"Socalj" for Borderland Beat US Department of the Treasury’s OFAC sanctioned operatives in a Black Market Peso Exchange (BMPE) scheme to launder millions in illicit fentanyl proceeds for the Sinaloa Cartel. OFAC designated 15 Sinaloa Cartel members, and 6 Mexico-based businesses. “The Biden Administration will continue to use every tool at our disposal to target the violent drug cartels that profit from deadly fentanyl sales in our country,” said Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo. “Using Treasury’s unique authorities to disrupt illicit fentanyl networks, particularly i ..read more

"Socalj" for Borderland Beat A multi-agency, yearlong investigation targeting the Sinaloa cartel's alleged drug trafficking network in the Inland Empire has netted multiple arrests and an estimated $16 million in illicit drugs, the Riverside Police Department announced. The DEA announced the seizure of 10 million lethal doses of fentanyl from a Sinaloa Cartel cell on Wednesday. Among those already arrested was a Riverside County Sheriff's Correctional Deputy. Operation Hotline BlingDubbed "Operation Hotline Bling," the investigation began in March 2023. It was initiat ..read more

"Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat Ana Maria Escobar. Courtesy/Webb County Sheriff's Office Three Cartel Del Noreste cocaine smugglers were arrested after authorities set up surveillance at a local Walmart, an arrest affidavit states. Rebeca Guzman-Rios, Ana Maria Escobar, Francisco Herrera-Moresco were arrested on the charges of possess with intent to distribute cocaine and conspire to possess with intent to distribute the cocaine. On April 17, the Drug Enforcement Administration received information that Guzman-Rios was coordinating a purchase, sale of approximately 22 pounds of cocaine ..read more

"Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat Perspective will always lie in the eye of the beholder. From a military point of view we can easily claim that the Cartel del Noreste (CDN) hitmen inside the white pickup have decided to pull a tactical retreat. In the heat of the battle they quickly concluded that it was best to create distance between themselves and their aggressors in order to save their lives.   Whereas someone else can easily counter that argument by saying that the CDN assassin’s, having realized that contact was just made with Mexican armed forces and their superior fighting ..read more

 "Char" for Borderland Beat  CARLOS ENRIQUE SANCHEZ MARTINEZ AKA EL CHOLO  EL 20  FOUNDER OF CARTEL JALISCO NUEVA PLAZA  VIDEO TRANSLATION BY: SOL PRENDIDO  My name is Carlos Enrique Sanchez Martinez AKA El Cholo. I am originally from Guadalajara, Jalisco. I’m here because I’m an enemy of CJNG. I met with Omar García Harfuch in the Federal District so that he could give me his backing. This is due to us both being after the CJNG.  And he did give me his full support. But he told me that he needed something relevant in return. So that I could operate ..read more

"Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat A chicken was sacrificed, on April 24, 2024, in the facilities of the Senate of the Republic, during a ritual ceremony carried out within the framework of Rain Day, which was promoted by Adolfo Gómez Hernández, legislator from the Morena parliamentary group. On a terrace on the second floor of the headquarters of the Upper House of the Congress of the Union, dancers with incense burners surrounded the two people who sacrificed the chicken. The first held the bird while a woman cut the animal's neck with a knife, whose blood fell into a vessel. “These eve ..read more

"Socalj" for Borderland Beat 6 people have been arrested in Japan for allegedly smuggling stimulants from Mexico by hiding the drugs in small machinery shipments. The six include a senior member of a Yakuza gang affiliated with the Sumiyoshi-kai syndicate. Investigative sources say they allegedly smuggled about 15 kilograms of stimulants last June for commercial purposes. The drug reportedly has a street value of ¥940 million, or about $6 million. The sources say customs authorities found the stimulants hidden in rollers of imported small conveyor belts at Narita International Air ..read more

"Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat Veteran DEA Agent John Costanzo Jr. Found Guilty of Bribery and Honest Services Wire Fraud A federal judge on Wednesday sentenced a veteran U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent to four years in prison for leaking agency intelligence to defense attorneys in a $100,000 bribery scheme that, According to prosecutors, he put drug cases and the lives of confidential informants at risk. John Costanzo Jr. was found guilty last year of bribery and honest services wire fraud, joining a growing list of DEA agents who have been convicted of federal crimes ..read more

"Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador gives his regularly scheduled morning press conference at the National Palace in Mexico City, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte) The head of Mexico’s detective service acknowledged Tuesday that the country is “the champion” of fentanyl production, something that appears to run counter to past statements by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. López Obrador has hotly denied in the past that any fentanyl is produced in Mexico, saying Mexican cartels only press it into pills or add finishing touche ..read more

 "Char" for Borderland Beat This article was translated and reposted from LOS NOTICIERISTAS  WRITTEN BY: ERNESTO MARTINEZ  Culiacán, Sin.- Only one hour apart, another young man was found murdered in similar conditions and with a radio in his hand at the southern exit of the city, making a total of three people killed in the state capital; two of them on Giovanni Zamudio Avenue and the Benito Juárez Highway, La Costerita and the third in the area of yonkes in the place known as Cerro Del Tule. Authorities reported that the victims are unknown at this time, but it was co ..read more