[FoxNews] Charbel Garza Macias was found with 4,800 rounds of ammunition during a July 2024 traffic stop in a Texas border city, authorities said
An illegal immigrant living in a Texas border city was hired to purchase thousands of rounds of ammunition for the Cartel Del Noreste (CDN) in Mexico, the Justice Department said Tuesday.
Charbel Garza Macias pleaded guilty on Oct. 8, 2024, to illegally possessing ammunition after he was found with 4,800 rounds during a traffic stop.
He was sentenced in federal court to more than five years in prison. He is expected to be deported upon serving his time, authorities said.
"This defendant’s goal was to get this ammunition to Mexico and, if he had succeeded, would have contributed to the cartels’ ongoing campaign of brutality," said U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei. "Those who work to arm, supply, fund or otherwise aid these organizations take notice; you are going to be found and prosecuted."
On July 16, 2024, Homeland Security Investigations, along with the Laredo Police Department and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, set up surveillance in a Laredo parking lot, which sits across from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico.
Macias attempted to elude law enforcement as they followed him after departing the parking lot, federal prosecutors said.
During a traffic stop, authorities found 4,800 rounds of .223/5.56 caliber ammunition in the vehicle. At the time, Macias admitted that he was hired by the CDN to buy 20,000 rounds to be smuggled into Mexico.
Authorities noted that he didn't have a license to export ammunition or firearms
…of course — they don’t give them to illegal aliens…
and knew it was illegal to smuggle ammunition into Mexico.
In exchange for smuggling the ammunition, Macias expected to be paid $600 per transaction, the Laredo Morning Times reported, citing a federal affidavit.
[FoxNews] The U.S. Customs and Enforcement agency (ICE) announced that a massive operation in Massachusetts resulted in nearly 400 arrests, including over 200 apprehensions of illegal immigrants who had serious criminal convictions or charges.
"The Commonwealth is a safer place for our residents to live and work because ICE and our federal law enforcement partners arrested hundreds of alien offenders and removed them from the streets of Massachusetts," ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston acting Field Office Director Patricia H. Hyde said in a press release.
The operation, which took place between March 18 and March 23, netted the arrests of 370 illegal immigrants in the Boston area. Among those, 205 of the migrants arrested had "significant criminal convictions or charges," the release noted, including six who were "currently facing charges or convictions for murder, drug trafficking, organized crime, and money laundering."
The six-day operation targeted "egregious criminal alien offenders," the release notes, including members of MS-13 and Tren de Aragua who were operating "in and around Boston."
The raids came despite Boston's status as one of several so-called "sanctuary" cities across the country, jurisdictions that restrict local cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
Boston’s Democratic Mayor Michelle Wu has doubled down on those policies in recent days, vowing to continue protecting illegal immigrants in the city during her State of the City address last week.
"No one tells Boston how to take care of our own, not kings, and not presidents who think they are kings. Boston was born facing down bullies," she said.
"You belong here," she told immigrants.
That’s nice, dear. Would you like a lollipop to help you sit in the corner, or will your thumb suffice?
[HodhodYemenNews] US attacks over the past three days on multiple areas in Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of... have killed eight children and displaced civilians, particularly in the coastal city of Hodeidah, the United Nations ...a formerly good idea gone bad... children’s agency (UNICEF) said, warning that Western coastal areas are "on the verge of a catastrophe" due to malnutrition.
Peter Hawkins, UNICEF’s representative in Yemen, described his observations from Hodeidah, stating, "I was in Hodeidah over the past three days. I passed through the western plains, where people are out in the streets and along the roadsides, begging and seeking help. They have lost hope. I personally saw a heavily damaged building where three children were maimed in the bombing yesterday."
"We’ve seen figures of 33% severe and acute malnutrition in certain areas. Especially on the west coast, in Hodeidah it is on the verge of a catastrophe...where thousands will die," Hawkins told news hounds in Geneva via video link in Sanaa.
He confirmed that eight children have been killed in the latest Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s on northern Yemen, emphasizing that these attacks have had a direct impact on the people living near the targeted areas.
"Some of our staff members have also been affected by these bombings. It is truly shocking," Hawkins added.
Additionally, the UNICEF official warned that the ongoing humanitarian crises in Yemen amount to "a death sentence ...the barbaric practice of sentencing a murderer to be punished for as long as his/her/its victim is dead... for thousands of children," calling on the international community to urgently respond by securing an additional $157 million in humanitarian aid for 2025.
