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☆ Son of El Chapo Extradited to Chicago to Face Federal Drug Charges
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-15 | by ( Alan Feuer | More About Alan Feuer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Ovidio Guzmán López, one of four sons of Joaquín Guzmán Loera, the Mexican drug lord best known as El Chapo, was extradited to Chicago on Friday to face trial on a sprawling set of federal drug charges, according to his lawyer and American officials. The extradition came a little more than nine months after Mr. Guzmán López was arrested by the Mexican authorities in Culiacán, a city in northwestern Mexico that has long been the home base of the Sinaloa drug cartel, the criminal organization his father helped bring to prominence. It also came nearly four years after Mr. Guzmán López’s calamitous first arrest, which prompted a bloody siege of Culiacán by cartel gunmen that was so destructive the authorities were ultimately forced to let him go. Ultimately, the sons — known collectively as Los Chapitos — were charged in a series of competing indictments in Washington, Chicago and New York. The 40-page indictment against him and his brothers — Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar, Jesús Alfredo Guzmán Salazar and Joaquín Guzmán López — takes a sweeping look at drug sales and violent crimes reaching back, in some instances, to 2008.

Persons: Ovidio Guzmán, Joaquín, Loera, El Chapo, Guzmán López, Guzmán López’s calamitous, Guzmán, —, Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar, Jesús Alfredo Guzmán Salazar Organizations: Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Locations: Mexican, Chicago, Culiacán, Mexico, Sinaloa, Brooklyn, Washington , Chicago, New York, Washington, San Diego

☆ US border officers find nearly 900,000 fentanyl pills hidden in shipment of sinks, authorities say
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-02 | by ( Ashley R. Williams | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —US Customs and Border Protection officers in California say they stopped the attempted smuggling of fentanyl pills with an estimated street value of more than $2.5 million. “While screening the vehicle using a port imaging system, CBP officers discovered anomalies within the shipment,” the release says. Authorities inspected the shipment with a canine detection team and found about 858,000 blue pills were hidden in the two sinks, CBP said. Officers seized the synthetic opioids and the cargo van. US border protection officers have seized over 19,800 pounds of fentanyl so far in 2023, CBP data shows.

Persons: ” Rosa Hernandez Organizations: CNN, Customs, Border Protection, Authorities, Homeland Security Investigations, “ Locations: California, San Diego

☆ What are retail shrink and organized retail theft, and why do companies keep talking about them?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Gabrielle Fonrouge | In Gabrielle-Fonrouge | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

watch nowFor several years, the terms shrink, retail crime and organized retail theft have echoed from the mouths of politicians, police officers, trade groups and the country's most prominent retail executives. And how does it differ from retail crime and organized retail theft? The companies polled for the survey estimated that retail theft accounted for 37% of those losses, employee or internal theft 28.5% and process and control failures 25.7%. The NRF defines organized retail theft as the "large-scale theft of retail merchandise with the intent to resell the items for financial gain." The line between organized retail theft and shoplifting can be murky, but they are distinctly different.

Persons: Lindsey Nicholson, It's, Lisa LaBruno, Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, Barry Williams, John Willis, Willis, let's, Willie Carswell, he's, He's, Carswell, Tim Boyle Organizations: Trade, CNBC, Universal, Getty, National Retail Federation, Security Investigations, Retail Industry, Association, Manhattan DA, New York Daily, Homeland Security Investigations, eBay Locations: Queens , New York, New York, Manhattan , New York, New, Charlotte, Niles , Illinois

☆ US conducts raids at two properties of China's Jinko Solar
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Nichola Groom | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

May 10 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Homeland Security this week raided a factory and sales office operated by one of the world's largest solar panel makers, China's Jinko Solar Holding Co Ltd (JKS.N), the agency said on Wednesday. Jinko, which is based in Shanghai, has a solar panel factory in Jacksonville, Florida, and a sales and operations office in San Francisco. The company is one of few global solar manufacturers that have set up domestic production in recent years. "Jinko Solar is committed to operating in accordance with the highest ethical standards and adhering to the laws and regulations of the countries where it operates, including the United States," the spokesperson said. Jinko shares slid 8% on Tuesday after the raid in Florida was reported by several local news outlets.

REUTERS/Leah MillisWASHINGTON, April 27 (Reuters) - As Iran's oil exports rise despite U.S. sanctions over its nuclear program, senators from both parties urged President Joe Biden to enable a federal government agency to seize Iranian oil and gas shipments. Senators Joni Ernst, a Republican, and Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, said in a letter to Biden that the Department of Homeland Security's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) office has not been able to seize an Iranian oil shipment for more than a year. Iran says its nuclear program is for civilian purposes while the United States suspects Tehran wants to develop a nuclear bomb by enriching uranium. Iran's oil exports have reached their highest level since the reimposition of U.S. sanctions in 2018, Iranian oil minister Javad Owji said last month. Last year the U.S. tried to confiscate a cargo of Iranian oil around Greece, which prompted Tehran to seize two Greek tankers in the Gulf.

