Drugs
AG Holder Says Drug Cases Down Because Less Focus on Smaller Offenders
By Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Federal prosecutors handled fewer drug prosecutions last year because of a new approach to handling smaller non-violent offenders, the Los Angeles Times reports. Attorney General Eric Holder said at a National Press Club address that prosecutions for drug cases fell 6% last year. Holder said the feds are placing more focus…
Is Law Enforcement Crossing Line by Taking Photos of Drivers, Passengers?
By Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com A license-plate scanning system designed to combat drug trafficking and other crimes has raised serious privacy questions because of the technology’s ability to snap photographs of drivers and their passengers, the ACLU said, reports Bloomberg. The concern is that authorities will combine the photographs with facial-recognition software. “This adds a whole…
Border Patrol Fatally Shoots Drug Smuggling Suspect in South Texas
By Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Agents returned fire Wednesday morning and killed a drug smuggling suspect near Roma, Texas, the Associated Press reports. The incident happened after Border Patrol agents came under fire while investigating suspected drug smugglers in the desert, the agency said. The agency, which has pledged to be more transparent about agent-involved shootings,…
The FBI and Drugs in the Beginning
By Greg Stejskal ticklethewire.com Webster Bivens may have been a drug dealer, but his place in law enforcement history is not proportional to his status as an alleged dealer. In the fall of 1965, Federal Bureau of Narcotics agents raided Bivens’ Brooklyn apartment. The FBN agents had neither an arrest warrant nor a search warrant….
Stejskal: The FBI and Drugs in the Beginning
Greg Stejskal served as an FBI agent for 31 years and retired as resident agent in charge of the Ann Arbor office By Greg Stejskal ticklethewire.com Webster Bivens may have been a drug dealer, but his place in law enforcement history is not proportional to his status as an alleged dealer. In the fall…
Border Patrol Makes Rare Move by Firing Warning Shots from Blackhawk Helicopter
By Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com In a rare show of force, Border Patrol agents fired warning shots from a Blackhawk helicopter to stop a panga boat that authorities suspected was smuggling drugs off the San Diego coast, the Associated Press reports. The boat was spotted by the Coast Guard, and men were spotted throwing what authorities…
Less Marijuana But More Dangerous Drugs Seized by Border Patrol This Year
By Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com A lot less marijuana was seized this fiscal year by the U.S. Border Patrol in San Diego, but the agency has seen a sizable increase in the amount of cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin confiscated, KPBS reports. Leaders at the San Diego sector said the seizures represent a tighter security. “I am…