Recent Appearances...

Warning: Undefined array key "rbname" in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 14
Hello !
Recent Appearances...

Fifth Column

As Turkish student held, Rubio says US revoked visas of over 300 anti-Israel ‘lunatics’

2025-03-28

So much special pleading! Really, it’s disgraceful — these are vile, vicious, willfully blind people.

[IsraelTimes] Homeland Security says Rumeysa Ozturk, who co-authored anti-Israel op-ed in Tufts student paper, ‘engaged in activities in support of Hamas,’ glorified killing of Americans

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio
...The diminutive 13-year-old Republican U.S. Senator from Florida, Secretary of State in the second Trump administration...
said Thursday that he has canceled the visas of more than 300 "lunatics" in a crackdown against anti-Israel activism on American university campuses, including that of a Ottoman Turkish student detained in Boston.

Asked during a visit to Guyana to confirm reports of 300 visas stripped, Rubio said: "Maybe more than 300 at this point. We do it every day, every time I find one of these lunatics."

Rubio said the US would not provide visas for people who participate in movements involved in "vandalizing universities, harassing students taking over buildings."

He did not provide evidence that Rumeysa Ozturk, who had co-authored an anti-Israel op-ed in a Tufts University student newspaper, was involved in those activities.

Ozturk, a 30-year-old doctoral student at Tufts, was detained Tuesday shortly after she left her home in the Boston suburb of Somerville. US government lawyers said in a court document Thursday that Ozturk had already been moved out of Massachusetts by the time her lawyer secured a court order that she be kept in the state. She was moved to a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Basile, Louisiana, the lawyers said, adding that they had informed Ozturk’s lawyers that she was being moved there and helped facilitate contact with her Wednesday night.

A senior spokesperson for the US Department of Homeland Security said federal authorities detained Ozturk and revoked her visa after an investigation found she had "engaged in activities in support of Hamas
Hamas

..a regional Iranian catspaw,...
, a foreign terrorist organization that relishes the killing of Americans." The DHS did not provide evidence for the allegation.

"A visa is a privilege, not a right," the spokesperson said. "Glorifying and supporting gunnies who kill Americans is grounds for visa issuance to be terminated. This is common sense security."

Friends and colleagues of Ozturk said she was not closely involved in campus protests against Israel. Ozturk’s only known activism, they said, was co-authoring a Tufts Daily op-ed, which accused Israel of genocide and called on the university to engage with student demands to cut ties with the country.

"To my knowledge, the only thing I know of that Rumeysa organized was a Thanksgiving potluck," said Jennifer Hoyden, a close friend of Ozturk’s who studied with her at Columbia University’s Teachers College.

"There’s a very important distinction between writing a letter supporting the student Senate and taking the kind of action they’re accusing her of, which I’ve seen no evidence of," said Hoyden.

Ozturk’s arrest appeared to be part of US President Donald Trump
...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and whatever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th and 47th President of the United States...
’s pledge to deport students who engage in "pro-terrorist, antisemitic, anti-American activity."

Trump has also vowed to deport non-citizen "Hamas sympathizers" on US college campuses amid the wave of anti-Israel student protests since October 7, 2023, when Hamas invaded Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war 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...
Earlier this month, immigration enforcement agents arrested and detained Mahmoud Khalil, a Paleostinian US resident and Columbia University graduate. Khalil had been prominent in Columbia University Apartheid Divest, which has called for "~~violent~~ mostly peaceful resistance" to Israel. The US government accused Khalil of having distributed Hamas propaganda. He is now facing possible deportation.

A University of Alabama student has also been detained by ICE, the university confirmed. The Crimson White, the student newspaper, reported that Alireza Doroudi, a doctoral student from Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate ~~Jews~~ ~~Zionists~~ Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
studying mechanical engineering, were tossed into the calaboose. But neither the university nor the newspaper explained why Doroudi had been taken into ICE custody.

OZTURK DETAINED BY MASKED OFFICERS, WAS DOXXED OVER AN OP-ED
Video obtained by The News Agency that Dare Not be Named appears to show six people, their faces covered, taking away Ozturk’s phone as she shouted before she was handcuffed.

"We’re the police," members of the group are heard saying in the video.

A bystander is heard asking, "Why are you hiding your faces?"

Ozturk, who is Moslem, was meeting friends for iftar, a meal that breaks a fast at sunset during Ramadan, according to her lawyer, Mahsa Khanbabai. Khanbabai, who said no charges have been filed against Ozturk, filed a petition seeking her release Tuesday and then an emergency motion Wednesday.

