Natalia Almada’s artful documentary film El Velador follows Martin as he looks after “the extravagant mausoleums of Mexico’s most notorious Drug Lords” and, when needed, picks up severed heads left as warnings. Read more »
Have you been feeling safer lately? It’s possibly because U.S. Marshals have finally arrested Mark Steven Philips, a former member of Miami’s Black Tuna Gang who had disappeared in the middle of his federal trial for racketeering, possession and distribution back in 1979. Read more »
Want to stop doing dope and “reset your tolerance levels to zero, like you’ve never done drugs?” Try ibogaine, the root bark from the tabernanthe iboga plant. Get cured and ”paralyzed by hallucinations” of vicious monsters, “washed in love,” or turn into bark, as per artist Levi Van Veluw’s illustrations. Illegal in the US, the extreme PCP-LSD-hybrid-like “psycho-spiritual cure” is available in Tijuana rehabs, where you just might get massacred in the drug war. It’s been used by shamans from West Africa to Amsterdam, mentioned by Hunter S. Thompson and plugged by ’60s Yippies. Now there’s a legalization movement afoot.
Of course South America’s cocaine kingpins are winning the War on Drugs, they’ve got really nifty submarines, like this one recently seized by Ecuadorian police near the Colombian border. Meanwhile, the U.S. is forced to make due with its meager inventory of drones, battleships, tanks, helicopters, jets, and satellites. |NYT|
As the global demand for cocaine and heroin declined in developed countries—the third world is still happily getting high on these substances—there’s been a steady rise in the abuse of synthetic and prescription drugs says the UN. Well, that’s certainly good news for meth dealers and pharmaceutical companies alike. |AP|
Former mountain bike champion and newly self-confessed drug trafficker, Missy Giove, could face 40 years and a $2 million fine for her role in coordinating shipments of weed from Cali to the East Coast. She was busted in upstate New York earlier this year with approximately 400 lbs. of weed and on Monday, in federal court, admitted her full involvement. There’s a lesson to be learned here kids: stick to what you’re good at. |Times Union|
U.S. border patrol agents in Arizona looking for illegal immigrants found horses carrying bales of Mexican dirt weed instead. The human smugglers reportedly left their four-legged conspirators behind to avoid arrest. Almost 1000 pounds of low quality herb was discovered and according to authorities, the “horses and marijuana were held for further processing.”
Photo by Customs and Border Protection
The Russian version of the DEA announced that it will share its information on Afghan drugs with U.S. authorities if they agree to respond in kind reports RIA Novosti. The head of the agency, Viktor Ivanov, apparently brokered a drugs for drug lords arrangement: “We will transfer to the Americans 175 brands of drugs made in Afghanistan. In exchange, we expect to receive from our U.S. partners data on 50 Afghan drug lords.” |RIA Novosti|
Approximately two tons of weed growing in the wild was collected and then burned in a massive bonfire by authorities in Iowa. While officials don’t think it was intentionally planted, people were taking advantage of the feral growth and picking buds. |kaaltv|
With the country still hemorrhaging and Detroit even poorer than it was before the economic crisis, it’s nice to know that at least one federal agency has a new pleasure craft to enjoy. Customs and Border Protection has been tooling around the Detroit River on their new tricked-out patrol boat. The 43-foot vessel sports four 350hp motors, a thermal camera, and mounted machine guns. So what’s the price tag for this kind of maritime fun? A lot: “The prototype costs about $550,000 and contains another $350,000 worth of electronics.” |DetroitNews|
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