Category Archives: Drugs

Survivors reported after latest US attack on alleged drug boat in Caribbean

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It is unknown whether US military rendered aid to survivors after attack on suspected ‘narcoterrorist’ vessel

The US military carried out a new strike on Thursday against a suspected drug vessel in the Caribbean, and in what is believed to be the first such case, there were survivors among the crew, a US official told Reuters.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, did not offer additional details about the incident, which has not been previously reported. But it raises new questions, including whether the US military rendered aid to the survivors and whether they are now in US military custody.

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Highly potent synthetic opioids found in teddy bear-shaped pills linked to a death in Queensland

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Public health warning issued after drugs known as nitazenes detected amid move to ban pill testing

Teddy bear-shaped pills laced with synthetic opioids have been linked to a death in Queensland, triggering a public health warning about a group of highly potent illicit drugs called nitazenes.

N-pyrrolidino-protonitazene and protonitazene were detected in toxicology and samples taken from pale yellow pills marked with the letter “Y” in the state’s south-east.

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Senate Republicans vote against check on Trump using deadly force against cartels

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First vote in Congress on military campaign that White House says has hit four vessels and killed at least 21 people

Senate Republicans voted down legislation Wednesday that would have put a check on Donald Trump’s ability to use deadly military force against drug cartels after Democrats tried to counter the administration’s extraordinary assertion of presidential war powers to destroy vessels in the Caribbean.

The vote fell mostly along party lines, 48-51, with two Republicans, Rand Paul and Lisa Murkowski, voting in favor and the Democrat John Fetterman voting against.

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‘I use cannabis as medicine’: the US basketball player facing execution in Indonesia over $400 of gummies

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Unlike his fellow basketball player, Brittney Griner, Jarred Shaw has received scant attention after being arrested for a drugs offence overseas

When Jarred Shaw, an American basketball player in Indonesia, stepped down to the lobby in his apartment complex earlier this year to collect a package containing illegally imported cannabis gummies, he thought that the medicine to ease his Crohn’s disease had arrived.

It had – but so too had 10 undercover police officers. A video on social media shows Shaw, wearing a black T-shirt and shorts, shouting for help as the swarm of officers move to apprehend him.

The Indonesian National Police did not respond to a request for comment for this story.

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Stephen Miller takes leading role in strikes on alleged Venezuelan drug boats

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Exclusive: Miller’s homeland security council has played a key part in coordinating operations, sources say

Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, has played a leading role in directing US strikes against suspected Venezuelan drug boats, according to three people familiar with the situation. At times, his role has superseded that of Marco Rubio, the secretary of state and national security adviser.

The strikes on the Venezuelan boats allegedly carrying narcotics, which the administration has claimed were necessary because interdiction did not work, have been orchestrated through the homeland security council (HSC), which Miller leads as the homeland security adviser.

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Colombia’s Petro urges ‘criminal process’ against Trump for Venezuelan strikes

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At UN, Gustavo Petro says ‘poor young people’ died in US strikes on alleged drug trafficking boats off Caribbean coast

Colombia’s president Gustavo Petro addressed the UN general assembly Tuesday to call for a “criminal process” to be opened against counterpart Donald Trump for US strikes on alleged drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean.

Petro said unarmed “poor young people” died in the strikes that Washington said were part of a US anti-drug operation off the coast of Venezuela, whose president Washington accuses of running a cartel.

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Experts alarmed as Trump pushes unproven link between Tylenol and autism

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Doctors call president’s warning that pregnant women should limit use of acetaminophen – also known as paracetamol - ‘highly concerning’ and ‘irresponsible’

Medical experts are raising alarms after Donald Trump warned pregnant women to avoid taking Tylenol, baselessly linking the painkiller – also known as paracetamol - with a rise in autism among children.

From the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM) to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), doctors have endorsed the use of acetaminophen during pregnancy after Trump said pregnant women who can’t “tough it out” without the painkiller should limit their intake.