US District Judge Indira Talwani initially issued an order giving the government until Friday to answer why Ozturk was being detained. Talwani also ordered that Ozturk not be moved outside the District of Massachusetts without 48 hours’ advance notice.

The government said in its response Thursday that it "will set forth the timeline" of Ozturk’s arrest and transfer from Massachusetts. The facility where she’s being held is one of nine in Louisiana that house im~~migrants~~ colonists waiting for legal proceedings or deportation, according to a 2024 report on ICE’s website. It’s situated on the outskirts of a rural town about 80 kilometers (50 miles) northwest of Lafayette.

In a statement Wednesday night, Tufts President Sunil Kumar said the university was "in touch with local, state, and federal elected officials and hope that Rumeysa is provided the opportunity to avail herself of her due process rights."

Ozturk was one of four students who wrote an op-ed in The Tufts Daily last March criticizing the university’s response to student demands that Tufts "acknowledge the Paleostinian genocide," disclose its investments and divest from companies with direct or indirect ties to Israel. After the op-ed was published, Ozturk’s name, photograph and work history were published on the website Canary Mission, a website that describes itself as documenting people who "promote hatred of the USA, Israel and Jews on North American college campuses."

A large crowd gathered Wednesday night in Somerville to protest Ozturk’s detainment. Speaking to the crowd, Lea Kayali, from the Paleostinian Youth Movement said, "It’s important that we all remember what she wrote about and why she was targeted, which is Paleostine."

"It’s important for us to remember that this is not new for immigrant communities, and this is not new for Paleostinians," she added. "The US government is deliberately trying to target our movement and scare us into silence. But we will not be silenced."

PJ Media adds:

At Thursday's press conference in Guyana, a reporter asked Rubio about a particular case involving a student having a visa revoked, and he did not shy away from it. In fact, he got a little fired up and doubled down on the message that the Trump administration has been sending to people who come into this country with bad intentions. He even put it into simple language that maybe Democrats can understand.

Let me be abundantly clear. If you go apply for a visa right now, anywhere in the world — let me just send this message out — if you apply for a visa to enter the United States and be a student, and you tell us that the reason why you're coming to the United States is not just because you want to write op-eds, but because you want to participate in movements that are involved in doing things like vandalizing universities, harassing students, taking over buildings, creating a ruckus — we're not going to give you a visa. If you lie to us, and get a visa, and then enter the United States. and with that visa participate in that sort of activity, we're going to take away your visa. And once you've lost your visa, you're no longer legally in the United States.

And we have a right like every country in the world has a right to remove you from our country. So, it's just that simple. I think it's crazy. I think it's stupid for any country in the world to welcome people into their country that are going to go to your universities as visitors — they're visitors! — and say I'm going to your universities to start a riot. I'm going to your universities to take over a library and harass people. I don't care what movement you're involved with. Why would any country in the world allow people to come in and disrupt...we gave you a visa to come in and study and get a degree, not to become a social activist that tears up our university campuses. And if we've given you a visa and then you decide to do that, we're gonna take it away. I encourage every country to do that, by the way, because I think it's crazy to invite students into your country that are coming onto your campus and destabilizing it. We're just not gonna have it.

So, we'll revoke your visa, and once your visa's revoked, you're illegally in the country and you have to leave. Every country in the world has a right to decide who comes in as a visitor and who doesn't. If you invite me into your home because you say, 'I wanna come to your house for dinner,' and I go to your house and I start putting mud on your couch and spray-painting your kitchen, I bet you you're gonna kick me out. Well, we're gonna do the same thing if you come into the United States as a visitor and create a ruckus for us. We don't want it. We don't want it in our country. Go back and do it in your country, but you're not gonna do it in our country.

The reporter followed up by asking, "Did you confirm, there's been a report that 300 visas been permanently revoked?" To which Rubio replied confidently, "Maybe more. Might be more than 300 at this point. We do it every day. Every time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visa." She seemed shocked at that response, but Rubio did not back down and gave a perfect example of one of the millions of reasons why illegal immigration is such a huge threat to our national security.

At some point I hope we run out because we've gotten rid of all of them, but we're looking every day for these lunatics that are tearing things up. And by the way, we wanna get rid of gang members too. So, Venezuela sent us a bunch of gang members. I'm sure you've heard of Tren de Agua, Mr. President. Terrible gang, vicious gang. They flooded in our...

