Narcotics

March 24, 2009 -- Today, Department of Homeland Secretary Janet Napolitano, Deputy Secretary of State Jim Steinberg and United States Deputy Attorney General David Ogden will lay out the Administration’s comprehensive response to the situation along the border with Mexico. President Obama and his Administration are focused on all aspects of the U.S. relationship with Mexico because it is vital to core U.S. national interests.    » read more »

March 24, 2009 -- U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano announced today several Southwest border initiatives designed to crack down on Mexican drug cartels through enhanced border security. The plan calls for additional personnel, increased intelligence capability and better coordination with state, local and Mexican law enforcement authorities.

“This issue requires immediate action,” said Secretary Napolitano. “We are guided by two very clear objectives. First, we are going to do everything we can to prevent the violence in Mexico from spilling over across the border. And second, we will do all in our power to help President Calderón crack down on these drug cartels in Mexico.”    » read more »

March 24, 2009 -- Mr. Gibbs: Good morning, guys. I want to discuss an issue that's very important to the President this morning -- the steps we are taking on both sides of the border, working with our Mexican partners to support the Mexican government's campaign against the violent cartels and to reduce contraband in both directions across the border.    » read more »

March 24, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – Today Deputy Attorney General David Ogden announced increased efforts and reallocation of DOJ personnel to combat Mexican drug cartels in the United States and to help Mexican law enforcement battle cartels in their own country. Deputy Attorney General Ogden was joined in announcing a comprehensive response to the situation on the Southwest border by Department of Homeland Secretary Janet Napolitano and Deputy Secretary of State Jim Steinberg.    » read more »

Unique program gets miners back to work while receiving treatment for addiction to prescription pain medication

March 20, 2009 -- RICHMOND - Virginia Governor Timothy M. Kaine announced today the expansion of the Commonwealth substance abuse treatment program for miners in Southwest Virginia. The Virginia Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services (DMHMRSAS) will receive $285,000 of federal funding to build on the success of its unique treatment program for miners who have lost their mining certification due to addiction to prescription pain medication. Provisions for the funds were offered by U.S. Senator Jim Webb.    » read more »

March 11, 2009 -- Washington, DC – Vice President Biden announced today that President Obama will nominate Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske as the new Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy.    » read more »

March 2, 2009 -- (Washington, DC) - Blacks have been arrested nationwide on drug charges at higher rates than whites for nearly three decades, even though they engage in drug offenses at comparable rates, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Using data obtained from the FBI, the report reveals the extent and persistence of racial disparities in US drug-law enforcement. The data also show that most drug arrests are for nothing more serious than possession.    » read more »

“Operation Xcellerator” Takes 23 Tons of Narcotics off America’s Streets and Seizes More Than $59 Million in Drug Money

February 25, 2009 -- WASHINGTON —Today, Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr. announced the arrest of more than 750 individuals on narcotics-related charges and the seizure of more than 23 tons of narcotics as part of a 21-month multi-agency law enforcement investigation known as “Operation Xcellerator.” The Attorney General was joined in announcing the current results of Operation Xcellerator by DEA Acting Administrator Michele M. Leonhart.    » read more »

Washington, DC -- February 10, 2009 -- The U.S. Chargé d'Affaires to Belize, J.A. Diffily, signed a letter of agreement on February 9, 2009 with the Government of Belize implementing the Merida Initiative, a multi-year regional effort to combat organized crime, gangs, and the trafficking of narcotics and firearms.

Minister of National Security Carlos Perdomo signed the letter on behalf of the Belizean government. Also present was Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry of National Security, Lloyd Gillett. The signing of the letter provides an initial $1,008,000 in funding for the first year of the Merida Initiative.    » read more »

February 4, 2009 -- The economic cost of methamphetamine use in the United States reached $23.4 billion in 2005, including the burden of addiction, premature death, drug treatment and many other aspects of the drug, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

The RAND study is the first effort to construct a comprehensive national assessment of the costs of the methamphetamine problem in the United States.

"Our findings show that the economic burden of methamphetamine abuse is substantial," said Nancy Nicosia, the study's lead author and an economist at RAND, a nonprofit research organization.    » read more »

May 28, 2008 -- STOCKTON -- California Department of Justice special agents, in partnership with the Stockton Police Department, today arrested members of the violent Norteno street gang, which terrorized Stockton with drive-by shootings and crystal methamphetamine trafficking at the direction of the Nuestra Familia prison mafia.    » read more »

21 May 2008 -- In Mexico, President Felipe Calderon continues his fight against powerful drug cartels as the death count mounts. More than 1,300 people have died this year in Mexico in violence connected to the illicit drug trade. In recent weeks some high-ranking police officials have been targets of drug gangs, leading some analysts to wonder whether the Mexican government or the criminal gangs will win the fight.

Mexican police: Photo by Ese Oso/Chris (CC)    » read more »

May 14, 2008 -- OROVILLE -- California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced that special agents in the California Department of Justice Bureau of Gambling Control and Butte County Inter-Agency Task Force have shut down a methamphetamine laboratory operating from motor homes parked at Feather Falls Casino.

“State investigators encountered a mobile methamphetamine laboratory operating right in the middle of the casino parking lot,” Attorney General Brown said. “The suspects disguised their mobile meth operation by hiding amongst legitimate visitors who were parking in the casino’s parking lot.”    » read more »

Multi-agency crackdown “Operation Slim Chance” leads to indictment of 24

ALBANY, N.Y. (May 8, 2008) - New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the indictment of 24 New Yorkers accused of taking part in a highly organized narcotics distribution organization operating in the Capitol District and supplied from Long Island.

In the indictment unsealed in Schenectady County Court yesterday, a Grand Jury charged 24 people with possession and/or sale of narcotics and conspiracy to sell narcotics. The majority of arrests stemming from the Indictment occurred this morning throughout the Capitol Region. The indictment is the result of a multi-agency investigation known as “Operation Slim Chance,” led by the Attorney General’s Organized Crime Task Force (OCTF).    » read more »

Attorney General Says ‘Blow' Energy Drink Glorifying Drug Culture

May 2, 2008 -- Chicago – Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan is demanding that a Las Vegas company discontinue its cocaine-themed marketing and sale of an energy drink mix that glorifies drug culture and has raised serious health concerns due to its high caffeine content.

Blow drink mix: Photo courtesy Illinois Attorney General's office

In a letter sent earlier this week to the President of Kingpin Concepts, Inc., Attorney General Madigan demanded that the company immediately cease all marketing and sales of the energy drink called Blow in the state of Illinois.    » read more »