[JustTheNews] When previous U.S. attorneys or the Department of Justice weren’t prosecuting border crimes, local law enforcement felt as if they didn’t have federal support. This has now changed.
When previous U.S. attorneys or the Department of Justice weren’t prosecuting border crimes, local law enforcement felt as if they didn’t have federal support. This has now changed, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Mississippi Scott Leary said.
His office released details about a recent multiagency operation, but at a press conference he highlighted the reason why this operation was just the beginning of a statewide concerted effort to crack down on border crime.
“Beginning in 2020, our borders opened up and drugs spilled into this country,” he said. Law enforcement saw “the price of methamphetamine drop 80%, fentanyl pills that used to cost 30 bucks a pill now cost dollars, and our young people paid the price. Cartels moved in. They flooded our streets with drugs. They took our money and they killed our children.”
While the federal government has played a limited role in combatting border-related crime in Mississippi, he said, local law enforcement has stepped up. Dozens of agencies are working together to “cover the whole Northern District of Mississippi. The citizens of this state … expect us to work together and to the degree that has not happened in the past, we're going to work hard to change that. This is an effective operation that will continue and hopefully we can get this violent crime spree and cheap drugs addressed and off the street.”
He’s referring to Operation Overload, a recently concluded saturations that resulted in 793 citations, 51 illegal drug and firearm related charges, and 23 non-drug firearm related charges, according to Leary’s office. They also arrested 16 illegal foreign nationals detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Similar operations have been ongoing in Texas and Florida for years through multiple targeted border crime operations, The Center Square has reported.
But in Mississippi, Operation Overload represents a new effort law enforcement agencies hope to replicate statewide. The Lee County Sheriff’s Office, Shannon, Verona and Plantersville police departments, North Mississippi Narcotics Unit-Tupelo, Mississippi Alcoholic Beverage Control, Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, Mississippi Highway Patrol, Mississippi Attorney General’s office, Homeland Security, the DEA and ATF were all involved in the operation.
“Operation Overload was launched in response to the voices of our citizens, law-abiding men and women who live, work and raise families in these communities and who deserve safe neighborhoods and effective law enforcement. From the start, this effort has been about standing up for those citizens, and about dismantling drug dealers and traffickers who choose to operate in our communities,” Lee County District Attorney Jason Herring said.
The operation was “strategically planned and intelligence-driven and executed with precision. The results were outstanding and clearly demonstrate what focused enforcement can accomplish,” he added.
The nearly 800 charges “represent more than statistics,” he said. “They represent accountability, safer streets and disrupted criminal activity. We are committed to protecting law-abiding citizens through professional, effective law enforcement operations and through aggressive, laser-focused prosecution of drug trafficking offenses. If you choose to traffic drugs in this district we will work tirelessly to ensure that choice carries real consequences.”
He also said illegal drug activity often “leads to violent offenses, including homicides and is the root of the majority of our crimes in this district.”
The agencies have since launched Operation Reload “to sustain enforcement efforts and remain proactive and protecting our communities” led by the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics Tupelo Division.
[DW] Deadline today. Watch Anthropic's stock tank Anthropic fears the unrestricted military use of its AI systems by the US government may harm democracy. Military officials have threatened to invoke Cold War-era legislation to force Anthropic to comply.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited by Leonid Tsukanov
[REGNUM] The small state of Somaliland, formally remaining part of Somalia, has found itself at the center of the “great game” of the United States and Israel, which are seeking to create a new anti-Iranian foothold in the Red Sea.
Moreover, the Iranians didn't have time to build a counterweight in Somaliland this time and are now forced to repel their opponents' attacks remotely, with virtually zero effectiveness.
On the other hand, the attempt by Washington and its ally to change the balance, to their displeasure, has stirred up forces that are difficult to suspect of playing along with Tehran.
THE RED SEA'S "ANTECHAMBER"
Somaliland's strategic value lies in its location on the Gulf of Aden, earning it the nickname "the entrance hall" of the Red Sea. On the other side lies Yemen, easily accessible even with outdated missile systems.
Unlike its neighbor, Djibouti, a "nation of military bases," Somaliland isn't balancing between the powers that be. The local leadership maintains a pro-Western orientation and seeks ways to secure Washington's recognition of its statehood, including by leveraging its proximity to the Arabian Peninsula. This, in theory, should have led to a rapid rapprochement with the United States.