Yesterday, just so everybody knows, yesterday one of these gang members who was involved in New York City in attacking a police officer, was deported back to Venezuela because they're now taking flights again, you know, because of, of some strong measures we've taken. And this guy lands, this guy's the guy that attacked a police officer in New York City and laughed about it in court with a smirk on his face. When he gets off the plane in Venezuela, he's welcomed by this character named Diosdado Cabello. I don't know if you've heard of this guy. And, and he welcomes him, hugging the guy. So, does anybody have any doubt that these people are pushing these people into the United States to destabilize us in the region? That, so, yeah, we're looking for people like this and we wanna get them out of the United States. Absolutely.

Rubio is referring to 19-year-old Darwin Andres Gomez-Izquiel, who attacked a police officer in January 2024, and Diosdado Cabello is the so-called "Minister of the Popular Power for Interior, Justice and Peace of Venezuela." In reality, he's a major criminal involved in narco-terrorism who is wanted in the United States. However, he currently oversees Venezuela’s police forces and prisons as part of Nicolás Maduro fraudulent administration.

YouTube video of Secretary ‘Rubio’s full remarks can be watched at the PJ Media link.

Link

Caribbean-Latin America

Former Mexican Governor Sends Letter to Trump Over Alleged Cartel Connections of Mexico's New Consul in Miami

2025-02-13

[Breitbart] A former Mexican governor sent a series of letters to U.S. President Donald J. Trump, warning him about the alleged cartel connections of Mexico’s new consul in Miami. In the letters, the politician warned Trump to have the U.S. Department of State and the National Security Council properly check the proposed diplomat due to his questionable background.

In the letters, which Breitbart News Foundation received a copy of, former Chiapas Governor Williams Oswaldo (Willy) Ochoa claimed that another former governor, now the newly appointed Mexican consul for Miami, is a danger to the citizens of Florida and Chiapas.

Ochoa, who served as state and federal congressman for the state of Chiapas in Mexico and briefly served as its governor, claimed that allowing Rutilio Escandon Cadenas to serve as a consul would grant diplomatic protection to an individual with concerning ties to organized crime.

In his letter, he claimed that during Escandon’s gubernatorial term from 2018 to 2024, “Chiapas became a lawless land where massive migration overwhelmed the state’s security, unleashing an unprecedented humanitarian crisis.”

Ochoa claimed that during Escandon’s tenure, individuals with ties to the terror groups Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, and Colombia’s FARC guerrillas were able to transit through Chiapas on their way to the United States.

According to Ochoa, Escandon’s ties and favoritism to criminal organizations helped turn the state into a battleground between the major cartels in Mexico. The violence displaced more than 15,000 individuals who were forced to flee their homes due to the constant shootouts, murders, and kidnappings by drug cartels.

Escandon hails from Mexico’s MORENA Party, the same party as President Claudia Sheinbaum and her predecessor, former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

Mexico is currently trying to avoid facing a series of tariffs from the Trump administration over their failure to stop drug cartels and human smuggling.

Earlier this year, the Trump White House accused Mexico’s government of working with cartels as they prepared to impose a 25 percent tariff. The measure was delayed after Sheinbaum promised to send 10,000 National Guardsmen to the border, Breitbart News reported.

Link

Caribbean-Latin America

Mexican workers set up tent city to house deportees from US

2025-01-26

[BBC] In the shadow of a vast crucifix, labourers and construction workers in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez are building a small city of their own. A tent city.

On the old fairgrounds, beneath an altar constructed for a mass by Pope Francis in 2016, the Mexican government is preparing for thousands of deportees they expect to arrive from the United States in the coming weeks.

Juarez is one of eight border locations along the 3,000-kilometre-long (1,900 miles) border where Mexico is getting ready for the anticipated influx.

As well as protection from the elements, the deportees will receive food, medical care, and assistance in obtaining Mexican identity documents, under a deportee-support programme which President Claudia Sheinbaum's administration calls "Mexico Embraces You".

"Mexico will do everything necessary to care for its compatriots and will allocate whatever is necessary to receive those who are repatriated," said the Mexican Interior Minister, Rosa Icela Rodriguez, on the day of Trump's inauguration.

For her part, President Sheinbaum has stressed her government will first attend to the humanitarian needs of those returning, saying they will qualify for her government's social programmes and pensions, and will immediately be eligible to work.

She urged Mexicans to "remain calm and keep a cool head" about relations with President Trump and his administration more broadly – from deportations to the threat of tariffs.