#3
We can rest 100% assured, the mission wasn't to kill kids.
Which does bring up the pointed questions.
Why do these Radical attacking groups always to use civilian communities for cover, and many times the communities let them, support them and help hide them? (eg. Gaza)?
Why is UNICEF trying to make the USA look bad?
Especially when the USA contributions to UNICEF equal about 1/3 of UNICEF's total budget.
Maybe DOGE needs to look into how those $ Billions are being spent also?
#6
"We’ve seen figures of 33% severe and acute malnutrition in certain areas. Especially on the west coast, in Hodeidah it is on the verge of a catastrophe...where thousands will die," Hawkins told news hounds in Geneva via video link in Sanaa.
I don't suppose it's occurred to them to, you know, NOT SHOOT AT PEOPLE.
#9
33% severe and acute malnutrition in certain areas.
This was so before the Houthis overthrew whatsisname. Yemen has been an overpopulated, underemployed, khat-drugged mess — where being kidnapped by one or another of the local tribes is part of the tourist experience — for generations.
for generations.
[HodhodYemenNews] Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of... i Armed Forces attacked Ben Gurion Israeli airport with two ballistic missiles, and attacked USS Harry Truman US aircraft carrier, the Yemeni military forces announced early on Tuesday.
In a statement, Yemeni Armed Forces front man Brigadier General Yahya Sare’e said the Yemeni forces targeted Ben Gurion Airport in occupied Jaffa with Zulfiqar and Paleostine-2 ballistic missiles.
He added that the Yemeni forces also attacked the US aircraft carrier USS Harry Truman with a number of missiles and drones.
The attack on the US aircraft carrier lasted for several hours and thwarted an aerial attack against Yemen, the front man added.
I seem to recall a couple thousand people were involved in the riots, so convicting them all will take a while, even when done in batches.
[KavkazUzel] Two courts in Staropolye sentenced 13 residents of Dagestan to terms ranging from 7 to 10.5 years. Two of the defendants, in addition to participating in mass riots and violating transport safety regulations, were found guilty of attacking police officers.
As the "Caucasian Knot" wrote, the first hearing on the case of riots at the Makhachkala airport took place in November 2024 in the Industrial Court of Stavropol. Two of the eight defendants, in addition to participating in mass riots and violating transport safety rules, are accused of attacking police officers. Earlier, the Soviet Court in Stavropol began considering the second case on riots in Makhachkala, five defendants are accused of participating in mass riots and violating transport safety requirements.
The case of the riots at the Makhachkala airport needs further investigation, since at the latest trial the prosecution presented evidence with general wording, without examining the guilt and actions of each of the defendants, believe the lawyers who represented the interests of the defendants in the Soviet District Court.
The Sovetsky District Court of Stavropol Krai and the Promyshlenniy District Court of Stavropol have sentenced thirteen residents of Dagestan accused in the case of riots at the Makhachkala airport in October 2023, Interfax reported today.
"The court, taking into account the position of the state prosecutor, taking into account the nature and degree of public danger of the crimes committed and the role of each, sentenced the defendants to 7 to 10.5 years in a general regime penal colony," the agency quoted the Stavropol Territory prosecutor's office as saying.
The defendants were found guilty of participating in mass riots (Part 2 of Article 212 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and failure to comply with transport safety requirements (Part 3 of Article 263.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). Also, two of them (Mukhamad Asadov and Shamil Gulmagomedov, as indicated in the case file on the court's website) were found guilty of attacking police officers, according to a message on the Telegram channel of the Stavropol Territory Prosecutor's Office.
[IsraelTimes] The Israeli military estimates that it has killed over 150 Hamas operatives and members of other terror groups since it resumed its offensive in the Gaza Strip a week ago.
Hamas has claimed that over 700 Palestinians have been killed in that time. The figure has not been verified and does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
Over 420 targets have been hit by the Israeli Air Force, Navy, and ground troops in the offensive so far, according to the IDF.
The IDF has so far named 10 senior Hamas political officials and mid-level military commanders who have been killed in the strikes. Other Hamas commanders were targeted, and the IDF is still working to confirm they were killed.
Ground troops are currently operating in Rafah’s Tel Sultan and Shaboura neighborhoods in southern Gaza and several areas in the Strip’s north. The IDF also pushed into the Netzarim Corridor and captured about half of it.