However, it was the Israelis who first recognized Somaliland's potential. Back in December 2025, they recognized the region's independence from the rest of Somalia. Naturally, this was an "advance payment"—in exchange for a promise to join the Abraham Accords, which the Israelis had concluded with several Arab states, and to grant them the right to conduct operations in the Red Sea.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seized the opportunity to hint to Washington that Somaliland had "great potential" for containing Iran. The territory was dubbed Tehran's "thorn in its side." The Americans dismissed their allies' outburst, declaring that Donald Trump was "unlikely to follow Israel's example" and would not encourage separatist sentiments in Somalia.
However, over time, the situation changed. And, judging by leaks—albeit contradictory—from the White House, they are "thinking hard" about rapprochement with Somaliland.
The debate was further fueled by Somaliland's Minister of Presidential Affairs, Hadar Hussein Abdi, who recently invited the United States to establish military bases there. Abdi also mentioned that, in addition to the territory, the United States would receive privileged access to resources, including "preliminary explored" rare earth metals.
The public statement by one of the state's key policymakers could easily have been dismissed as improvisation, had it not been preceded by intensive meetings with senior officials from the State Department and the US Africa Command.
It's unlikely Abdi would have risked raising such a sensitive issue publicly without first confirming Washington's genuine interest in expanding its presence in the Horn of Africa. The mineral rights clause is also deliberate—the economic component of the deal is intended to disguise American interest in deploying additional forces on the other side of the Arabian Peninsula.
IRAN WAS CAUGHT OFF GUARD
The establishment of a permanent foothold in Somaliland will allow Iran's adversaries (primarily Israel) to conduct effective operations against the Tehran-backed Yemeni Houthis.
Unlike the islands of Yemen's Socotra archipelago, which the Israelis "divide" with the UAE, Somaliland's territory allows for more complex operations at a lower cost. This is especially true given that the Houthis' main production, fuel, and command centers are concentrated in the coastal zone. One could say the opposite.
Moreover, strengthening Israel and the United States' position in Somaliland prevents a repeat of the comprehensive blockade of the Jewish state's southern ports, while simultaneously providing the opportunity to better monitor local shipping and intercept weapons-laden transport ships and fuel tankers en route to aid the Houthis. This creates the risk of quickly disabling one of the most combat-ready elements of the pro-Iranian "Axis of Resistance."
Meanwhile, Mogadishu's official dissatisfaction with American and Israeli strategists appears to be ignored. Even considering that rapprochement with Somaliland undermines Washington's strategic partnership with the Horn of Africa countries, the hypothetical gain from cutting off airspace to the Houthis ahead of a potential military operation against Iran far outweighs any costs. Therefore, Trump's advisers are unanimously voting for support for the "right to self-determination of the Somaliland people."
The rapid establishment of Israeli and American emissaries in Somaliland largely caught Iran's leadership by surprise. Of course, Tehran could not have failed to notice its opponents' increased interest in the peninsula. However, Tehran's "hawks" apparently expected that, due to the unstable situation in the Middle East and the risk of war between the US and Iran, the Somaliland "presidential office" would drag out negotiations to the last minute, forcing the Americans and Israelis to enter the unrecognized country "through the back door" and in the face of resistance from local opposition forces.
However, Somaliland's elites chose the path of least resistance, readily agreeing to become that very thorn in their side. Iran's few attempts to turn the tide in its favor, with the help of local Orthodox preachers and forces advocating for autonomy from Somalia, but without a "self-government" scenario, were unsuccessful. Somaliland's political space was purged of pro-Iranian loyalists even before Tehran fully entered the game.
UNEXPECTED HELP
However, the US and Israel also failed to fully implement the "Somaliland self-determination" ploy: Türkiye unexpectedly went against it.
Immediately after the Jewish state recognized the independence of Somaliland, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ordered increased support for the central government of Somalia, including the provision of an additional package of military aid to Mogadishu.
A few days before Abdi's appeal to the American authorities, Ankara sent additional forces, including several F-16 fighter jets, to Somalia's military airfields. Intelligence exchange with Mogadishu intensified, and representatives of Turkish special operations forces and Sadat, a private military company renowned since Erdogan's triumphant Libyan campaign, appeared at the African country's General Staff.
All of this is being presented as "brotherly assistance" and part of Turkey's efforts to combat radical gangs in Africa. In reality, it strongly resembles a planned operation to restore order in a rebellious region under the cover of a limited Turkish contingent.
Moreover, the restoration of Somalia's territorial integrity lies at the core of the policy of Erdogan's close friend, the current leader of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud, and Mogadishu's final recognition of its loss of control over Somaliland is guaranteed to stir up trouble in other regions.
The Turks are rushing to complete their maneuver before the White House approves the establishment of a permanent military mission in Somaliland. Ankara is hoping to secure a concession to develop the mineral resources it has had its eye on for several years.
