violation of international law, exposes their lack of humanity and flagrant disregard for the right to life. The international community must ensure that cooperation in anti-drug trafficking initiatives do not contribute, directly or indirectly, to the arbitrary deprivation of life and other human rights violations in Iran,” said Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.

The same report from Amnesty International said that around 20 percent of executions in Iran targeted a community known as the Baluch or Baloch people, a poor pastoral Muslim ethnic group living chiefly in coastal Pakistan and Northwest Iran. Amnesty International said that the death penalty trials often target the poorest of Iranians who are unaware of their rights or of how to properly fight for their own defense. 

“The judges in Revolutionary Courts will ask if the drugs are yours and it makes no difference if you say yes or no. The judge at my trial told me to be quiet when I said the drugs were not mine. He said my sentence was death and ordered me to sign a document accepting it. He didn’t even allow my lawyer to speak in my defense,” an Iranian Death Row inmate said to Amnesty International.

Another relative of a death row inmate told Amnesty International that the prisoner’s court appointed lawyer basically extorted them for a large sum of money and then vanished entirely. 

“She never saw her court-appointed lawyer. He gave the family false promises that he would have her death sentence overturned if they paid him an extortionate amount of money,” the relative of a Death Row inmate said.” They sold everything they had to pay him, even their sheep. Once he took their money, he disappeared and left the family with a lot of debt.”

Another relative of someone executed in Iran, a teenager, told Amnesty International he was now faced with the choice of making money to support his family or paying his school registration. 

“I should be worried about my exams like other children, not going to work. My wages do not cover my family’s necessities because of all the loans we have. I don’t even have the money to cover my school registration for next year. If my father hadn’t been executed, I would be thinking about my future right now, not thinking of how to make money for my family,” the teenager said. 

A 2022 Amnesty International report said that Iran had the second highest rates of executions in the world, surpassed only by China. The same report said the rate of execution in Iran increased by 83 percent from 2021 to 2022 largely due to an increase in murder and drug trafficking convictions. 

“States and intergovernmental bodies must condemn the Iranian authorities, in the strongest terms, for these arbitrary executions, call for an official moratorium on all executions, send representatives to visit prisoners sentenced to death, and seek attendance at trials involving capital crimes. Given the crisis of impunity for mass arbitrary executions, they must also urgently pursue meaningful pathways for accountability,” Eltahawy said. 

In early 2023 Amnesty International reported five people were executed for engaging in protests, a man was executed for adultery due to having engaged in a consensual sexual relationship with a married woman, and two social media users were executed for “apostasy,” meaning the abandonment or renunciation of religious beliefs, and “insulting the Prophet of Islam.”

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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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