The War On Drugs.............

[Emmett]

OK everyone, I opened it!..................Shoot!

I say legalize it all!

 

[liberalogic]

OK everyone, I opened it!..................Shoot!

I say legalize it all!

I've gone back and forth on this one. But as of right now, I say if alcohol is legal, then all drugs should be legal.

 

[insein]

Think about how many murders occur daily in inner cities. Are people really that pissed off at one another or are they fighting over something? Thats right drugs.

Legalize them. If a person can goto the corner store and buy them then they wont travel into the inner city and risk their lives to score an ounce of weed. There was a time when cocaine was a drug of choice for the leaders of nations and famous people throughout history. Did those people get addicted and go on violent sprees to fill their fix? No. they lived productive lives.

The War on Drugs is just another method of Government control and fundraising. Look at all the money that gets poured into the WOD yearly without ANY results. That money has to be going somewhere. Then focus in another means for the government to control the publics life. "Drugs are bad for you and we're going to protect you from them by putting you in jail for getting addicted to them."

We need LESS government and more personal responsibilty.

 

[waltky]

Guy Philippe arrested over U.S. cocaine trafficking charges...

Haitian politician arrested over U.S. cocaine trafficking charges
Jan. 6, 2017 -- Guy Philippe, a Haitian politician facing U.S. drug charges who once led a coup d'etat as a soldier, was arrested after participating in a radio show in Port-au-Prince and transferred to U.S. authorities.

Philippe, 48, was transferred to the custody of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents late Thursday. U.S. federal authorities will transport Philippe from Haiti to Miami. Haitian anti-drug officers fired several shots in the 10-minute effort to arrest Philippe outside of the Scoop FM radio station in Port-au-Prince's Petionville suburb.

Philippe recently was elected to serve a six-year term as senator in the Haitian parliament to represent the Grand'Anse area. Philippe would have been entitled to immunity from arrest or prosecution during his term in office. Newly elected Haitian lawmakers were set to be sworn in on Monday.

Philippe led a rebellion in 2004 that removed Jean-Bertrand Aristide from the presidency. In 2005, the DEA filed a sealed indictment charging Philippe with conspiracy to import cocaine and money laundering, allegations which Philippe denies. "I am happy and I am sad," Pierre Esperance, a human rights activist in Haiti who'd criticized Philippe's election, told the Miami Herald. "I am happy to see that people like Guy Philippe, who are trying to get immunity to enter the parliament, won't have a chance to. It's a good small step in the battle against corruption and impunity in the country. But he is not alone. There are many others like him, bandits, criminals, drug traffickers, who have been elected deputies and senators."

Haitian politician arrested over U.S. cocaine trafficking charges

 

[ScienceRocks]

The war on drugs is one of the biggest government oversteps in the history of this country and it is bullshit.

 

[EvilCat Breath]

There has never been a warvon drugs in this country.

 

[waltky]

Granny says, "Dat's right - run `em down an' gun `em down...

Mexican security helicopter guns down drug cartel members
Feb. 10, 2017 -- Mexico's Secretariat of the Navy said federal security forces killed Beltrán-Leyva cartel regional leader Juan Francisco Patrón and seven others during a shootout.

Patrón, also known as H2, was a key figure in the cartel's operations in Nayarit and Jalisco, Mexican officials said. After a security operation, Patrón and his accomplices took up shelter inside of a residence in Nayarit state.

Officials said security forces surrounded Patrón, who did not back down. An Mexican federal security helicopter fired down to where Patrón and his accomplices where hiding.

It is not clear if the men died from the helicopter fire. "Today in a confrontation between criminals and Federal Forces, Juan Francisco N. was shot down with seven more accomplices," the Navy Secretariat said in a statement.

The Beltrán-Leyva cartel, also known as the Beltrán-Leyva Organization, began as a branch of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's Sinaloa Cartel before infighting split the group and they became enemies.

Mexican security helicopter guns down drug cartel members

 

[sakinago]

OK everyone, I opened it!..................Shoot!

I say legalize it all!

I use to have a hard time saying heroin should be legalized, but after seeing addiction rates plummet in Portugal, yea legalize it

 

[waltky]

Hats off to the USS Destroyer Laboon...

Navy Destroyer Seizes 600 Pounds of Heroin on Arabian Sea
15 Mar 2017 | The guided-missile destroyer Laboon’s intercept of a small ship on the Arabian Sea March 13 yielded an unexpected bounty.

