NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — A US appeals court on Tuesday upheld the conviction of Mexican drug lord Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman, rejecting his request for a new trial and keeping him in prison for life. Guzman was convicted in February 2019 of trafficking hundreds of tons of cocaine and other drugs into the United States over the course of 25 years, as well as money laundering and racketeering. He was later sentenced to […]
Tag: Drug
China sentences two to death for smuggling drugs to Taiwan
BEIJING, China (AFP) — A Chinese court has sentenced two people to death for attempting to smuggle 400 kilograms of methamphetamine by sea from Southeast Asia to Taiwan, state media reported. Ten other people with the same smuggling ring were handed between 10 years and life in prison over the “extraordinarily large” operation, China News Service said. Chinese and foreign trafficking gangs operating out of China’s southeastern coastal province of Fujian arranged for fishermen to […]
US health panel says Merck pill can prevent grave Covid infections
An anti-Covid pill developed by Merck has proved effective in treating the disease, the US Food and Drug Administration said Friday in a much-awaited preliminary report. But the report, from an FDA advisory panel, cautioned that pregnant women should not use the drug, known as molnupiravir, saying the potential benefits do not outweigh the risks for those patients. The report is meant to provide guidance to an FDA experts panel convening Tuesday to consider whether […]
Ecuador anti-drug trafficking radar hit by explosion
QUITO, Ecuador (AFP) — A plane-spotting radar Ecuador started operating two weeks ago to curtail drug trafficking was hit by a non-deadly explosion Sunday, according to authorities who said a “terrorist” attack could not be ruled out. The country’s defense ministry said there were no casualties from the blast that knocked out the military radar, which had been installed in the west coast town of Montecristi. “For the moment, a possible terrorist attack cannot be […]
Singapore urged not to hang mentally disabled trafficker
SINGAPORE, Singapore (AFP) — Singapore faced calls Friday not to hang a mentally disabled Malaysian man for trafficking a small amount of heroin into the city-state, with campaigners criticizing the planned execution as “despicable”. Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam was arrested in 2009 for transporting 43 grams — equivalent to about three tablespoons — of the drug into Singapore, and sentenced to death the following year. After exhausting a series of legal challenges in the city-state, which […]
Laos police net 55 million meth pills in Asia’s biggest drug bust: UN official
BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Laotian police have netted Asia’s biggest-ever single seizure of illegal drugs, finding 55 million methamphetamine pills in the back of a beer truck, a United Nations official confirmed Thursday. The 55.6 million meth tablets and 1.5 tonnes of crystal meth seized late Wednesday is a record for a single seizure in the region, UN Office of Drugs and Crime regional representative Jeremy Douglas said. “It is three times the meth tablets […]
US seizes record $1.4 billion worth of drugs
MIAMI, United States (AFP) — The US Coast Guard announced Thursday it had seized about $1.4 billion worth of cocaine and cannabis during several operations. “This is the largest illicit drug offload in Coast Guard history,” said Commander Steve Poulin during a press conference in Port Everglades, Florida regarding the nearly 27 tons of cocaine and 1,430 pounds (650 kilograms) of cannabis seized. The seizures were conducted by multiple Coast Guard units, with assistance from […]
25 killed in police raid on Rio slum
by Mauro PIMENTEL RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — A massive police operation against drug traffickers in a Brazilian favela Thursday left 25 people dead, turning the impoverished Rio de Janeiro neighborhood into a battlefield and drawing condemnation from rights groups. A policeman was among those killed in the early morning raid on Jacarezinho, on Rio’s north side, where residents awoke to explosions, heavy gunfire and helicopters overhead. Police confirmed the toll — and investigators […]
Sao Paulo hit by shortage of intubation drugs
SAO PAULO, Brazil (AFP) — Public hospitals are critically short on the drugs needed to intubate Covid-19 patients in Sao Paulo, the most populous state in Brazil, officials said Thursday, warning of a potential public health catastrophe. Sixty-eight percent of public clinics have run out of neuromuscular blockers, which are used to relax a patient’s muscles during intubation, and 61 percent are out of sedatives, a report from the state council of municipal health secretaries […]
Wife of Mexican drug lord ‘El Chapo’ arrested at US airport
by Paul HANDLEY WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US authorities arrested the wife of jailed Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman on Monday at an airport outside of Washington on narcotics smuggling charges, the Justice Department said. Emma Coronel Aispuro, 31, faces one charge of conspiracy to traffic cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and marijuana for importation into the United States, the department said. She was arrested at Dulles International Airport. Guzman was the leader of […]
PDEA: P81.6 million worth of shabu seized in Mandaue
(Eagle News) — Authorities have seized P81.6 million worth of shabu in Mandaue City, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency said on Sunday, Aug. 16. In a statement, PDEA said the 12 kilograms of shabu were discovered from the regional headquarters of a courier company in the city around 3 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 15. “During the course of the K9 paneling and sweeping of cargoes, the PDEA K9 showed indicators that the three black boxes […]
China sentences Canadian to death over drug charge
BEIJING, China (AFP — A Chinese court sentenced a Canadian national to death on Thursday in a ruling that could further inflame, tensions between China and Canada. The Guangzhou Intermediate Court said in a statement it had handed Xu Weihong the sentence for manufacturing drugs, and all his personal property would be confiscated. The ruling comes after China sentenced two other Canadians to death on drug trafficking charges last year, as a diplomatic row escalated […]