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New ‘golden triangle’ of fentanyl and guns spans US-Mexico border

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Report links Arizona-Sonora smuggling to rising homicide and overdose deaths in both countries

A new “golden triangle” of fentanyl and gun trafficking between Mexico and the US ties together the homicide and overdose crises of the two countries, according to a a new study.

The triangle spans Baja California, Sinaloa and Sonora – the three states where almost all fentanyl seizures in Mexico take place – and connects to Arizona through a quieter part of the US-Mexico border that has become a hotspot for trafficking in both directions.

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‘Ketamine queen’ accused of selling Matthew Perry fatal dose to plead guilty

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Jasveen Sangha, fifth and last defendant charged in Friends star’s overdose to strike plea agreement with prosecutors

A woman known as the “ketamine queen”, charged with selling Matthew Perry the drug that killed him, agreed to plead guilty on Monday.

Jasveen Sangha becomes the fifth and final defendant charged in the overdose death of the Friends star to strike a plea agreement with federal prosecutors. Having initially pleaded not guilty, her change of plea means she’ll avoid a trial that had been planned for August.

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Sheinbaum’s expulsion of criminals is more about placating Trump than keeping Mexico safe

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Perhaps not coincidentally, the timing of tariff discussions was closely followed by the transfer of wanted criminals

Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, has denied that the transfer of 26 alleged cartel members to the United States was part of any kind of deal with Washington and was instead about her country’s own security priorities.

This week’s expulsion marked the second time Mexico had sent top criminals to the US this year: in February, Mexican authorities handed over 29 cartel members, including druglord Rafael Caro Quintero, who was responsible for the murder of a DEA agent in 1985. The latest transfers took place after US authorities vowed that prosecutors would not seek the death penalty in any of the cases.

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Ayahuasca and toad poison seized as police raid spiritual retreats in Spain

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Three arrested and San Pedro cactus plants also found at rural properties that hosted lucrative ‘astral journeys’

Police in eastern Spain have arrested three people and seized 11 litres of ayahuasca, 117 San Pedro cactus plants and several bottles of toad poison after raiding two rural properties that were used to host lucrative spiritual retreats promising “astral journeys”.

Officers from the Guardia Civil force began investigating the business in the Pedreguer municipality of Alicante province five months ago after receiving a complaint from a former customer. They discovered that the retreat, which advertised online and billed itself as an award-winning and internationally renowned spiritual centre, offered “traditional curative medicine” breaks that were especially popular among European visitors.

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Sheinbaum rejects US ‘invasion’ after Trump orders military to target Mexico cartels

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Mexico’s president says ‘there will be no invasion … it’s absolutely off the table’ after news reports of order

Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, has rejected the idea that the US might invade Mexico after news reports suggested Donald Trump had authorized the use of military force targeting drug cartels deemed terrorist organizations in Latin American countries.

“The United States is not going to come to Mexico with their military,” she said during a daily news conference on Friday. “We cooperate, we collaborate, but there will be no invasion. It’s off the table, absolutely off the table.”

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Trump administration doubles reward for arrest of Venezuela’s president to $50m

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Nicolás Maduro was indicted in 2020 on federal charges of narcoterrorism and conspiracy to import cocaine

The Trump administration is doubling to $50m a reward for the arrest of Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, accusing him of being one of the world’s largest narcotraffickers and working with cartels to flood the US with fentanyl-laced cocaine.

“Under President Trump’s leadership, Maduro will not escape justice and he will be held accountable for his despicable crimes,” Pam Bondi, the attorney general, said on Thursday in a video statement announcing the reward.

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British teenager Bella Culley to be held in Georgia until September drugs trial

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Tbilisi judge rejects lawyer’s offer of plea agreement for release of pregnant Teesside teenager, now 19, at hearing

The British teenager Bella Culley is to be held in a Georgian prison for at least five more weeks as she awaits trial on drug-smuggling charges, a court in Tbilisi has ordered.