"With Mexico, I think we are going very well," said President Trump in a video address to the World Economic Forum in Davos this week. The two neighbours may yet find a workable solution on immigration which is acceptable to both – President Sheinbaum has said the key is dialogue and keeping the channels of communication open.

Undoubtedly, though, she recognises the potential stress President Trump's declaration of an emergency at the US border could place on Mexico.

An estimated 5 million undocumented Mexicans currently live in the United States and the prospect of a mass return could quickly saturate and overwhelm border cities like Juarez and Tijuana.

It's an issue which worries Jose Maria Garcia Lara, the director of the Juventud 2000 migrant shelter in Tijuana. As he shows me around the facility, which is already nearing its capacity, he says there are very few places he can fit more families.

"If we have to, we can maybe put some people in the kitchen or the library," he says.

There comes a point, though, where there simply isn't any space left – and donations of food, medical supplies, blankets and hygiene products will be stretched too thin.

"We're being hit on two fronts. Firstly, the arrival of Mexicans and other migrants who are fleeing violence," says Mr Garcia.

"But also, we'll have the mass deportations. We don't know how many people will come across the border needing our help. Together, these two things could create a huge problem."

Furthermore, another key part of Mr Trump's executive orders includes a policy called "Remain in Mexico" under which immigrants awaiting dates to make their asylum cases in a US immigration court would have to stay in Mexico ahead of those appointments.

When "Remain in Mexico" was previously in place, during Trump's first term and under the presidency of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in Mexico, Mexican border towns struggled to cope.

Human rights groups also repeatedly denounced the risks the migrants were being exposed to by being forced to wait in dangerous cities where drug cartel-related crime is rife.

This time around, Sheinbaum has made it clear that Mexico has not agreed to the plan and won't accept any non-Mexican asylum seekers from the US as they wait for their asylum hearings. Clearly, "Remain in Mexico" only works if Mexico is willing to comply with it. So far, it has drawn a line.

Link

Home Front: WoT

US Border Agents Find RPGs & IEDs Near Southern Border Amid ‘Internal Alert’ Of ‘Drastic Escalation’ In Weaponry Used By Cartels

2024-09-25

[ZeroHedge] An alarming battle between rival factions of the Sinaloa drug cartel has unfolded in northwestern Mexico, near the Biden-Harris administration's open southern border. The risk of spillover continues to increase as US Border Patrol agents recently discovered a weapons cache of shoulder-fired rocket launchers and improvised explosive devices just across from the Arizona border.

"4 RPGs and 8 IEDs along with a large amount of ammo discovered in a scout site in Mexico just across the Arizona border which butts up against the Ajo area of operation within the Tucson Sector," NewsNation's border correspondent Ali Bradley wrote on X on Monday afternoon.

Bradley said, "Border Patrol agents are being warned of the "drastic escalation" in weaponry being used on the south side of the border—According to an internal alert obtained through sources."

"The fighting within the Sinaloa cartel, spilling over the border with multiple instances of armed men showing up to the southern border in the same area fleeing into the US for safety," she added.

The eruption in violence near the border is infighting within the Sinaloa cartel, between groups known as the "Mayos" and the "Chapos". This first began when authorities arrested Joaquín Guzmán López and Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada in July.

A tsunami of violence has since been reported, with President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador blaming Zambada's arrest on the US.

Last Friday, US Ambassador Ken Salazar rejected AMLO's claim, saying, "What is being seen in Sinaloa is not the fault of the United States," adding the US cannot be held responsible for "the massacres that we see in different places."

What's clear is that cartels are quickly becoming militarized while the Biden-Harris team prided themselves with open southern borders. Meanwhile, Venezuelan prison gangs are running amok in the US, and a new bombshell hearing on Capitol Hill last week revealed Biden-Harris covered up the sharp rise in encounters with suspected terrorists on the border.

Link

-Lurid Crime Tales-

California man 'shoots dead over EIGHTY animals' in unexplained bloodbath

2024-09-05

[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] A man is accused of killing more than 80 farm animals during a disturbing shooting in rural California.

Salinas resident Vicente Joseph Arroyo, 39, allegedly committed the horrifying slaughter early on Tuesday morning over the course of three hours, before being found in a crashed car on the property by police.

His victims ranged in species from ponies and goats to guinea pigs, cops said - adding how a host of chickens, birds, rabbits and ducks, were killed as well.

A miniature horse was also murdered, as the bloodbath that caused residents nearby to take shelter still remains unexplained. It did, however, end with the suspect's arrest, and multiple long rifles, shotguns and handguns being found at the scene.

