Us Drug Enforcement Administration News

Spanish police have made their largest-ever cocaine seizure on the high seas, intercepting a vessel carrying almost 10 metric tons of the drug concealed in a shipment of salt en route from Brazil to Europe, police said on Monday.The operation led to the arrest of 13 people on board. The vessel, which ended up running out of fuel, had to be towed to port by coastguards in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, police said in a statement.Officers recovered 294 bales of the drug…

The United States on Thursday issued new sanctions targeting Venezuela, imposing curbs on three nephews of President Nicolas Maduro's wife, as well as six crude oil tankers and shipping companies linked to them, as Washington ramps up pressure on Caracas.The action came as the U.S. executes a large-scale military buildup in the southern Caribbean and as U.S. President Donald Trump campaigns for Maduro's ouster. On Wednesday, Trump said the U.S. had seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela.The U.S.

Nigeria's anti-narcotics agency is working with its U.S. and British counterparts to investigate the origins of a $235 million cocaine shipment seized at Lagos' Tincan Port, in one of the country's largest drug hauls.The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) said in a statement on Tuesday that 1,000 kg of cocaine was discovered in an empty container at a terminal over the weekend. Terminal operators alerted the NDLEA and other port security agencies, which jointly examined…

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and the top U.S. general Dan Caine made a surprise visit to Puerto Rico on Monday, the first trip there by senior Pentagon officials since the start of a military buildup in the Caribbean that has escalated tensions with Venezuela.Hegseth and Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were seen being received by Puerto Rico's governor, Jenniffer Gonzalez, in photographs she posted to social media site X.U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered the Department of Defense to rename itself the Department of War, a change that will require action by Congress.

Greek police have dismantled a gang that had been hiding cocaine in sheets of leather that were smuggled from Bolivia to Greece on container ships, police officials said on Friday.They said the method used by the gang signalled a shift in methods for smuggling the drug from South America to Europe.Eleven people have been arrested so far, including nationals form Bolivia and Spain, after police monitored the suspects for months following a tip-off by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration…

Greek authorities confiscated more than 109 kg (240 pounds) of cocaine hidden in a container with frozen squid aboard a vessel inspected at the port of Piraeus, police sources said on Tuesday.The container was shipped from Peru and its destination was Croatia, one of the officials said.South American production of cocaine has surged over the past decade and Balkan traffickers have helped turn Europe into the world’s No. 1 cocaine market.Greece last week said it had dismantled an international criminal group trafficking cocaine in shipping containers from Latin America to Europe…

A joint U.S. and Australian law enforcement operation busted an international drug ring after intercepting 2.4 tonnes of cocaine aboard a vessel off the coast of South America that had been bound for Australia.The cocaine, linked to a Mexican drug cartel, had a street value of around A$1 billion ($677 million), and was equivalent to half of Australia's estimated annual consumption, making the seizure one of the biggest that Australian police have been involved in.Twelve suspects have been arrested and charged in the case…

Spanish police seized 4.5 tonnes of cocaine with an estimated street value of 105 million euros ($114 million) after raiding a cattle ship off the Canary Islands earlier this week, a statement said on Saturday.The ship had stopped at ports in about a dozen countries before Tuesday's raid, and police said drug smugglers had started using livestock ships because it was more difficult for police to trace their illicit cargo."International organisations are reinventing themselves to transport drugs from Latin America to Europe, using livestock to make the control and localisation more difficult," the Spanish police statement said.Police arrested 28 crew members on the Togo-flagged Orion V, which had been trailed from Colombia in an operation by Spanish authorities, the U.S.

Spanish police seized more than two tons of cocaine from a ship with a Venezuelan flag in the Atlantic Ocean and arrested the seven crew members, Spain's interior ministry said on Monday. The operation, carried out alongside the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the UK's National Crime Agency and Portuguese police, took place earlier this month, on May 4. The seven people on board were Venezuelan nationals, the ministry said, adding that a gun had also been seized alongside 2400 kg of cocaine. The vessel, a small, rusted fishing boat according to images distributed by police, has since been towed to Spain's Canary Islands. Separately…

U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Paul Zukunft and U.S. Southern Command Commander Gen. John Kelly will host a program titled “Emerging Challenges in the Western Hemisphere” at the Abraham Lincoln Hall Auditorium at Fort Lesley J. McNair on Oct. 7, 2014, at 1 pm. The recently signed Coast Guard Western Hemisphere Strategy addresses transnational threats and maritime challenges that threaten the security of our Nation, markets, and oceans over the next 10 years. Michael Miklaucic of the Institute for National Strategic Studies will moderate a discussion between Adm. Zukunft and Gen. Kelly. Michael Braun - Managing Partner, SGI Global, LLC, and Former Chief of Operations, U.S. Celina Realuyo - Professor of Practice, William J.

Approval clears way to create nation’s largest deepwater containerized cargo transfer terminal, enhancing U.S. competitiveness as Panama Canal expands. Transshipment facility off Louisiana coast intended to improve America’s strained shipping infrastructure, streamline international trade flow and create long-term jobs in 32 states. Louisiana State Senator A.G. Crowe’s vision of making America more competitive and capitalizing on the Gulf of Mexico’s deep-water resources has taken…

The U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration have announced the record maritime seizure of more than 42,000 pounds of cocaine by 378-foot Coast Guard Cutters Hamilton and Sherman, both recipients of Deepwater C4ISR upgrades. As part of a two-phased effort, the Deepwater team upgraded communications capabilities on all 39 Coast Guard high- and medium-endurance cutters providing access to a secure data network via SIPRNET, image sharing through faster satellite communications (SATCOM) and improved target identification using Automatic Identification Systems (AIS). The 12 378-ft. cutters also received law enforcement radios allowing them to communicate in a protected environment.