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To expedite his commute to the University of Texas at El Paso, where he studies music education, Andres received a special pass from U.S. Customs and Border Protection after passing a rigorous background check. Applicants have their fingerprints taken and must complete an in-person interview with a Customs and Border Protection officer. They cannot have any previous criminal history. The SENTRI (which stands for Secure Electronic Network for Travelers Rapid Inspection) pass allowed Andres to waive the standard vehicle check at the border crossing. Most of the time, the border guards just peered inside his vehicle and waved him through....

For citizens going into battle against Afghanistan's officialdom, the warren-like building across the road from the headquarters of Kabul's police chief is a one-stop shop for every document they could need. From their tiny cubbyhole offices, an army of typists can run up everything from marriage certificates to CVs and job application letters. Also available, for several hundred dollars more: Taliban death threats, the special chits also known as "night letters" that can be a passport to a new life in the west. "We can write whatever you need; it depends," said one young clerk. "For example, we will mention...

Man 'visited N. Korea to buy bogus U.S. bills' The Yomiuri Shimbun An 80-year-old Sapporo man released by North Korea after his arrest last year said he went there with two other Japanese men to obtain counterfeit U.S. currency, according to Hokkaido police. The two other men remain in custody in north Korea. The three were arrested last March for allegedly dealing in drugs. According to the man, the three received extremely realistic-looking counterfeit U.S. bills in North korea. Police believe the bills were "supernotes" in 100 dollars denominations. The police are trying to corroborate the man's story. The man...

A young woman sits cross-legged on the ground laughing playfully as she is fed a lychee. Another plays cards in pair of baggy pink pyjamas. The moving images could show any group of young women as they go about their daily lives in prison. But just hours - and in some cases minutes - after the pictures were taken, each of the four women were led into a concrete yard and executed.

“I have learned to live with trash,” said fifth-generation Arizona rancher Jim Chilton.He saw his once-beautiful ranch, just a few miles from the border with Mexico, is now dotted with clusters of crushed trees and cactus, whole hillsides have been turned into charred eyesores, years worth of his award-winning conservation projects obliterated — and the whole thing is littered with trash, tons and tons of trash. And some of the trash was dead bodies. Chilton had the misfortune of settling in the path of what would become a dangerous drug- and human-smuggling route on the U.S.-Mexican border, parallel with the...

A one-vehicle accident on rural Highway 141 on Monday triggered a search through the desert for passengers and eventually led to the arrest of one man for suspicion of human smuggling and the pending deportation of four of the passengers. Juan Denys Hernandez Varenez, a Cuban national, has been charged with four counts of smuggling of humans, a class 3 felony. The San Miguel Sheriff’s Office suspects that he was smuggling four undocumented foreigners to the Denver area when the sedan he was driving crashed. All of the passengers, including a 20-year-old female from Grand Junction whose involvement is unknown,...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal agents trying to patrol the U.S.-Mexico border say they're hampered by laws that keep them from driving vehicles on huge swaths of land because it falls under U.S. environmental protection, leaving it to wildlife — and illegal immigrants and smugglers who can walk through the territory undisturbed. A growing number of lawmakers are saying such restrictions have turned wilderness areas into highways for criminals. In recent weeks, three congressional panels, including two in the GOP-controlled House and one in the Democratic-controlled Senate, have moved to give the Border Patrol unfettered access to all federally managed lands...

GENEVA — Swiss customs officials say they intercepted a man at Zurich airport carrying hundreds of endangered spiders in his luggage. Customs officials found 261 Mexican red-kneed tarantulas packed into individual plastic bags inside six boxes belonging to a Swiss man arriving from the Dominican Republic in August.

The son of a former Los Angeles fire chief was charged Monday with bribing a federal Transportation Security Administration officer at Los Angeles International Airport to help him smuggle marijuana past security on nine separate trips. Millage Peaks IV admitted to FBI agents that he and his associates made the trips with the aid of a TSA officer, whom they paid $5,000 to $6,000 in bribes to avoid detection... Peaks and TSA Officer Dianne Perez were arrested on bribery charges Sunday following what the FBI said was his most recent attempt ... Perez, a TSA officer for seven and a...