An illegal assault weapon was also seized from the weapons cache, as it was revealed some animals survived but were later euthanized. Police in Prunedale issued a statement detailing Arroyo's arrest.

'The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office has arrested a suspect after he began to randomly fire multiple weapons and killed approximately 80 animals during an approximate 3-hour period,' the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office said.

'On Tuesday September 3rd at about 3:25am, the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office began receiving multiple calls of numerous shots being fired.

'Deputies responded to the scene and upon arrival could hear shots continuing to be fired in the area. A shelter in place order was put into effect.'

The bulletin went on to reveal how 'various calibers of weapons could be heard being fired' during the event, which began in the dead of night as families slept.

The firing of hundreds of rounds from the weapons cache followed 'in an area that was extremely dark and covered in thick vegetation,' cops said.

'This made it difficult for deputies to immediately locate the person or persons responsible for firing the weapons.'

Because of this, assistance was requested from a Monterey County SWAT team, and a drone was deployed by the Seaside Fire Department and Gonzales Police Department, the sheriff's office said.

With use of the drone, the suspect and his crashed vehicle were observed within the property - a vineyard set along the 16000 block of Avery Lane, cops said.

The SWAT team proceeded to approach the suspect in an armored vehicle, statement said, and photos released by the sheriff's office showed Arroyo getting on his knees and surrendering.

Some animals survived but were taken by SPCA to be euthanized, cops revealed - citing the 'severity of their injuries.'

Whom the animals belonged to still remains unknown - as does Arroyo's motive and ties to the property in question.

Deputies also said that Arroyo - whose mugshot has yet to be released - may have recently moved to the rural area.

The local DA, meanwhile, said that Arroyo, depending on the exact amount of animals killed, could face 10 years in prison. Officials will not know the number until the case is submitted.

In the interim, Arroyo remains incarcerated on $50,000 bail.

He has been charged with willful discharge of a firearm with gross negligence, cruelty to animals, illegal possession of an assault weapon, vandalism, criminal threats and felon in possession of a firearm.

The San Francisco Chronicle adds:

The suspect lived in a small trailer next to the property where the animals were being kept, Cmdr. Andres Rosas, Monterey County sheriff’s spokesperson, told the Chronicle. One of the miniature horses belonged to one person, while the rest of the 80 animals belonged to another person, who was renting the area from the horse owner.

Rosas said that both animal owners do not want to be identified and do not want to speak with the media at this time.

The property is a private piece of land that has no name and is not a farm, Rosas said, adding that the land had several animal pens constructed in which the animals lived.

Rosas told the Chronicle the suspect was not employed at the property.

Arroyo’s bail was raised from $50,000 to $1 million Wednesday afternoon after authorities the search of his home turned up illegal weapons.

Link

Caribbean-Latin America

Mexican President Pauses Relation with U.S. and Canadian Embassies over Criticism

2024-08-29

[Breitbart] Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced that his country was pausing relations with the U.S. and Canadian embassies in Mexico following letters and statements. The president says diplomatic officials from both countries had spoken out against his proposed judicial reform, which calls for yearly open elections for all federal judges.

“They have to learn to respect Mexico’s sovereignty,” Lopez Obrador said during his morning news conference. The Mexican politician said that he was not kicking them out of the country but simply pausing the relationship until they learned not to interfere with Mexico’s government.

The move comes just days after U.S. Ambassador Ken Salazar and Canadian Ambassador Graeme Clark claimed that an independent judicial body was an important part of a Democracy and that having elected judges also opened the door to corruption and cartel influence. As Breitbart Texas reported, in his letter, Salazar pointed out that before being a diplomat, he had been in law practice for more than 25 years and, as a politician and diplomat, had seen how important an independent judiciary was.

Which does explain why he is so determined to do away with it..

The issue at hand is a judicial reform pushed by AMLO and his party that would have yearly elections for federal judges and implement several other measures that scholars claim would tie the hands of an independent judicial body. Political opponents claim that judicial reform is a step by Lopez Obrador and his party to take full control of the three bodies of government. The move has been met with harsh resistance from most sitting judges who have gone on strike. However, Lopez Obrador’s MORENA party has been pushing forward with the measure.

Link

Caribbean-Latin America

Mexico Complains to Biden over Financing Opposition NGO

2024-08-17

[Breitbart] Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced he would write to U.S. President Joe Biden to complain about his administration financing non-governmental organizations that have been critical of his government.

Ooooohhhh…. a stiff diplomatic note — we haven’t had one of those in ages!