President Erdogan always ensures that Turkey profits first.
MULTIDIRECTIONAL MOVEMENT
Of course, Turkey isn't the only Middle Eastern player trying to curb Somaliland's emergence as a nominally "independent" player. The UAE and Saudi Arabia have also entered the fray, though so far primarily through diplomatic means.
Although the Arab monarchies are at odds over disputes in Yemen and Sudan, the risk of another "external regulator" of the Red Sea routes has forced them to temporarily put aside their differences and launch a campaign to pressure the "mindless rebels" of Somaliland.
Moreover, the Saudis are even more nervous than the Emirates. In the event of a serious escalation in the region, Middle Eastern oil trade will be under threat, which will inevitably impact the kingdom's stability.
And so the House of Saud is trying to put out the nascent fire: confidants close to Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman are literally besieging the White House, trying to dissuade American elites from a potentially fatal decision.
They are also cultivating Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who has strong ties to the Saudi court, promising him mountains of gold in exchange for disrupting the "Somaliland deal."
Of course, Middle Eastern players are currently operating primarily according to the "Swan, Pike, and Crayfish" model, failing to coordinate their actions around Somaliland and constantly interfering with each other. However, ultimately, even this movement is beneficial to Iran. Tehran is buying time to prepare its Yemeni outpost for a possible attack from the other side.
It's quite possible that these efforts will pay off, and plans to recognize Somaliland will be reversed. This is especially true if the region's effectiveness as a staging ground for attacks on Yemen proves less effective than expected in the eyes of American advisers.
[FoxNews] CENTCOM says American sailors, Marines are keeping aircraft in Middle East ‘mission-ready’
The U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet headquarters in Bahrain has been reduced to "mission critical" staffing ahead of potential U.S. strikes on Iran, multiple U.S. officials told Fox News.
There are now fewer than 100 personnel remaining at the facility, the officials said. A separate U.S. official disputed the other officials, saying there has been no ordered departure yet for American personnel or their dependents in Bahrain.
Ahead of Operation Midnight Hammer last June, when the U.S. struck Iranian nuclear sites, the 5th Fleet headquarters was evacuated in a similar manner.
The U.S. has been surging military assets to the Middle East in recent weeks as discussions have been ongoing between the U.S. and Iran over the future of Tehran’s nuclear program.
U.S. Central Command said this week that sailors and Marines aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln — one of the ships in the region — have regularly been performing maintenance to "keep aircraft mission-ready."
"Their experience and skills allow Abraham Lincoln to sustain continuous airpower and conduct over 100 sorties per day," CENTCOM said on X.
President Donald Trump warned in his State of the Union address earlier this week that Iran has "sinister ambitions" with its nuclear program and that the U.S. has not yet heard from Tehran that it will "never have a nuclear weapon."
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Ruthless gangs that melt rivals in acid and run Nazi-style 'extermination camps' poised to turn streets into war zones after drug lord killed
On Sunday, Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) boss Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, 59, was killed in Tapalpa in a joint Mexican military and US-backed operation.
At least 20 states were plunged into cartel-fuelled chaos as a result, with violence surging as authorities tightened security across the region.
Oseguera, known as 'El Mencho', ruled his drug empire with extreme brutality, using terrifying torture and violence to instill fear into rivals.
Over the last decade, the kingpin turned CJNG into the strongest crime ring in the country, partly by extending his power through 'franchise' agreements with smaller gangs around Mexico.
Following his death, authorities have said they are actively working on containing the cartel's reactions and reinforcing security after the highest-profile blow against cartels since the recapture of former Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán a decade ago.
With the leader now gone, fears of extreme violence and war are rising as several brutal rival cartels compete for control of the territories he left behind.
JALISCO NEW GENERATION CARTEL
The CJNG is considered one of Mexico's most powerful drug cartels that plays a key role in trafficking methamphetamine and fentanyl to the US.
El Mencho's brutal control of the drug-trafficking routes from Latin America to the US, using speedboats and submersibles to ship cocaine and methamphetamine from Colombia and Ecuador via the Pacific, is thought to have made him billions.
The Jalisco cartel has a presence in at least 21 of Mexico's 32 states and is active in almost all of the US, according to the US Drug Enforcement Administration.
During his merciless rule, kingpin El Mencho displayed a savagery many deemed extreme even by narco standards.
In 2011, CJNG was implicated in a series of massacres, including the torture and murder of 35 people whose bodies were found dumped in the streets of Veracruz during an evening rush hour.
Horrors snipped.
And last March, forensic teams made a discovery that chilled even hardened investigators - a secret compound near Teuchitlán, Jalisco, where the CJNG allegedly ran a full-scale 'extermination site'.