The guided-missile destroyer Laboon’s intercept of a small ship on the Arabian Sea March 13 yielded an unexpected bounty: 270 kilograms, or nearly 600 pounds, of smuggled heroin. The Laboon, part of the George H.W. Bush carrier strike group that deployed from Norfolk, Virginia, in January, had been conducting maritime security operations in the region, according to a release from U.S. Naval Forces Central Command. As part of Combined Task Force 150, the Laboon had stopped the dhow, or small sailing ship, to verify its nation of origin in what’s called a flag verification boarding. The vessel, officials said, was stateless. During the course of the search that followed, the illicit heroin was discovered. It was the Laboon’s first drug seizure since the start of its deployment, and the first such interdiction by a Navy ship working under CTF 150 since May 2014, NAVCENT officials said.

Sailors man the rails aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Laboon (DDG 58)​

For the task force, though, it was the second major drug seizure in less than two weeks. In another major success, the Royal Australian Navy frigate Arunta had seized more than 1,700 pounds of hashish, worth an estimated $36 million, in a March 2 intercept in the region. "The impressive work of Combined Task Force 150, under the leadership of Royal Canadian Navy Commodore Haydn Edmundson, continued last night with the second successful seizure of illegal drugs in less than two weeks," Vice. Adm. Kevin Donegan, Commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, said in a statement. "The March 2 seizure by HMAS Arunta and last night's seizure by USS Laboon has resulted in preventing more than a thousand kilograms of combined hashish and heroin from reaching their destination and will prevent transnational terrorists from profiting off these nefarious activities," he said.

The maritime task force, first established in 2002, is one of three designed to promote security and counter terrorist acts and other illegal activities. With collaboration from a number of international allies, CTF 150 has seized and destroyed billions of dollars in drugs and captured thousands of weapons in its 15 years of existence, officials said in the release. “This is a big win for the coalition,” the commander of CTF 150, Commodore Haydn C. Edmundson from the Royal Canadian Navy, said in a statement. "We in the CTF 150 headquarters are very impressed with the superb cooperation of all units and organizations involved in this successful operation and we are particularly proud of the captain and crew of USS Laboon for their excellent performance on this important mission." The lead ship of the carrier strike group, the George H.W. Bush, has been conducting airstrikes on Islamic State targets from the Mediterranean Sea since mid-February. Other ships in the CSG include the destroyer Truxton and the guided-missile cruisers Philippine Sea and Hue City.

Navy Destroyer Seizes 600 Pounds of Heroin on Arabian Sea | Military.com

 

[waltky]

Big ol' drug bust in Orange county...

More than 30 arrested in Orange County drug raid
March 17, 2017 --Fathers and sons. Husbands and wives.

Police and prosecutors on Thursday described two interlaced drug conspiracies and their suppliers, tied together by business and blood. The task force of agencies led by state police and the Orange County District Attorney's Office announced "Operation Family Ties," a nine-month investigation that culminated Monday with 34 arrests and 16 search warrants executed in Newburgh, New Windsor, Port Jervis, the Town of Plattekill in Ulster County and in the Bronx. Police say they seized a total of 521.5 grams of cocaine, 43.91 grams of heroin, 8.21 pounds of marijuana, five ounces of PCP, $111,056 in cash, a stolen .45 caliber pistol, and a 12-gauge shotgun. "These are drugs that never made it to the streets," said state police Maj. David Krause.

Three suspects are still at large. One of them, 39-year-old Jermaine Boykin of Newburgh, should be considered armed and dangerous, Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler said. Krause and Hoovler laid out the workings of the conspiracies. The investigation started at 170 Carson Ave. in the City of Newburgh, where the drug operation was dubbed "Carson's Casino" because buyers could have their choice of cocaine, heroin, and PCP, Hoovler said. "It was pretty much anything goes," he said. The Carson operation was led by Lamont Williams Sr., 45, of the hamlet of Wallkill, and Lamont Williams Jr., 27, of Port Jervis, officials said. The location had been a problem for "a considerable period of time," Hoovler said.

Police say the two employed numerous people, many of them family members, to sell various drugs. "You had brothers and you had family members who were part of this," Hoovler said. Hoovler and Krause said the investigation led to the Williams' suppliers: another drug-trafficking organization run out of 117 Mill St. by Ramon Rivera, 45, of Newburgh, who was in turn supplied some of his drugs by Ruben Cruz, 52, of New Windsor. Officials say Rivera's son Raymond, 25, and Cruz's wife, Nancy Cruz, 46, were also part of the conspiracy. The operation also had tendrils farther south. Earnest Washington, 59, of the Bronx is accused of supplying the PCP to the Williams organization. "It's the largest PCP dealer that we've seen in a long time in the City of Newburgh," Hoovler said.

The two groups operated all through Orange County, Hoovler said. "This was an ongoing, daily trade," Krause said. Going after these large, complex conspiracies will be the new normal in Orange County, Hoovler said. "We have to approach it on a large scale. You can't just take out one piece," he said. "You're going to continue to see this kind of case here in Orange County while I'm district attorney." Hoovler and Krause said these operations require planning and skill needed by police to safely and effectively pull off the coordinated investigations, arrests and searches necessary to break the criminal enterprises.