The politician made the announcement during one of his morning news conferences. He pointed out that his Foreign Relations Ministry had just sent a diplomatic notice about the issue and added he was personally drafting a letter for Biden about it.

The diplomatic note is the second one Mexico’s diplomats have sent on the same issue. During the news conference, officials said the first diplomatic note had been sent in 2021. The message went unanswered.

Lopez Obrador complained that the Department of State has helped finance the group Mexicanos Contra La Corrupcion y La Impunidad (Mexicans Against Corruption and Impunity) through USAID programs.

The NGO gained much notoriety in recent years for compiling reports and statistics about crime and corruption in the country. According to MCCI, when Lopez Obrador was trying to win the presidency, he would quote their reports. However, now that his party is in office, he considers the NGO part of the opposition for questioning high-level corruption, contract rigging, and other alleged improprieties reported by them.

Earlier in the week, Mexico’s Financial Crimes Unit (UIF) released information that the U.S. government has reportedly sent more than 97 million pesos (approximately $5 million USD) to MCCI since 2018. Officials also singled out several U.S. private donors, including funds from the Rockefeller and Ford foundations.

Lopez Obrador claimed he considers the U.S. government’s support for MCCI a violation of his nation’s sovereignty and possible election interference.

Link

Caribbean-Latin America

Mexican Government Starts Treason Investigation Over U.S. Arrest of Top Sinaloa Boss

2024-08-14

[Breitbart] Mexican federal prosecutors announced that they had begun a treason investigation against various individuals who played a role in the controversial U.S. arrest of top Sinaloa Cartel Boss Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada. According to the cartel boss, the arrest came after individuals with the Chapitos faction of the cartel kidnapped him and turned him over to U.S. authorities at an airport near El Paso.

In a prepared statement, Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office announced an investigation into the charges related to treason against the nation, illegal flights, illegal use of flight facilities, kidnapping, and immigration violations.

The investigation comes after several differing versions emerged following the surprise arrest. As Breitbart Texas initially reported, on July 25, a plane landed in a private airport in New Mexico with Zambada and Joaquin Guzman Lopez, the son of El Mayo’s longtime associate El Chapo. The arrest caused much discontent in Mexico, where Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said the following day that his government had not played any role in the incident. The president demanded a full investigation to learn if the U.S. government had violated his country’s illusory sovereignty during the arrest.

A bombshell report by Mexican journalist Juan Cedillo and British journalist Ioan Grillo revealed that Guzman Lopez and others had lured Zambada to a meeting, killed his bodyguards, kidnapped him, and taken him to the U.S. by force as part of an agreement with prosecutors, Breitbart Texas reported. The report also named a Mexican politician who had played a role in brokering the meeting and who has since been murdered.

Link

-Lurid Crime Tales-

Smartmatic president, 2 other execs charged with bribing Philippines election official: DOJ

2024-08-10

[ABC] The president of voting machine company Smartmatic and two other executives were charged with bribing the head of the Philippines election commission in order to get business during the 2016 election, according to the U.S. Justice Department.
Raffensperger-Kemp? Nooooo, that's just crazy talk.
Between 2015 and 2018, Smartmatic co-founder Roger Alejandro Pinate Martinez, 49, and Jorge Miguel Vasquez, 62, together with others, allegedly caused at least $1 million in bribes to be paid to Juan Andres Donato Bautista, 60, the former chairman of the Philippines' Commission on Elections (COMELEC), according to an indictment filed in the Southern District of Florida.

Why in Florida? Can’t the Philippines try their own criminals?

The men allegedly overpaid contracts using a slush fund to conceal the bribes.

The co-conspirators then allegedly laundered funds related to the bribery scheme through bank accounts located in Asia, Europe, and the United States, including in the Southern District of Florida, according to prosecutors.

Link

-Lurid Crime Tales-

Florida launched Human Trafficking Strike Team to crack down on border-related crime

2024-06-17

[JustTheNews] “Human trafficking is a challenge for every state,” AG Ashley Moody said, “because, under this president, we have absolutely no enforcement at the southwest border.

A new multi-agency human trafficking strike team has been created in Florida to target border-related crime. As the result of a recent months-long operation, 10 victims were rescued, and several alleged perpetrators were arrested.

Attorney General Ashley Moody announced the creation of the new strike team with law enforcement leaders on Thursday.

“Human trafficking is a challenge for every state,” AG Moody said, “because, under this president, we have absolutely no enforcement at the southwest border. People are … giving monies to transnational criminal organizations to bring them straight into this country; then they find themselves at the mercy of the same organization.