[HodhodYemenNews] The Ministry of Health in Gaza Strip announced on Tuesday that its hospitals received 62 martyrs and 296 wounded citizens over the past 24 hours.
The ministry added in its daily statement that two of the martyrs were recovered from under the rubble of destroyed buildings.
It pointed out that the casualties of the Israeli renewed aggression since March 18 had thus reached 792 martyrs and 1,663 injured.
The overall number of casualties since Israel launched its war of genocide on Gaza on October 7, 2023 had thus reached 50,144 martyrs and 113,704 wounded, it added.
The ministry pointed out that an unspecified number of victims are still trapped under the rubble of destroyed buildings or lying on roads and rescue teams cannot reach them.
[IsraelTimes] In the capital, protesters gather in anger and despair, beseeching the PM to reach an agreement; outside Knesset, cops shove, forcibly remove several people protesting budget vote
Thousands of protesters rallied Thursday in Jerusalem, demonstrating against the government and demanding an immediate hostage deal, as the recent wave of protests continued to intensify in reaction to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to resume fighting in Gazoo and his moves to fire the head of the Shin Bet and attorney general.
Tuesday’s demonstrations in the capital were divided into several areas near the government compound, with different sections for anti-government and hostage release protests and sit-ins.
A large group gathered outside the Prime Minister’s Office, where some family members of hostages gave speeches to the crowd
Outside the Knesset building, as the government voted on the 2025 state budget, several hundred anti-government protesters marched, with some yelling into bullhorns about the prime minister being "a dishrag" and accusing him of betraying Israeli values.
Police forcibly removed several protesters from outside the Knesset, and images and footage showed coppers dragging demonstrators one by one.
The third protest area was a mostly silent sit-in organized by the Shift 101 group, which included hostage family members and their supporters, sitting on the asphalt at the intersection between the National Library and the Israel Museum.
At the sit-in, Family members spoke every so often, talking about their utter despair and the lack of contact with any members of the government.
[IsraelTimes] The IDF says it foiled an attempt to smuggle 50 kilograms of drugs into Israel from Egypt earlier today, using a drone.
The drone had been identified crossing the border from Egypt into Israel by troops of the Home Front Command’s 991st Reserve Battalion, before it was downed.
The drugs and the drone were handed over to police for further investigation.
In recent months there have been frequent attempts to bring weapons and drugs over the Egypt border using drones. There have also been attempts to smuggle similar contraband from Israel into Gaza using drones.
[IsraelTimes] Israeli forces raided the West Bank city of Qalqilya overnight, killing a wanted terrorist who had been planning an imminent attack and two other operatives, the IDF, Shin Bet and police say in a joint statement.
A combined IDF and police special forces team went into the city, acting upon information from the Shin Bet after receiving information that the “terrorist planned to carry out a terror attack against Israeli citizens in within in an immediate timeframe,” the statement says.
The suspect opened fire on the troops who responded with live fire, shoulder-launched rockets and an explosive drone, killing him and two others.
[IsraelTimes] Police arrest six protesters during an anti-government demonstration near the Knesset building in Jerusalem earlier today.
Demonstrators blocking roads near government buildings were dragged off the sidewalk by police officers.
The demonstrators are protesting the 2025 state budget, which is being voted on inside the Knesset, and calling for the government to reach a deal to bring back the hostages from Gaza.
A law enforcement spokesman says that some demonstrators attempted to block traffic by parking their cars in the middle of the road, and adds that cops attempting to tow the vehicles were met with resistance from the protesters.
“So far, the police have arrested six suspects for disturbing public order and they were taken for questioning at the police station,” the spokesman says.
A lawyers’ network representing detained anti-government protesters accuses police of using excessive force to carry out arrests, saying they tore demonstrators’ clothing unnecessarily.
[IsraelTimes] Chanting ‘Hamas out,’ ‘we want to eat’ and holding signs saying ‘stop war,’ Palestinians in at least three locations in the Strip gather to voice anger at the terror group
Hundreds of Paleostinians protested against Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... rule and against the war in at least three locations in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... on Tuesday, in a relatively rare occurrence in the Strip due to the terror group’s often violent mostly peaceful suppression of political dissent.
Footage showed around 100 residents of Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip, holding a protest calling for an end to the war and an end to Hamas’s governance, with some demonstrators carrying signs reading "Stop war" and "Children in Paleostine want to live."