MORE

 

[waltky]

Big cocaine bust on the high seas...

Coast Guard Brings 18 Tons of Seized Cocaine to San Diego
16 Jun 2017 — A U.S. Coast Guard cutter has brought approximately 18 tons (16.3 metric tons) of seized cocaine to San Diego.

The drugs brought ashore Thursday from the cutter Waesche (WAY-shee) were seized by the crews of eight Coast Guard cutters in the Eastern Pacific from late March through this month.

The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Waesche, prepare to offload approximately 18 tons of cocaine in San Diego​

The Coast Guard says it has been focusing personnel and resources on known drug transit zones in the Pacific during the last two years.

Coast Guard Brings 18 Tons of Seized Cocaine to San Diego | Military.com

See also:

Coast Guard Arrests Four, Seizes 3,545 Pounds of Cocaine
30 Mar 2017 | Law-enforcement officials say they seized 3,545 pounds of cocaine from a drug-smuggling vessel off the coast of Puerto Rico.

According to a report from the U.S. Coast Guard, that agency -- along with Border Protection and Puerto Rico Police maritime law-enforcement units -- intercepted and seized the drugs off the coast of Rio Grande on Monday. Four alleged smugglers also were arrested, the Coast Guard said. The suspected smugglers were turned over to the U.S. Department of Justice for prosecution by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Puerto Rico, according to the Coast Guard report.

Coast Guard officials say the crew of a Customs and Border Protection maritime patrol aircraft detected a 35-foot "go-fast" vessel in the dark and not using navigational lights off Dorado on Sunday night. The Coast Guard responded by diverting a Coast Guard 33-foot response boat and the Coast Guard Cutter Heriberto Hernandez to catch up to the suspect vessel. An HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircraft assisted with aerial surveillance, too, and Customs and Border Protection and Puerto Rico Police marine units also responded, according to the report.

The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Heriberto Hernandez salute for a photo off the coast of Key West, Fla​

The law-enforcement boats then engaged in a high-speed pursuit of the alleged smuggling vessel, and it was intercepted off the coast of Rio Grande, according Coast Guard officials. Two of the suspected smugglers were arrested aboard the drug-smuggling craft, while two others, who jumped overboard during the chase, were picked up and then arrested, according to the report.

In all, the report states, 48 bales containing 1,449 bricks of cocaine -- weighing about 3,545 pounds (1,608 kilograms) -- were field-tested and gave positive results for cocaine. "These arrests are a clear indication of the continued success of the Caribbean Corridor Strike Force," stated Rosa Emilia Rodriguez-Velez, U.S. attorney for the District of Puerto Rico, in the Coast Guard report. "This is just another example of the fine work our state and federal law-enforcement partners accomplish every day. With the continued collaboration and assistance of our law enforcement partners, we will continue our efforts to bring the most powerful and prolific drug organizations to justice."

Coast Guard Arrests Four, Seizes 3,545 Pounds of Cocaine | Military.com

 

[waltky]

Drug War, Gov’t Failures Blamed For Surge in Homicides in Mexico...

Drug War, Gov’t Failures Blamed For Surge in Homicides in Mexico
August 10, 2017 – Mexican activists fear this year could end up being one of the deadliest in their country’s recent history, as a surge in homicides sweeps the nation, with journalists and priests among those in the firing line.

The number of intentional murder investigations spiked nearly 30 percent, to 9,916, in the January to May period this year compared to the same period in 2016, according to the citizens’ group National Citizen Observatory which tracks government crime statistics. In fact May saw the second highest number of intentional homicide investigations (2,186) since official record keeping began in 1997, according to a posting on the group’s website. An intentional homicide investigation was opened by authorities every 20 minutes and 25 seconds on average during that month. Authorities record intentional homicides differently from accidental ones. (Meanwhile extortion investigations were up by 28.6 percent in May compared to the same month in 2016, while business robbery investigations surged by 40 percent.)

Mexico’s homicide rate peaked at 27,213 in 2011 and dropped to 20,010 in 2014, before beginning an upward climb to a preliminary total of 23,953 last year, according to figures recently released by the nation’s census bureau. In Mexico City alone, the homicide rate increased by 21 percent in the first half of this year compared to the same period in 2016, according to a report last week by the citizens’ group Security, Justice and Peace. More than 330 “executions” tied to drug trafficking have been reported by local media, and law enforcement agencies are investigating a least 10 organized crime organizations in the city and its outlying areas, it said. National Citizen Observatory director Francis Rivas called the 2017 figures “worrying” and “very serious.”