“Because we have our own government pushing as many people as they can into the interior,” enforcing the law “falls on the shoulders of these folks standing behind me to make sure that we are rescuing those that are being taken advantage of,” she said.

The investigation began in October 2023 in Manatee County after the sheriff’s office acted on a search warrant and turned over information to Homeland Security Investigations and the strike team, FDLE Special Agent in Charge Mark Brutnell said.

Investigators identified businesses that were commercial fronts for sex trafficking operations in Manatee and Hillsborough counties, where alleged ringleader Lina Payne recruited women from Columbia and allegedly held them hostage in Florida. She then allegedly forced them to have sex to pay off their debt to bring them into the country under threat of violence.

“What we found was a fully functional, highly organized international human trafficking operation” based in Hillsborough and Manatee counties, Brutnell said. Payne was allegedly making frequent international trips to Latin American countries where the victims were living and were later trafficked through the border into Florida, he said.

The victims had no accessible modes of transportation, their identification documents were taken from them, their food was delivered to them, they were forced to live inside massage parlors, barber shops and other businesses, where they could not leave, he said.

Payne’s alleged accomplices, her boyfriend, Sebastian Jurado, and her son, Andres Payne, were involved in recruiting women from Venezuela and Colombia who agreed to pay between $40,000 and $50,000 to be smuggled across the southwest border into the U.S., according to the investigation. Lina Payne allegedly promised them legitimate work, but once they arrived, they were held hostage.

At one point during the investigation, it appeared Lina Payne was attempting to flee the country and was arrested at the Fort Lauderdale International Airport. Not soon after, her boyfriend and son were arrested in Tampa. Another alleged trafficker remains at large. Each defendant faces multiple felony charges and is being prosecuted by AG Moody’s Office of Statewide Prosecution.

Through the course of the investigation, the strike team rescued 10 victims. They also believe they identified more than 117 victims of Payne’s trafficking operation over years.

Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco said the victims “were brought here to Florida and had no idea what hell they were being brought into. We’re talking about human lives. If someone was drowning, we’d go out and save them. These are people who are lost out at sea, in hell, living in captivity. We are going to rescue them.”

While he said he was glad they caught the traffickers, he said, “there are a lot of evil people who pay to have forced sex, rape, with these women.”

One way to break the cycle of sex trafficking was to enhance criminal penalties “against people who are buying and forcing sex on and raping women.” Another is to create a civil penalty to enable victims “to easily sue” their abusers, he said. “If we take away the livelihoods of the people buying and forcing sex on victims, take their houses, cars, … it will set a tone. Just like everything else we do in Florida, we will protect people.”

AG Moody said, “Biden’s border crisis is emboldening transnational criminal organizations, and as a result, we are seeing horrific human trafficking cases right here in Florida. The disturbing facts of this case highlight the need for our new statewide Strike Team, and demonstrate how this expert team of investigators, prosecutors, analysts, and victims’ advocates can help coordinate efforts to take down trafficking operations and rescue victims.”

The new strike team is providing intelligence, guidance and support to law enforcement agencies statewide and is also coordinating emergency victim support services. The team works directly with Florida’s new statewide human trafficking tip line, 855-FLA-SAFE.

It’s currently assisting local law enforcement efforts with more than 20 human trafficking cases and making contact with nearly 40 victims—including the 10 victims from this investigation, Moody said.

Link

Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

The Russian uncle of the new president of Mexico is going to visit her

2024-06-05

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
[Regnum] The 79-year-old cousin of the new Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who lives in Moscow, told IA Regnum that he had already congratulated his niece and would go to visit her in early July.
Cousin, Uncle...whatever

The day before, the candidate from Mexico's ruling Morena party, Claudia Sheinbaum, announced her victory in the country's presidential elections. According to preliminary results published by the National Electoral Institute, the lead over nearest rival Xochitl Galvez exceeds 30%.

A Regnum correspondent spoke with the new president’s cousin, Viktor Solomonovich Sheinbaum. He lives in Moscow, works as an adviser to the administration of the Russian State University of Oil and Gas (NRU) named after I.M. Gubkin.

“My daughter, on behalf of the whole family, has already congratulated her (Claudia - Ed.),” Sheinbaum said.

He said that he received the news of his niece’s victory with great joy and was proud that the Sheinbaums gave Mexico its first female president. He expects the new head of state to continue the policies of former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

“Yes, I will go to visit her in early July. My cousin, Claudia’s uncle, lives in Mexico,” Sheinbaum told IA Regnum.