EL PASO, Texas -- Comments made about border security by former drug czar, retired general Barry McCaffrey, at a U.S. House subcommittee Friday caught the attention of U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-El Paso. "I really believe that it had a political purpose," said Reyes. McCaffrey testified that he participated in a seminar-style meeting in El Paso within the last 18 months alongside "100 people" from El Paso and Mexico. The topic was the threat of drug cartel-connected criminals operating in Texas. "People from both sides of the border said they feel intimidated and a senior police official in the city...

Carlos Martinez Gutierrez got caught smuggling three Mexican children into California. Now, his travails have reached the Supreme Court. On Tuesday, the court agreed to hear Gutierrez's case and another that raise questions potentially crucial for other children of illegal immigrants. If Gutierrez wins, some immigrants may find it easier to avoid removal and stay in the United States.

The Italian government has blocked an investigation into the whereabouts of a massive consignment of weapons removed from a military depot in the Mediterranean, amid speculation that the cargo was secretly supplied to Libya. The weapons were from a consignment that included 30,000 Kalashnikov AK-47 automatic rifles, 32m rounds of ammunition, 5,000 Katyusha rockets, 400 Fagot wire-guided anti-tank missiles and some 11,000 other anti-tank weapons. They were transferred from a store on the island of Santo Stefano, off the north coast of Sardinia, and transported to the mainland where they were loaded onto army trucks , a source familiar with...

LAS CRUCES, N.M. — The former mayor of the New Mexico border town of Columbus has pleaded guilty to federal gun smuggling charges. ........

CHITA, July 8 (RIA Novosti) Customs authorities in Russia's Far East have launched a criminal case against a Chinese citizen who attempted to smuggle spare parts for Russian MiG-29 and Su-27 fighters last year, a customs' spokesperson said on Friday. The man, whose identity has not been revealed, was caught at one of the border checkpoints in Transbaikal region in July last year. Customs officials found six stepping motors, two piston pumps, 54 connectors, an elapsed-time meter and other parts in the trunk of his car. "It took experts from the Defense Ministry almost a year to prove that the...

The State of Georgia’s attempt to enforce the nation’s laws against illegal immigration has netted it a lawsuit filed by the government of Mexico. It is the Mexican government’s contention that the Georgia law unconstitutionally interferes with international commerce. “The transport of people and commodities from Mexico to anywhere in the United States is a matter solely under the discretion of the United States federal government,” said Juan Malhechor, Deputy Minister of Commerce for the Mexican government. “The State of Georgia has no authority to interdict this trade.” The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) rndorsed the Mexican government’s suit. “The...

Italy unlaces N.Korea attempt to smuggle tap shoes Wed Jun 1, 2011 2:44pm GMT By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Italy foiled an attempt by North Korea to import tap-dancing shoes in breach of a U.N. ban on the sale of luxury goods to Pyongyang, according to a U.N. report on the enforcement of sanctions against the North. The report said that many banned goods reached North Korea via an unnamed trans-shipment hub, which Western U.N. envoys speaking on condition of anonymity said was located in China. Although it has been leaked to the media, China has objected to...

SW area issues warning for firefighters working near US/Mexico border Written by Bill on June 2nd, 2011 In what seems to be an annual occurrence, the Southwest Geographic Area has issued another “Safety Alert” with the subject: “US – Mexico Border Fire Operations Safety”. Saying the border area has become “increasingly dangerous” to firefighters, they listed in the two-page document some watchout situations: “These are potential situations firefighters could encounter: 1. Illegal immigrant and smugglers warming fires have started wildland fires. 2. Illegal activity along the border has involved “copy cat vehicles” painted to look like agency vehicles. 3. Radios...

A humanitarian group said on Tuesday it has given emergency GPS location devices to Mexican human smugglers in a controversial bid to save immigrants' lives as they break into increasingly remote desert stretches of the U.S. border this summer. Rev. Robin Hoover, founder of Tucson-based Humane Borders, said he gave five cell-phone sized location beacons to a church group in Mexico's northern Sonora state earlier this month to distribute to human smugglers, known as "coyotes." The aim is for the coyotes to use the devices to summon rescue if they get into trouble as they guide migrants on the dangerous...

