By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com Pedro Leonardo Mascheroni, a former scientist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in New Mexico, was sentenced Wednesday to five years in prison for leaking classified nuclear weapons data to a person he believed to be a Venezuelan government official. Mascheroni, 79, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Argentina, was sentenced…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Venezuelan authorities are seizing far more drugs every year since the government broke ties with the DEA in 2005, the Venezuelan Analysis reports. Since 2005, the Venezuelan government has seized 462 tons of illegal drugs – or twice the amount seized under a partnership with the country in the seven years prior…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com NSA leaker Edward Snowden may soon be granted asylum, and the “obvious choice” is Venezuela, WikiLeaks hinted Wednesday, the USA Today reports. If true, that would end weeks of an international stalemate that left Snowden in legal limbo at a Moscow airport. WikiLeaks, which has advocated for Snowden’s asylum, tweeted on Wednesday:…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Venezuela appears to be NSA leaker Edward Snowden’s last hope of gaining asylum, an influential member of Parliament said, USA Today reports. Alexei Pushkov, head of the Parliament’s international affairs committee, wrote on Twitter: “Venezuela is waiting for an answer from Snowden. This, perhaps, is his last chance to receive political asylum.”…
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…
By Danny Fenster ticklethewire.com One of Venezuela’s most-wanted drug traffickers was extradited to the United States on Thursday, reports Reuters. Maximiliano Bonilla Orozco, also known as Valenciano, had a $5 million bounty on his head. He was captured in the city of Valencia, in central Venezuela last month. Orozco is accused of shipping tons…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com Joseph Evans, regional director for the DEA’s North and Central Americas Region in Mexico City, has been named ticklethewire.com’s Fed Of The Year for 2010. Faced with one of the more daunting tasks in the DEA — battling the violent Mexican Drug Cartels — Evans is credited with developing key partnerships…