Additionally, a few video clips captured residents chanting "Hamas out," "Hamas terrorists," "The people want to overthrow Hamas" and "Yes to peace, no to the ongoing war."
One gathering of residents took place in front of the Indonesian Hospital. Some of the protesters carried white flags.
"I don’t know who organized the protest," said Mohammed, a demonstrator who declined to give his last name for fear of reprisals.
"I took part to send a message on behalf of the people: Enough with the war," he said, adding that he had seen "members of the Hamas security forces in civilian clothing breaking up the protest."
Majdi, another protester who did not wish to give his full name, said the "people are tired."
"If Hamas leaving power in Gaza is the solution, why doesn’t Hamas give up power to protect the people?" he asked.
Hours after the first protest, another anti-war and anti-Hamas demonstration was held in northern Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp, with dozens of demonstrators burning tires and chanting, "We want to eat."
As news of the protests spread, other demonstrations broke out across Gaza, including one in the major southern city of Khan Younis, where protesters were filmed chanting "down with Hamas," and calling for an end to the fighting.
🚨 Breaking: Large-scale Protests Against Hamas in Gaza
"Down with Hamas, we’ve had enough, Hamas!”
"The people are demanding Hamas to release the hostages, to step down from ruling Gaza, and to end this war" pic.twitter.com/c9XzbeE4Hw
Hamas did not officially comment on the protests, but some media outlets in Gaza, including those associated with the terror organization, published photos and videos from the events under the framing “demonstration for stopping the war” without mentioning the calls for the terror group’s downfall.
Protests are relatively rare events in Gaza, especially against Hamas, which has maintained an iron grip on the Strip since it ousted the Palestinian Authority from the territory nearly two decades ago.
While there have been more public statements by individuals in Gaza against Hamas rule since the war started, large-scale demonstrations against the group have been almost nonexistent.
The last documented protest in the Strip against Hamas took place in January 2024, when Palestinians in Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis called for an end to the war, the end of the terror group’s rule over Gaza and the release of the Israeli hostages.
Before the war, anti-Hamas protests were also relatively rare events, and were often suppressed violently by the terror group.
At least four people have been killed and several others injured in an Israeli shelling on Syria’s southwestern Daraa province on Tuesday, according to local reports.
The province’s official channel on Telegram reported that four people were killed and several others injured, including a woman, in an "Israeli shelling” that occurred during “an incursion" by Israeli forces into the town of Koya, west of Daraa.
The Israeli bombardment “was followed by tank shelling, which instigated panic among locals. A reconnaissance aircraft was also flying over the area," the report added.
Later in the day, the channel reported "a large wave of displacement from Koya, west of Daraa, amid the fear from the new incursion of the Israeli occupation army into the town."
Other Syrian media reports raised the number of fatalities to six.
Meanwhile, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) on Tuesday confirmed that they had launched airstrikes on two military bases in Syria’s central Homs province, to destroy "military capabilities" in the area.
Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, Israel has scrambled to destroy Syria’s military stockpiles. It also sent troops across the border into a buffer zone east of the annexed Golan Heights, justifying the move as a precaution against political instability in Syria.
Throughout the Syrian civil war, Israel carried out hundreds of strikes, often claiming to target pro-Iran armed groups, such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah, that supported Assad at the time.
In a series of attacks, Israeli occupation forces carried out airstrikes in southern and central Syria, leaving at least seven people dead, according to Syrian state media.
The strikes began with an assault on the town of Koya, west of Daraa, where tank shells killed seven people and injured several others, Syrian sources reported.
Residents were forced to flee the area as the shelling continued. The Israeli occupation military later conducted raids targeting Palmyra Airport and the T-4 military base in the eastern countryside of Homs province. The enemy army claimed it had “bombed Syrian military targets” in these strikes.
[IsraelTimes] Hassan Kamal Halawi targeted near Nabatieh; army says he posed threat to Israel amid ongoing ceasefire
A Hezbollah commander was killed in an Israeli dronezap in southern Leb ...The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else?... on Monday evening, the military said on Tuesday.
The incident was the latest in a series of Israeli strikes on members of the Lebanese terror group amid an ongoing ceasefire, whom Israel says posed a threat.
Lebanon’s health ministry said the dronezap on a vehicle late Monday in the village of Qaaqaait al-Jisr, near Nabatieh, killed one person.