(Reuters) - Three employees of a tough Arizona sheriff were arrested on Tuesday on charges that they helped a drug and human smuggling organization from Mexico, authorities said. Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said one deputy and two county detention officers were among 16 people arrested on Tuesday on charges including assisting in a criminal syndicate, illegal control of an enterprise, human smuggling, drug trafficking and money laundering. Arpaio, who styles himself as "America's toughest sheriff" and is known for operations cracking down on illegal immigrants across the Phoenix valley, said the arrests followed a tip received a year ago....

I wanted to ask a question about something I saw looking out my window. Last week about 2 am my cat wakes me wanting his food dish brought out so he can eat. Since I could not go right back to sleep, I got on the computer. I had open a blade on mini blinds to see outside. So about 3 am a white commercial looking box truck pulls up. (Next door are some hispanics ) The truck pulls up, the driver quickly gets out of truck walks quickly to back of truck to open it, it had the pull...

More than 600 pounds of marijuana seized HIDALGO — A late-night chase Monday left one smuggler dead and led to the seizure of more than 600 pounds of marijuana. The smuggler has been identified only as a 25-year-old Mexican national because authorities are working with the Mexican Consulate to identify the immediate family, Hidalgo police Capt. Roberto Vela said. The chase began about 10:45 p.m., when an Hidalgo police officer spotted a black 1995 Chevrolet Suburban parked next to a manhole at the intersection of International Boulevard and Esperanza Avenue, Vela said. “Information that we have received is that certain...

Border Patrol agents recently arrested 13 illegal immigrants disguised as U.S. Marines and riding in a fake military van, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Tuesday. The illegal immigrants were clad in Marine uniforms when they were apprehended at the Campo Border Patrol Westbound I-8 checkpoint at 11 p.m. on March 14 near Pine Valley, Calif., border officials said. Two U.S. citizens in the van also were arrested. After the suspicious white van was subjected to secondary inspection, it was determined that the driver of the vehicle and its front seat passenger were U.S. citizens who were attempting to smuggle...

TUCSON — Nogales station Border Patrol agents prevented nearly 5,000 rounds of ammunition from being smuggled out of the United States and into the hands of transnational criminal organizations in Mexico on Sunday. Agents from the Nogales Border Patrol station responded to reports of three suspicious individuals dressed in black carrying backpacks just north of the International Boundary Fence (IBF). Upon arrival, agents observed one subject fitting the description running south, leaving behind three backpacks. At the same time, operators using a Remote Video Surveillance System (RVSS) observed two other subjects absconding into Mexico over the IBF. During an inspection...

COLUMBUS, N.M. (KRQE) - Federal documents state a gun smuggling operation allegedly run by three public officials from a tiny New Mexico border town had ties to Mexican drug cartels and some of the weapons were used in several murders. Last week, federal agents raided Columbus in Luna County arresting Mayor Eddie Espinoza, Village Trustee Blas Gutierrez and Chief of Police Angelo Vega, along with several others. In total, 11 people are accused of smuggling guns into the Mexican cities of Cíudad Juarez and Palomas. Palomas sits just across the border from Columbus. For the first time the federal arresting...

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A private jet owned by a North Texas company has been impounded for the past 2 1/2 weeks and its passengers and crew detained by the Congolese government in central Africa, where officials say it was used to smuggle gold from rebel territories in the nation's eastern provinces. The plane was leased by Southlake Aviation, based in suburban Dallas-Fort Worth, to a subsidiary of CAMAC International, The Dallas Morning News reported in its Sunday editions. CAMAC company is owned by Kase Lawal, a Nigerian-born Houston oil tycoon an appointee of President Barack Obama to the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy...