Buried beneath the Izaguirre ranch, authorities found three massive Nazi-style crematory ovens.
They contained piles of charred human bones, and a haunting mountain of belongings - over 200 pairs of shoes, purses, belts, and even children's toys.
Experts believe victims were kidnapped, tortured, and burned alive, or after being executed, to destroy evidence of mass killings.
Just a few weeks prior, authorities in Zapopan, a suburb of Guadalajara, unearthed 169 black bags at a construction site, all filled with dismembered human remains.
The bags were hidden near the CJNG territory, where disappearances are widespread.
In October 2024, the town of Ojuelos, Jalisco, woke up to yet another horror - the decapitated bodies of five men dumped by a dirt road.
Their heads were found in a separate sack, left beside a cardboard sign with a blood-soaked warning from CJNG.
A useful map of cartel territories in Mexico can be seen at the link. The other cartels in this story:
So far, more than 500 bags of remains have been found in just four of the 22 grave sites — some just miles from Akron Stadium, one of Mexico’s three World Cup locations.
Between February and September 2025, 270 bags filled with human remains were found at Las Agujas, a 54-acre property located in Zapopan — a city next to Guadalajara — and one of the largest mass graves found, according to El Pais.
Since that grim discovery by construction workers, more bodies have been found in the area, including 48 bags of remains unearthed in a clandestine grave in Zapopan in October, CBS News reported.
#4
"Unlike the triad-dominated meth trafficking in Asia-Pacific, the supply of fentanyl and fentanyl precursors for the U.S. market became highly pluralized. Scores and scores of chemical producers and brokers – from mid-level chemical and pharmaceutical companies to newly-emergent small family-based Chinese criminal groups and upstart operators, to mom-and-pop and sis-and-bro operations – popped up around China. The range of precursor suppliers for the Sinaloa Cartel and CJNG grew far beyond the triads. As the 2020 “Lethal Exchange” report by the research group Center for Advanced Defense Studies (C4ADS) showed, various Chinese sellers of fentanyl precursors specifically would cater to Mexican clients in the criminal world, advertising in Spanish, bundling together ads for cocaine fillers and meth and fentanyl precursors, and emphasizing their ability to evade Mexican customs."
[IsraelTimes] Several others, including a Palestinian, also charged in case, which is under a gag order, according to joint statement from police and Shin Bet
A Shin Bet employee was among several people indicted on Thursday for smuggling goods into the 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... Strip in exchange for money that reportedly amounts to millions of dollars.
A joint statement from the Shin Bet and the Israel Police confirmed the existence of the case after it was leaked to Hebrew media outlets by police sources.
According to the statement, a number of Israeli citizens, including a Shin Bet employee, as well as a Paleostinian, were charged in the Central District Court on Thursday in connection with the case.
The charges include assisting the enemy in wartime, obtaining something by fraud under aggravated circumstances, prohibited dealings in property for terrorist purposes, accepting a bribe, giving a bribe, deceit, subterfuge and dealing in prohibited property, the Shin Bet and police said.
The statement said the defendants smuggled goods into Gaza "in exchange for large sums of money."
The Shin Bet said that aside from the details provided in the statement, a gag order is in effect "on the details of the indictment and the investigation" for reasons of national security.
According to i24News, which was the first to report on the case, the Shin Bet employee was caught with NIS 6.5 million ($2.1 million) in his possession. He is suspected of trafficking equipment worth millions of shekels via trucks headed into the Strip, according to a police source speaking to Haaretz.
The fresh indictments come amid a high-profile Gaza smuggling scandal involving Bezalel Zini, an IDF reservist and the brother of Shin Bet chief David Zini.
It was not immediately clear if the new case is connected in any way to the same smuggling ring.
Zini and 14 others were indicted earlier this month for allegedly being part of a wide-ranging smuggling ring that saw millions of shekels of goods smuggled into Gaza, including cigarettes, iPhones, batteries, telecommunications cables and car parts.
Zini, an IDF reservist who headed logistics for IDF forces doing demolition work in Gaza, is suspected of abusing his access to the enclave to smuggle 14 crates of cigarettes from Israel into Gaza on three occasions, earning a total of NIS 365,000 ($117,405).
The IDF said several weeks ago that it "views very gravely the phenomenon of smuggling into the Gaza Strip, which constitutes a major risk to state security." The military added that "if IDF personnel in the standing army or in reserve service are involved in these activities, the matter is even more severe."
David Zini, the Shin Bet chief, is not suspected of any wrongdoing in the case. The case is being investigated by the Israel Police, instead of the Shin Bet, due to the agency chief’s family ties to the suspect.