Culley, the great-granddaughter of a former Labour MP, was arrested on arrival at the city’s airport in May. Georgian prosecutors said she was carrying a large amount of illegal drugs in luggage she brought with her from Thailand.

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Boxer Julio César Chávez Jr was a cartel henchman, Mexican prosecutors claim

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Prosecutors say Chávez treated gang rivals ‘like a punchbag’ after Ice arrested the former world champion in California

The Mexican boxer Julio César Chávez Jr was a henchman for the Sinaloa drugs cartel and used his skills to pummel rival gang members “like a punchbag” before his recent arrest in the US, prosecutors in Mexico have alleged.

Chávez, 39, son of legendary world boxing champion Julio César Chávez Sr and himself a former middleweight titleholder, was arrested in California on Tuesday by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agents, who cited cartel affiliations, multiple criminal convictions and an active arrest warrant in Mexico for weapons trafficking and organized crime.

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Ibiza’s ambulance service risks collapse due to callouts to clubs, says union

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A third of emergency responses are to clubs, largely to attend to people having bad experiences with drugs

The ambulance service on the Spanish island of Ibiza says it is at risk of collapse because of frequent callouts to attend to clubbers having bad experiences with recreational drugs.

The local ambulance union says up to a third of emergency calls are to clubs, the largest of which has a capacity of as many as 10,000 partygoers, and are largely drug-related. It is calling on club owners to contract private ambulance services.

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Former Venezuelan intelligence chief pleads guilty to US drug charges

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Hugo Carvajal faces narco-terrorism and weapon charges amid accusations he helped lead a drug-trafficking group

A former top Venezuelan military intelligence chief has pleaded guilty in a Manhattan federal court to narco-terrorism conspiracy, drug-trafficking and weapons charges, piling further US pressure on the government of Nicolás Maduro.

Hugo Armando Carvajal Barrios, AKA “El Pollo” or “The Chicken”, was the director of Venezuela’s military intelligence under presidents Hugo Chávez and Maduro. On Wednesday, days before his trial was set to begin, he pleaded guilty to four federal counts, related to accusations that he helped lead a drug-trafficking group within the Venezuelan government.

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Superdrug to add 25 stores as demand for weight loss drugs soars

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Demand for beauty products by gen Alpha customer base also behind retailer’s expansion after tough times

An increase in demand for weight loss drugs, including Mounjaro and Wegovy, as well as demand among its generation Alpha customer base for beauty products is driving expansion at Superdrug.

The retailer plans to add 25 more stores to its 800-plus strong chain this year as well as extending existing outlets, despite troubles across the high street that have led to the closure of hundreds of stores at its rival Boots and downsizing at chains from Poundland to River Island.

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Doctor charged with supplying Matthew Perry ketamine agrees to plead guilty

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Salvador Plasencia, who gave Friends star the drug in month leading to overdose, to plead guilty to four counts

A doctor charged with giving Matthew Perry ketamine in the month leading up to the Friends star’s overdose death has agreed to plead guilty, authorities said Monday.

Dr Salvador Plasencia has agreed to plead guilty to four counts of distribution of ketamine, federal prosecutors said in a statement. They said the plea carries a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison, and Plasencia is expected to enter the plea in the coming weeks.

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Oregon zoo owner arrested after raid finds drugs, guns and $1.6m

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Police also find widespread animal mistreatment, relocating 310 of the 450 animals and euthanizing three

Oregon police have arrested a zoo owner on drug charges following a police raid at the facility earlier this month that found drugs and widespread animal mistreatment.

The Coos county sheriff’s office said that Brian Tenney, the owner of West Coast Game Park Safari, was arrested on Tuesday on charges of methamphetamine possession, manufacturing and attempted distribution. He was later released as the district attorney’s office awaited more information, a staff member at the Coos county jail said when reached by the Associated Press.

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