A 52-year-old Highland Park father is one of two U.S. citizens charged with agreeing to sell missiles and other weapons to the Taliban for their use against American troops in Afghanistan, according to a complaint unsealed by federal prosecutors in Manhattan last week. Oded Orbach, born in Israel, was among seven men arrested in an international sting operation by the Drug Enforcement Administration. Paid informants posing as Taliban representatives conspired with the men to ship narcotics through West Africa — with a portion intended for the United States — and to use the proceeds to buy weapons for protecting Taliban-owned...

Surveillance stopped a pair of alleged drug smugglers from hauling about 273 kilos of marijuana over the border fence with the help of a ladder, public records reflect. A U.S. Border Patrol agent on Thursday saw 10 people coming out of the Rio Grande carrying bundles and a ladder near the Rancho Grande Subdivision in La Paloma. The agent saw the suspects use the ladder to get the bundles over the border fence, according to the complaint filed before U.S. Magistrate Judge Felix Recio in federal court. The complaint states that the agent also saw a green minivan drive in...

PHARR — Federal authorities arrested a 21-year-old Pharr man who allegedly tried to smuggle a machine gun into Mexico. A Pharr police officer stopped Julio Cesar Ramirez's in a white 2006 Hummer H3 as he attempted enter the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge, according to a criminal complaint. The officer said he noticed a black gun case in the back seat of the Hummer and called U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers to the scene. Ramirez claimed he had no guns inside the vehicle, but when officers opened the case, they found a Browning .30-caliber machine gun with a tripod inside, the...

Want to smuggle immigrants across the border? Well, there's an app for that. It's a game called "Smuggle Truck: Operation Immigration" and it's causing outrage. Developed by a Boston-based tech company, the game allows users to drive a truck full of immigrants across the U.S.-Mexican border and through the desert, all the while trying to keep the human cargo from falling off. Scores are calculated by the number of immigrants helped crossing the border. The most careful drivers are awarded a "Green Card" for saving passengers' lives. On the other hand, the "Smugglers Run" award goes to “pedal-to-the-medal reckless speed-run...

The Teheran regime has hanged 66 individuals since the end of 2010, according to France 24 International News. Among them was a 46-year-old Iranian-born, Dutch national Sahra Bahrami, who was hung on January 29 on drug-smuggling charges. Holland's Foreign Ministry said it was "shocked, shattered by this act by a barbaric regime," according to Agence France Presse. Bahrami's sister dismissed the Iranian charges, which she contended were fabricated. "She doesn't even smoke cigarettes, let alone possessing drugs. How could someone who participates in election gatherings and endangers her life, engage in such actions against her country?" she is quoted as...

PHILIPPINES congressman Ronald Singson has admitted he tried to smuggle cocaine into HK in his underpants. The colourful 42-year-old, who is from one of the Philippines' most high-profile political families, admitted to bringing 6.67 grams of cocaine and two tablets of the narcotic Nitrazepam into the city on July 11, 2010. He was arrested at Hong Kong's international airport by customs officers who found a small amount of cocaine and pills in his luggage, with six grams of cocaine hidden in his underpants. The total value of the cocaine was about $2000. The politician, also a music promoter whose business...

SAN DIEGO -- U.S. border authorities have arrested a controversial Muslim cleric who was deported from Canada to Tunisia three years ago and was caught earlier this month trying to sneak into California inside the trunk of a BMW, according to court documents. Said Jaziri, the former Imam of a Muslim congregation in Montreal, was hidden inside a car driven by a San Diego-area man who was pulled over by U.S. Border Patrol agents...east of San Diego. Jaziri allegedly paid a Tijuana-based smuggling group $5,000 to get him across the border...saying he wanted to be taken to a "safe place...

KABUL, Afghanistan (Jan. 24, 2011) — A joint Afghan National Security and International Security Assistance Force vehicle-interdiction operation targeted insurgent smuggling routes in Kandahar and Helmand provinces, yesterday. Several insurgents were killed and a large quantity of weapons and narcotics was found during the operation. Acting on multiple intelligence reports and tips from local citizens, the patrol saw a suspicious vehicle parked outside of a small compound. As the patrol moved to search the vehicle and compound, they were engaged by two armed men. The patrol returned fire, killing the two men. As the patrol moved further into the compound,...