☆ The killing of Americans in a Mexican border city highlights a sinister trend that US policies are making worse
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Luis Chaparro | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Initial reports indicated that authorities suspected that the four kidnapped Americans had been confused for Haitian migrants, whose numbers in Matamoros have increased in recent weeks. It also revealed an overlooked trend: the extreme vulnerability of the thousands of migrants who have been stuck in Mexican border towns for the past three years. "We feel like we are being kidnapped inside this city," Fedler Dominic, an Haitian migrant in Matamoros, told Insider in a phone interview. In April 2022, three migrants, including a man from Peru, were kidnapped in Nuevo Laredo, another border city. "You can't basically move from the camp," Manuel Velázquez, a Cuban migrant in Matamoros, told Insider.

☆ Dozens of sanctioned superyachts seized from Russian oligarchs still hang in limbo, racking up millions in maintenance
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Grace Kay | Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Seized yachts owned by sanctioned Russian oligarchs hang in limbo as US and European authorities decide next steps. Annual maintenance for some of the yachts costs as much as $115.6 million. Earlier this week, CNBC reported that billions of dollars in oligarch's assets — from yachts and villas to private jets — are still frozen. And while the Russian oligarchs are still technically responsible for paying for yacht maintenance, they're unlikely to fork over the maintenance cost or authorities will encounter difficulty collecting the funds due to sanctions on financial transactions with the billionaires. According to Maltby, the maintenance cost of a yacht usually totals about 15% to 20% of its overall value.

☆ Biden administration to crack down on child labor
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Laura Strickler | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

More than 3,800 children were found to be working at U.S. companies last year in violation of federal law, the Labor Department said Monday in announcing a crackdown on child labor. Some 835 companies were founded to be illegally employing minors last year, the Labor Department said, and more than 600 child labor investigations remain ongoing. In stepping up its efforts to target companies that use child labor, the Labor Department will use new strategies to launch investigations where child labor violations are most likely to occur. The agency called on Congress to increase the maximum penalty for child labor violations, which is currently $15,000. "That's not high enough to be a deterrent for major profitable companies," the Labor Department said in a press release.

☆ U.S. prosecutors seize properties, charge Russian on Ukraine invasion anniversary
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, Feb 24 (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors on Friday said they were seeking to forfeit six properties in New York and Florida allegedly belonging to a sanctioned Russian oligarch, and separately charged a Russian national with illegally exporting counterintelligence equipment. The announcements came on the anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls a "special military operation." The Department of Justice has sought to use asset seizures and criminal charges to squeeze business executives aligned with Russian President Vladimir Putin to press him to stop the war. Two of the properties - an apartment on Park Avenue in Manhattan and an estate in Southampton, New York - had been searched by FBI and Homeland Security Investigations agents last year. Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York and Susan Heavey in Washington; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Daniel WallisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Federal officials find more than 100 children working in dangerous jobs for slaughterhouse cleaning firm
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Laura Strickler | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Packers Sanitation Services has paid a $1.5 million fine for the violations. The Labor Department says the children who were working overnight shifts used "caustic chemicals to clean razor-sharp saws." "Our investigation found Packers Sanitation Services' systems flagged some young workers as minors, but the company ignored the flags. The company signed a consent decree in December with the Labor Department and agreed to abide by child labor laws after federal investigators documented 50 children working at slaughterhouses for it. The compliance specialist will conduct child labor audits, which will be shared with the Labor Department for three years.

☆ Federal government investigating possible human trafficking of children who cleaned slaughterhouses
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Laura Strickler | Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Julia-Ainsley-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +12 min

There is no indication DHS is investigating the company that hired the children, Packers Sanitation Services Inc., or PSSI, for human trafficking. The Labor Department’s Child Labor Regulations designate many roles in slaughterhouse and meatpacking facilities as hazardous for minors. The Labor Department says its investigation, which began in August, is ongoing as it scours company records from 50 locations. I don’t anticipate unless there are severe ramifications for this that it will actually change policies.”The Labor Department has issued no penalties or fines to date. Labor DepartmentQuestions about child labor at PSSI in Grand Island and Worthington are not new.

