Shoshanna Utchenik ticklethewire.com U.S. officials report a break-through in tackling drug trafficking from South America, according to the Associated Press. A former Venezuelan Supreme Court justice Eladio Aponte may be seeking permanent refuge in the U.S. for himself and his family in exchange for evidence linking Venezuelan officials to drug trafficking and corruption, and linking Venezuela…
Shoshanna Utchenik ticklethewire.com Could the DEA be doing more harm than good with its efforts to curb prescription drug abuse? Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island are asking the Government Accountability Office to study how the DEA’s crackdowns on controlled substances may be creating shortages of vital prescription meds…
Shoshanna Utchenik ticklethewire.com Sometimes being a ‘friend of Israel’ means sharing criminals. Three Israeli mobsters were extradited to the U.S. in January 2011 in the first extradition of its kind under Israel’s racketeering law, which parallels RICO, the U.S. law targeting organized crime. Two of the three pled guilty to a host of drug and…
Shoshanna Utcheniik ticklethewire.com A 24 year old University of California San Diego student was one of nine people brought in by the DEA for questioning on April 21 after a drug raid. What happened next is anyone’s guess. It seems he was forgotten in a cell for five days. DEA spokeswoman Amy Roderick told the…
Shoshanna Utchenik ticklethewire.com This time it was drugs slipping through security for a few thousand in bribes. Next time? Who knows? One federal prosecutor noted that next time it could be dangerous materials. The L.A. Times reports that the DEA has busted four former and current TSA agents at LAX. They allegedly accepted cash to…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com The failure to disclose evidence to defense attorneys continues to be a nagging problem in the federal court system, according to the website FieldLogix. In one of the latest incidents, U.S. District Judge Mark Bennett of Iowa is considering sanctions against prosecutors after a DEA agent failed to disclose that it…
Shoshanna Utchenik ticklethewire.com It’s all fun and games til your toy purchases may be supporting international drug cartels. An 18-month investigation of L.A.company, Woody’s Toys Inc., by Homeland Security’s ICE and the DEA’s Southern California Drug Task Force yielded video of employees receiving bricks of cash in fast food chain parking lots, among other incriminating…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com It’s that time of year again for the DEA’s National Prescription Drug-Take-Back Day. The DEA has announced the program will take place on Saturday, April 28 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. People can dispose of unwanted, unused prescription drugs at stations designated around the country. Last year, in the third…