Texas bar owners sentenced for hiring illegal alien barmaids/prostitutes Monday, U.S. District Judge Randy Crane sentenced Tereso Olivo, 54, to 15 months in federal prison without parole and two years of supervised release on human smuggling charges. In Spanish, Nancy Olivo, 43, then implored the judge: “I ask, your honor, to have leniency on me for the sake of my children. I know I was wrong.” She was sentenced to two years of probation with six months of house arrest. An illegal alien herself, Olivo is scheduled for deportation proceedings after she serves her sentence. Three months ago, the couple...

Nogales Border Patrol agents were involved in a shoot out on Sunday North West of the city. The BP agents responded to a sensor that was tripped near the U.S./Mexico border and were greeted with fire from alleged illegal aliens...the illegal aliens were smuggling drugs and were armed with AK-47s. Once the Border Patrol arrived on the scene the illegals fired their weapons and BP agents returned fire. There were no injuries...Nogales Border Patrol spokesperson, Mario Escalante said the incident is under investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) is looking into the confrontation. “The shooting incident happened, but...

Deputies arrested a man Friday who is accused of hiding crack cocaine in his buttocks. Charles Everette Robinson, 30, of the 3300 block of Ellington Court, Fort Myers, was charged with battery on a nurse, trafficking cocaine, introduction of contraband into a detention facility and two felony counts of driving while license is suspended/habitual offender. Bond was set on all but one of the driving counts which had bond denied. He remained Monday in Lee County Jail. According to a Lee County Sheriff’s Office reports: While deputies searched Robinson after his arrest, they believed he was “possibly holding something in...

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Federal agents seized five pounds of C-4 military explosives from the Colorado home of a man accused with a Navy SEAL and a Las Vegas associate of smuggling machine guns from Iraq into the U.S. for sale and shipment to Mexico, authorities said Thursday. Grenades and night-vision goggles also were found in the Durango, Colo., home of 34-year-old Richard Paul, according to federal prosecutors and federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents in Las Vegas and Colorado. Paul and Andrew Kaufman, 36, of Las Vegas, were arrested Wednesday and appeared Thursday before federal magistrate...

~ EXCERPT ~ CHENNAI, INDIA (BNO NEWS) – A Sri Lankan Man, who had swallowed 2,060 diamonds worth up to Rs. 3 crore ($674,715 dollars) packed in several condoms, was arrested at an airport on Tuesday, local media reported Thursday. Mohammed Shakif, 43, of Galle, Sri Lanka, was smuggling the precious stones in 42 condoms and had just arrived in Chennai, located in the southern region of India, when a team of suburban police acting on a tip off inquired him. According to the police the precious stones were worth between Rs. 1.5 crore ($337,357 dollars) and Rs. 3 crore...

Two 150-year-old dolls have been x-rayed in a bid to discover if they were used by Confederate soldiers to smuggle medical supplies past Union blockades during the U.S. Civil War. It is thought the large dolls - Nina and Lucy Ann - had their hollowed out papier-mache heads stuffed with quinine or morphine for wounded and malaria-stricken Confederate troops. The Union blockade lasted from 1861 until 1865 and was intended to thwart the delivery of weapons, soldiers and supplies such as medicine to the South....

Miami seems more and more like the Casablanca of movie legend. This month, a Palestinian man and a Cuban migrant were charged in an FBI counter-terrorism probe with plotting to buy hundreds of stolen assault rifles, high-tech bombs and remote-control detonators to ship to the West Bank. Shortly before that, Miami Beach arms wunderkind Efraim Diveroli -- already convicted of selling banned Chinese-made munitions to the Pentagon -- was arrested on new firearms charges in Brevard County after he allegedly tried to import rounds of ammunition from South Korea. And two years ago, a ring of foreigners and businesses was...