☆ Senator calls for probe of mass surveillance tool used by U.S. law enforcement
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Law enforcement agencies have routinely accessed the vast trove of money transfer records without court oversight, Wyden said. The TRAC database was created as part of a 2014 money laundering settlement between the Arizona attorney general's office and Western Union (WU.N). The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, DHS and Arizona attorney general's office have all asked for data from money transfer companies and directed them to send data to TRAC, Wyden said. Western Union, MoneyGram International (MGI.O), Viamericas Corp, and Euronet Worldwide (EEFT.O) are among the companies that have shared customer data with TRAC in bulk, he added. Wyden announced in March that HSI issued custom summonses, a type of subpoena, for millions of money transfer records between Mexican residents and people living in four U.S. states.

☆ Mexico nabs son of drug lord 'El Chapo' before Biden visit
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Defense Secretary Luis Cresencio Sandoval said Army and National Guard personnel had captured a son of "El Chapo." Ovidio Guzmán, nicknamed "the Mouse," had not been one of El Chapo's better-known sons until an aborted operation to capture him three years ago. "This is a significant blow to the Sinaloa cartel and major victory for the rule of law. A burning truck is seen across a street during an operation to arrest the son of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, Ovidio Guzman, in Culiacan, Sinaloa state, Mexico, on January 5, 2023. Marcos Vizcarra | AFP | Getty ImagesVigil said that Ovidio Guzmán was involved in all of the cartel's activities, especially the production of fentanyl.

☆ Over 3,000 minor victims were targeted in ‘sextortion’ crimes in the past year, U.S. law enforcement says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Federal law enforcement officers are cracking down on a scheme that aims to extort sexual imagery from children and teens after a dramatic increase in incidents over the past year. Sometimes, a predator shares imagery regardless of whether a victim meets payment demands, according to federal officials. Law enforcement officials say prevention is the best weapon against sextortion. The sextortion cycle generally ends when a victim tells an adult or the offender is discovered by law enforcement. "We will continue to partner with federal, state and local law enforcement to protect children from sexual exploitation in all its despicable forms."

Medellin, Colombia NBC NewsThough migration without documentation isn’t illegal in Colombia, it is illegal to exploit migrants by charging them to make the journey through and out of Colombia. From there, he will be tried on charges of smuggling in Colombia and could face extradition to the U.S. In Colombia alone, HSI has worked with local law enforcement to arrest 42 alleged human smugglers and 210 suspects in narcotics-related crimes. U.S. and Colombian law enforcement gather for a tactical briefing before an international human trafficking operation. Brian Vicente, the head of HSI in Colombia, said after the arrests of the three alleged human smugglers, “It’s one organization that’s been taken off, disrupted and dismantled."

☆ $450,000 worth of cocaine seized from wheelchair wheels at JFK airport, customs officials say
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-19 | by ( Zoe Sottile | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —A traveler at New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport was arrested after $450,000 worth of cocaine was discovered hidden in the wheels of her wheelchair. The traveler arrived in New York City from the Dominican Republic on November 10, according to a news release from US Customs and Border Protection. Officers noticed the wheels on her wheelchair were not turning and X-rayed the wheelchair. They discovered a white powder, which later tested positive for cocaine in all four wheels, the news release stated. It amounted to a total of 28 pounds of cocaine with an estimated street value of around $450,000.

☆ Nationwide catalytic converter theft ring made hundreds of millions of dollars, feds say
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Jonathan_Dienst_Byline.Jpg | Jonathan Dienst | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

“Amidst a rise in catalytic converter thefts across the country, the Justice Department has today carried out an operation arresting 21 defendants and executing 32 search warrants in a nation-wide takedown of a multimillion-dollar catalytic converter theft network,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. Thieves made off with 12 times as many catalytic converters in 2021 as they did in 2019, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau. On his Instagram account, he posted a photo of a necklace with a pendant made to look like a catalytic converter. Prosecutors say that was among the businesses allegedly purchasing stolen catalytic converters and reselling them. Technician Adelmo Rodriguez etches a catalytic converter with a license plate number in Huntington Beach, Calif, in 2021.

☆ Man accused in 2014 massacre of co-worker's family arrested after landing in U.S. from China
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-15 | by ( Marlene Lenthang | Marlene Lenthang Is A Breaking News Reporter For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

A man accused of killing his co-worker’s family in their Texas home more than eight years ago was arrested over the weekend after he arrived at San Francisco’s airport from China, officials said. Similar to what he told the FBI, Lu told sheriff's office investigators he didn't know where the Sun family lived until he saw news coverage of their deaths. Authorities also interviewed Lu’s wife. The sheriff’s office said there were inconsistencies between her version and Lu’s versions of what happened. The Harris County Sheriff’s Office said the investigation continues.

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