According to the Israel Defense Forces, the strike targeted and killed Hassan Kamal Halawi, the chief of Hezbollah’s anti-tank missile unit in southern Lebanon.
"During the war, Halawi was responsible for numerous terror attacks against Israel. He facilitated the movement of operatives and the supply of weapons into southern Lebanon. In recent months, Halawi continued to engage in terrorist activity against Israeli civilians," the army said in a statement.
The IDF added that he was targeted because he posed a threat to the country.
Footage published by Lebanese media purported to show the aftermath of the strike.
On Sunday, the IDF said it killed another Hezbollah operative in a dronezap in southern Lebanon.
Saturday saw the most intense escalation since a November ceasefire halted the war between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, after six rockets were fired from Lebanon at the northern Israeli community of Metula.
Hezbollah denied any involvement in the Saturday rocket attack on Metula and called Israel’s accusations "pretexts for its continued attacks on Lebanon."
[IsraelTimes] Military also says it hit ‘remaining military capabilities’ at pair of Syrian airbases overnight, after initial round of strikes over the weekend
Israeli troops operating in southern Syria came under fire Tuesday by a group of button men, the Israel Defense Forces said, while local media reported that several Syrians had been killed in the exchange of fire.
Israeli soldiers were unharmed.
In a short statement, the military said that button men opened fire on Israeli forces operating in southern Syria, close to the border.
The IDF said the troops returned fire and an Israeli Air Force drone carried out an Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... against the button men.
Syrian officials reported that at least five people were killed in the incident that took place near the village of Kuwaya in the Daraa Governorate in south Syria, not far from the Israeli border. There were also reports of ground forces operating in the area.
Residents of the village had fled the Israeli fire, authorities added.
Israeli troops have been stationed inside the buffer zone along the Israel-Syria border since the fall of Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Lord of the Baath... ’s regime in December 2024.
The IDF has described its presence in the buffer zone, which was manned by UN peacekeepers until the Assad regime’s ouster, as a temporary and defensive measure, although Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last month that troops would remain there for "an unlimited period of time" to maintain Israel’s security. Defense Minister Israel Katz has said that troops will remain deployed to nine army posts in the area "indefinitely."
Netanyahu has also said that Israel demands the "full demilitarization of southern Syria from troops of the new Syrian regime in the Quneitra, Daraa and Suweyda provinces."
On Tuesday, the military announced that over the past few weeks, the Paratroopers Brigade and the elite Yahalom combat engineering unit carried out several raids in southern Syria, following intelligence on weapons storage sites. The troops seized and destroyed numerous weapons in the raids, including bombs, ammunition, mortars, and other military equipment, the IDF added.
Earlier on Tuesday, the IDF announced that it had struck targets at two airbases in Syria, the latest strikes targeting military sites linked to the former Assad regime. The strikes were carried out at the Palmyra and T-4 airbases in the province of Homs, which has repeatedly been hit because of its role in regional weapon smuggling. In a statement, the military said that it targeted "remaining military capabilities" at the airfields, after hitting them both with an initial round of bombings days earlier.
"The IDF will continue to act to remove any threat to Israeli citizens," it added.
The initial strikes, carried out overnight on March 21, were described by military sources as "extensive," and were said to have taken out capabilities that would ensure the preservation of Israel’s aerial superiority in the region.
Following the collapse of Assad’s regime to Islamist-led rebels in December, Israel has vowed to destroy weapons in Syria it fears could fall into the hands of "hostile forces" that may seek to attack it. The strikes in Syria have drawn condemnation and concern, including from Syria’s interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, as well as the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... On Monday, during a visit to Jerusalem, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas warned that Israeli strikes on Syria, as well as on Hezbollah targets in Leb ...The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else?... , were threatening to worsen the situation.
"Military actions must be proportionate, and Israeli strikes into Syria and Lebanon risk further escalation," Kallas said at a joint news conference with Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar.
"We feel that these things are unnecessary because Syria is right now not attacking Israel, and that feeds more radicalization that is also against Israel," Kallas told journalists.
While Assad’s fall brought an end to the country’s more than decade-long civil war, a renewed wave of sectarian violence sparked fears that the new government would not be able to effectively keep the peace in Syria.
Israeli leaders have consistently stated that they do not trust Sharaa.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...
..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
...The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else?...
...The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else?...