NOTE: THIS IS THE NEW ISRAEL-RELATED THREAD Note The following news brief is a quote: Report: IDF attacks targets in south, central Gaza Strip Published: 08.17.10, 23:45 / Israel News Palestinians reported that the IDF had fired towards open ground in Khan Younis and attacked the smuggling tunnels in the south of the Gaza Strip. No injuries were reported. Two IDF soldiers were lightly wounded Tuesday morning from shells fired into the western Negev. (Ali Waked)

YORK – At least $1 million in cash was discovered inside a tractor-trailer Friday afternoon during a routine inspection along the turnpike. Maine State Police said they found the stash of cash after detaining the driver and a passenger while they examined driver logs. The driver, 35-year-old Jhon Rivera-Ramirez, was ultimately arrested for falsifying logs. He was later released on bail. State police said Ramirez was traveling with a passenger, Jose Javier Perez, 46, who was not charged in the stop. Police did not say where the men were coming from or where they were going. State Police Lt. Thomas...

Suspected drug hitmen killed the mayor of a small town in northern Mexico on Sunday in a region where two car bombs exploded last week and the bodies of 72 murdered migrant workers were found. Gunmen in SUVs shot and killed Mayor Marco Antonio Leal as he drove through his rural municipality of Hidalgo near the Gulf of Mexico in Tamaulipas state, the local attorney general's office said. Leal's 4-year-old daughter was slightly wounded in the attack, a spokesman said. Some cartels have been known to carry out targeted shootings that kill the intended victim, but not children riding in...

SIERRA VISTA — A man attempting to illegally enter the United States at the Naco port of entry has been charged with assault after he kicked a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer in the face. The incident occurred Monday at about 8 p.m. when officers at the port of entry noticed a man trying to walk into the U.S. through the outbound pedestrian lane leading into Mexico, according to a release from the federal agency. When officers made their way towards the man, he began climbing a security fence to avoid capture. As they attempted to apprehend him, the...

Arizona's drug and human smuggling cartels are finding their newest hires in Phoenix bars, law enforcement officials say. The state's high unemployment rate and proximity to the Mexican border is making for fertile recruiting ground, as investigators say cartel members are singling out individuals desperate for money and employment. Capt. Kevin Zumbo, of the Illegal Immigration Prevention & Apprehension Co-op Team (IIMPACT), a multi-agency unit in the Phoenix metropolitan area focused on illegal immigration-associated crime, told MyFoxPhoenix.com that the cartels are looking for U.S. citizen who can easily blend in with society and not alert authorities.

Fermanova, 24, is the newest bombshell targeted by federal authorities. She is accused of attempting to smuggle high-tech night vision scopes from the United States to Russia. An arrest affidavit obtained by Crimesider states that Fermanova, along with others, tried to "intentionally attempt to export" defense articles listed on the United States Munitions List without having the required license to do so. The document says that when Fermanova attempted to board a plane at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport bound for Moscow on March 1, Customs & Border Protection seized her luggage, finding three night vision devices. When...

By HOUSTON CHRONICLE Posted: July 27, 2010, 6:53 AM CDT July 27, 2010 HOUSTON — It took five hours and four minutes, but a suspected drug trafficker finally surrendered the spoils: 85 condoms of cocaine he allegedly swallowed and intended to smuggle from Houston to France. Housrou Kedji is scheduled to be arraigned in federal court Friday after being caught as he tried to board an Air France flight leaving Bush International Airport. He is charged with two counts of drug-trafficking. The 42-year-old citizen of the African nation of Togo gave up 2.2 pounds of his illicit cargo while sitting...

HERMOSILLO, Mexico — A massive gun battle between rival drug and migrant trafficking gangs near the U.S. border Thursday left 21 people dead and at least six others wounded, prosecutors said. The fire fight occurred in a sparsely populated area about 12 miles (20 kilometers) from the Arizona border, near the city of Nogales, that is considered a prime corridor for immigrant and drug smuggling. The Sonora state Attorney General’s Office said in a statement that nine people were captured by police at the scene of the shootings, six of whom had been wounded in the confrontation. Eight vehicles and...

PHOENIX (AP) -- U.S. Sen. John McCain says he disagrees with Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's statements that most people crossing the U.S. southern border illegally are smuggling drugs, but he thinks she is doing a good job of standing up for her state. Brewer has said the motivation of "a lot" of the illegal immigrants is to enter the United States to look for work, but that drug rings press them into duty as drug "mules."