#3
AS noted earlier - this is good craft; employ cancer stick (biological/chem weapons)and make the target pay for them. And how bright do you have to be to buy cell phones and batteries from a Shin Bet connection?
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] The US military used a laser to accidentally shoot down a Customs and Border Patrol drone in Texas while enforcing Donald Trump's efforts to crack down at the border, leaving Congressional Democrats furious.
The laser, fired near Fort Bliss, about 50 miles northwest of El Paso, was the second time in two weeks that one has been shot in the area.
Twice in two weeks? A national emergency, fer sher.
However, the earlier laser firing did not hit a target but similarly a closure of airspace in the area took place.
The Pentagon, Customs and Border Protection and the Federal Aviation Administration released a statement explaining what happened.
'At President Trump's direction, the Department of War, FAA, and Customs and Border Patrol are working together in an unprecedented fashion to mitigate drone threats by Mexican cartels and foreign terrorist organizations at the US-Mexico Border,' they said.
The Pentagon 'employed counter-unmanned aircraft system authorities to mitigate a seemingly threatening unmanned aerial system operating within military airspace.'
No commercial flights were in the area and the shot took place far from any populated areas.
'These agencies will continue to work on increased cooperation and communication to prevent such incidents in the future.'
U.S. Reps. Rick Larsen, Bennie Thompson and Andre Carson said their "heads are exploding over the news" that a CBP drone was shot down by the Pentagon with "a high risk counter-unmanned aircraft system."
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/27/2026 10:26 Comments ||
Top||
#9
All this fuss over a drone.
Anyway, drones are hard to hit. Let us be impressed the laser operator is successfully climbing his or her learning curve, and buy CBP a replacement unit out of the Army’s budget.
#13
Technically, not an accident. An accident would be if Specialist Jones was drawing laser dicks in the clouds and the drone happened to cross the path.
[IsraelTimes] Contradictory reports emerge on whether sides any closer to agreement; report says Witkoff, Kushner demanded Tehran dismantle all nuclear sites and turn over enriched uranium.
Long with lots of details at the link, but before (and after) the midnight rollover I spent my time pulling together all the posts on that Afghanistan-Pakistan thing instead. So hie yourself to the link if you wish to know the details, dear Reader, but it looks like Iran won't erupt today after all.
#3
Huckabee tells US Embassy staff to leave Israel today. Beirut Embassy staff evacuating. Istanbul-Tehran flights are cancelled. Winding up
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/27/2026 13:35 Comments ||
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#4
I have to believe a great deal of this slow-rolling assembly of overwhelming air-power has been the media theater necessary to convince large elements of the Iranian military and the civilian population about the opportunity, real opportunity, for regime change!. This will require internal uprisings and mutiny, and it has to be supported by the general population and rank-and-file military. Hopefully the myriad connections and communication nodes inside Iran are prepped and equipped? This opportunity window is fleeting, don't waste it!
#5
Will be amusing watching Iranian pilots flying their old Saddam jets back to Iraq for refuge?
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/27/2026 14:34 Comments ||
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#6
I have been checking shipping through Hormuz on a website called Marine Traffic since the protests started. It has been consistently heavy throughout all days and hours.
It looks extremely light now in comparison although it is their local midnight.
I think there is an expectation that we are at showtime. If we are going to do this, the only thing I ask is that we don’t seize Bar Cheddar. I don’t think I could take that.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/27/2026 15:23 Comments ||
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#7
^ Irish Rage Boy disagrees!
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/27/2026 18:46 Comments ||
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[TurkiyeToday] The USS Gerald R. Ford, the world's largest aircraft carrier, sent to the Mediterranean this week in a military buildup to put pressure on Iran, left a naval base in Crete Thursday, an Agence France-Presse (AFP) photographer said.
Its departure came as a new round of indirect talks between the United States and Iran on the latter's nuclear program, mediated by Oman's foreign minister, opened in Geneva Thursday morning.
The vessel has been in the U.S. Naval Support Activity Souda Bay base in Crete since Monday.
The U.S. embassy in Athens has declined to comment on the carrier's presence, forwarding questions to the Pentagon in Washington.
President Donald Trump ordered strikes on Iran last year. He has repeatedly threatened Tehran with fresh military action if it does not cut a new deal on its contentious nuclear program, which the West fears is aimed at building an atomic weapon.
Washington has more than a dozen warships in the Middle East: one aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, nine destroyers, and three other combat ships.
It is rare for there to be two U.S. aircraft carriers, which carry dozens of warplanes and are crewed by thousands of sailors, in the Middle East.
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.