Viktor Solomonovich Sheinbaum has the titles “Honorary Oil Worker”, “Honorary Worker of the Gas Industry” and “Honorary Worker of the Fuel and Energy Complex”.

As Regnum reported, general elections were held in Mexico on June 2. The country's citizens elected the president, as well as 500 members of the lower house of Congress and 128 senators. In addition, eight governors and the mayor of the country's capital, Mexico City, were determined in the regions.

Three candidates ran for the post of president of the country. Claudia Sheinbaum represents the coalition “Let's continue to make history together” and is the successor to the current head of Mexico. Her competitors are Senator Xochitl Galvez from the right-wing alliance “Strength and Heart for Mexico” and Jorge Alvarez Maines from the Civil Movement party.

Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Sergei Ryabkov said that Russia congratulates Claudia Sheinbaum on her victory in the presidential elections in Mexico. He expressed the hope that under the new leadership of Mexico, relations with Russia will receive further development and new impetus. In particular, the not very pleasant nuance that has arisen recently, associated with certain difficulties for Russian citizens when traveling to Mexico or through Mexico, will be overcome.

Link

-War on Police-

Outrage as migrants who beat up cops in Times Square are all offered plea deals

2024-05-15

[DM] Six of the migrants accused of assaulting two New York City Police Department officers in Times Square have been offered plea deals - including one who was re-arrested while out on $15,000 bail.

Ulises Bohorquez, Yohenry Brito, Edgarlis Vegas, Darwin Andres Gomez-Izquiel, Wilson Juarez, Yorman Reveron and Kelvin Servita Arocha appeared in New York Supreme Criminal Court on Tuesday in front of Judge Laura Wood.

The Venezuelan migrants were charged with second-degree assault and the obstruction of a government admin following the attack on January 27 which was caught on video and all have pleaded not guilty.

The incident erupted when two officers attempted to disperse a group in front of 220 West 42nd Street. Lieutenant Ben Kurian and Officer Zunxu Tian are said to have suffered lacerations, bruising and substantial shoulder pain.

Judge Wood laid into Brito, who was previously described as the 'most culpable' of the defendants, for being rearrested on petty larceny charges while on bail and warned he would 'not see the light of day' if he so much as jaywalks.

Still, judge Wood did not order him arrested and he remains free.

The Manhattan District Attorney's office has offered plea deals to Bohorquez, Brito and Gomez-Izquiel for them to serve a year in prison in return to pleading guilty to second-degree assault.

Arocha and Juarez have been presented a deal where they serve six months in prison for pleading guilty to obstructing a government admin.

Yorman Reveron was also offered a deal of two years in prison in exchange for pleading guilty to second degree assault.

The defense attorneys have not agreed to the offers and Judge Wood ordered them to return to court on June 18 where a trial date will be set if no agreement is reached.

He was initially sent to Rikers Island but he was released after a church in Brooklyn managed to pay his $15,000 bond.

Authorities were called to disperse a 'disorderly group' in front of 220 West 42 Street when suspect Brito, 24, 'got confrontational with the officers' and they attempted to arrest him, according to NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny.

'As Kurian is holding Brito against the wall, groups of people are heard shouting in Spanish at the officer,' he added.

'That is when Brito attempted to escape from Kurian and with the assistance of Officer Zunxu Tian, the cops grabbed the migrant's clothing as they tried to restrain him.'

Videos show the two officers and Brito falling to the ground and during the struggle, other suspects interfered by pulling, grabbing and kicking the cops.

As Brito attempts to wriggle away, the officers are holding on to his shirt that he eventually takes off.

'Go arrest those guys,' Kurian said as the crowd fled.

The case quickly drew international attention. It took days for police to indict the suspects in the case. Several were freed shortly after the attack on bail and some fled the area.

Brito, Gomez, Reveron and Arocha are all charged with two counts of second-degree assault and one count of second-degree obstructing governmental administration.

Gomez is also accused of attempting to shoplift at Macy's.

Police say neither Juarez nor Arocha ever hit the officers, but that Arocha kicked a police radio as Juarez watched from a distance before giving his jacket to Brito.

Gomez is accused of grabbing one officer and kicking the other one while Reveron allegedly grabbed, pulled and threw the two cops on the ground.

Juarez, is believed to have watched the brawl from a distance without participating. He has been charged with tampering with physical evidence because he allegedly traded his jacket with a man who fled police following the confrontation, prosecutors said.

Link

Warning: Undefined property: stdClass::$T in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 132
-12 More