As do other activists, he blamed the most recent increase in homicides on a fracturing of organized crime groups in Mexico and the lack of effective crime-fighting efforts by federal and state authorities. The nation’s biggest organized crime groups, Rivas told CNSNews.com, began to break up “into smaller and smaller organizations” during the administration of former President Felipe Calderon (2006-2012) who deployed federal troops to battle the drug cartels locally in states including Michoacán in 2006. Since then, “smaller bands are constituting themselves and battling for territory, fighting internally and externally,” he said. Rivas tied the most recent rise in violence to the capture of the notorious Sinaloa cartel leader “El Chapo” Guzman, who was extradited to the U.S. in January for trial.

Mexican federal police in action.​

Government anti-crime efforts, he said, have been “badly thought out,” producing poor results. Authorities “don’t know how to attack the problem,” are using “the wrong techniques” and making “bad policy decisions.” Ma Elena Morera, president of the citizens’ anti-crime group Causa en Comun, agreed. She said the government’s use of the military to attack the drug cartels initially led to a decline in the homicide rate in 2013-2014. But the effort should have been coordinated with increased social programs and a strengthening of local law enforcement institutions, Morera said. “If Calderon had maintained his effort in Michoacán with social programs it would have been better.”

Morera said policing has not improved during the administration of President Peña Nieto, and promises to increase the size of the federal police force have not been kept. The nation’s law enforcement institutions are “worse off instead of better,” and there has been “no construction of public security institutions.” The more Mexico uses the military to fight crime, she said, the less the nation invests in local police. “We don’t see a federal security strategy.” Ten journalists have been killed in Mexico so far this year, according to the news outlet Telesur TV.

The Catholic Multimedia Center reports that 19 priests have been killed in Mexico since 2012. The death last week of a Catholic priest who died of wounds sustained when stabbed inside the city’s metropolitan cathedral after celebrating Mass on May 15 brings the number of Catholic priests killed this year to four. There have been two attempted kidnappings. In a report issued last week, the center said Mexico is the most dangerous country in Latin America for priests for the ninth year in a row. “This year 2017, in particular, has been a disastrous year for the priesthood and the Church in Mexico.” “We cannot be silent anymore, the blood of thousands of Mexicans is still being spilled,” the report said. “Things are far from improving.”

Drug War, Gov’t Failures Blamed For Surge in Homicides in Mexico

 

[Picaro]

Charlie Rangel and the Black Caucus wanted the war on drugs and lobbied Nixon heavily for it. Are you hippie racists now daring to contradict the black political establishment and a key policy they advocated???

 

[waltky]

Coast Guard been busy seizing drugs...

More Than 50,000 Pounds of Drugs Seized by Coast Guard Since August
22 Sep 2017 | The U.S. Coast Guard has captured more than a half a billion dollars' worth of cocaine and heroin potentially headed for the West Coast since the beginning of August -- a sum that highlights a banner fiscal year for the military branch nationwide, officials announced this week.

At a press conference in San Diego on Wednesday, U.S. Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions commended Coast Guard crews for seizing 455,034 pounds of cocaine worth $6.1 billion in the last fiscal year. In the eastern Pacific, where drug smugglers from Mexico, Central and South America have been known to chug north in vessels loaded with drugs for days or weeks at a time, Coast Guard crews have seized 50,550 pounds of cocaine and heroin since Aug. 2. The drugs had a value of $679.3 million, officials said. "By preventing overdoses and stopping new addictions before they start, enforcing our drug laws saves lives," Sessions said at the event. "This record-breaking year by our Coast Guard saw the arrest of more than 500 suspected drug traffickers and kept nearly half a million pounds of dangerous drugs from getting to our streets -- and ultimately to our neighbors, friends, and families. I commend every service member who has helped us in our mission to keep the American people safe, and I thank them for this indispensable contribution to public safety."

Coast Guard Cutter Escanaba crewmembers offload more than 3 tons of cocaine in Port Everglades, Florida​

The smugglers guide panga boats and even homemade submarines across the ocean, hundreds of miles off the coast to avoid detection. Many of them land in the middle of the night on the Southern California coast. Over the years, pangas have washed up on beaches from San Diego to Santa Barbara County and submarines have been intercepted near the Channel Islands. A recent intercept by a California-based crew was on Aug. 14, about 450 miles southwest of Guatemala and El Salvador. The vessel contained four men and about 6,350 pounds of cocaine.

The vessel was outfitted with outboard motors and was painted to match the waters it was moving through, officials said. "The seizure of this cocaine and heroin means tens of thousands of pounds won't make it to our communities and hundreds of millions of dollars won't make it into cartel coffers," said Acting U.S. Atty for the Southern District Alana Robinson in a statement. "To drug traffickers who may think they are invisible in the middle of what seems to be a vast, empty ocean: You are not alone. We are doing everything we can to prevent you from using the high seas as your personal freeway."

More Than 50,000 Pounds of Drugs Seized by Coast Guard Since August | Military.com