Tag: mexico

Land Along Southern Border Is Transferred to Navy To Become Part Of ‘National Defense Area’

The Trump administration said on Dec. 10 that it would transfer roughly 760 acres of public land along the U.S.-Mexico border in California to the Navy for three years to support border security operations.

While announcing the decision Wednesday, the Interior Department said the land would become part of a “National Defense Area,” or militarized zone, to bolster immigration enforcement.

The land stretches from roughly a mile west of the California-Arizona state line to the western edge of the Otay Mountain Wilderness Area in San Diego and Imperial counties, according to the Interior Department.

“This corridor is one of the highest-traffic regions for unlawful crossings along the southern border, creating significant national security challenges and contributing to environmental degradation,” the department said.

The Interior Department said the land was originally set aside in 1907 by President Theodore Roosevelt for “border protection purposes,” and the Navy will use it to “strengthen operational capabilities while reducing ecological harm associated with sustained illegal activity.”

Since April, the federal government has transferred large portions of land along the southern border to the military, allowing troops to detain migrants attempting to cross the border or arrest people accused of trespassing on military bases.

The process began with a 170-mile swath of land along the border in New Mexico before the government expanded into Texas and Arizona.

While the Interior Department referred to the Southern California lands as a high-traffic area for illegal border crossings, arrests along the U.S.-Mexico border have dropped to the lowest level since the 1960s as the Trump administration continues its crackdown on illegal immigration.

“President Trump has made it clear that securing our border and restoring American sovereignty are top national priorities,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a statement.

“This action delivers on that commitment. By working with the Navy to close longstanding security gaps, we are strengthening national defense, protecting our public lands from unlawful use, and advancing the president’s agenda to put the safety and security of the American people first.”

Keep reading

Top Obama DEA Official Charged With Laundering Money For Mexican Drug Cartel

A former Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) official appointed as deputy chief of the Office of Financial Operations during the Obama administration – and who still holds a security clearance – was indicted on Friday on charges of agreeing to launder $12 million for the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) – which was designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization in February of this year.

Paul Campo, who oversaw the FBI’s money laundering operations and resigned in January 2016 ahead of Trump’s inauguration, laundered around $750,000 for the cartel by converting cash into cryptocurrency, and agreed to launder far more – totaling over $12 million, according to the indictment. 

Campo’s hoome was raided by federal agents on Thursday.

Campo also provided a payment for around 220 kilos of cocaine on the understanding that the drugs had been imported into the USA, the indictment further states. 

He was able to do this after spending 25 years at the DEA, rising to a high-level position which he used to sell himself to CJNG as someone who could; 

  • give inside information on DEA operations
  • help them move drug money
  • help them avoid detection
  • and even advise on narcotics logistics

In late 2024, Campo, along with a friend Robert Sensi, began conspiring with an undercover government source they believed was with the cartel. They allegedly discussed using drones packed with C-4 explosives for CJNG operation. When the undercover agent asked what they could do with the drones, Campo allegedly said “We put explosives and we just send it over there,” adding that six kilos of C-4 would be enough to blow up “the whole fucking…” [sentence trails off]

Campo also allegedly told the undercover source that, because of his past work inside DEA’s intelligence and financial units, he still had “connections” within the agency and could advise CJNG on how to evade detection. According to the indictment, he portrayed himself as someone who understood DEA investigative patterns, internal targeting systems, and the vulnerabilities of U.S. financial controls.

Both Campo and Sensi allegedly assured the undercover officer that they could convert cartel cash into cryptocurrency in a way that would appear legitimate, billing themselves as specialists capable of “getting money back” for clients whose assets had been seized by law enforcement.

Keep reading

Trump Suggests Airstrikes On Cartels In Mexico, Colombia: ‘Okay With Me’

President Donald Trump told reporters gathered in the Oval Office on Monday that potential military strikes in Mexico to disrupt the drug trade would be “okay with me”.

He expressed rare openness to direct Pentagon action inside America’s neighbor to the immediate south, at a moment of ongoing deadly drone strikes on alleged drug boats off the coast of Venezuela. This is sure to turn US-Mexico relations in a more negative direction, but Trump doesn’t seem overly concerned with this as he ramps up the pressure, also on Colombia.

He said he’d be willing to do this to prevent drugs from entering the United States, and further he’d be proud to “knock out” cocaine factories in Colombia.

On Colombia, where the president, his family and top officials have recently been hit with US sanctions, Trump said as follows:

“Colombia has cocaine factories where they make cocaine. Would I knock out those factories? I would be proud to do it personally. I didn’t say I’m doing it, but I would be proud to do it because we’re going to save millions of lives by doing it.”

This renewed war on drugs rhetoric has been met with immense controversy, including among some US Congress members who demand a Congressional vote before war is declared on Venezuela or any other sovereign Latin American country.

But the administration has also been utilizing ‘terrorism’ labels to justify strikes, which up to now has included targeting over twenty alleged drug boats and killing some 80 people.

Keep reading

Beginning Of A Revolution? Populist Revolt Shocks Mexico

Chaos erupted in front of Mexico’s National Palace in Mexico City on Saturday after anti-corruption protests turned violent following the recent cartel murder of Uruapan Mayor Carlos Manzo. Protesters are furious with leftist President Claudia Sheinbaum, while the government blames right-wing business interests for stoking the unrest.

Reuters reports that 120 people and 100 police officers were injured outside the National Palace when a large group of anti-government protesters led by Gen Zers clashed with Sheinbaum’s security forces.

Public outrage has grown over the recent assassination of Uruapan Mayor Carlos Manzo, a critic of cartel violence in the crime-ridden third-world country just south of the U.S. southern border. 

Footage on X shows demonstrators ripping down parts of a giant steel barrier around the National Palace, prompting police to deploy tear gas and other non-lethal weapons. 

Keep reading

Mayor of Uruapan Municipality, Michoacán, Mexico, Assassinated During the Candle Festival

On Saturday, November 1, 2025, during the Festival de las Velas held in the main square of the municipality of Uruapan, Michoacán, the independent municipal president, Carlos Alberto Manzo Rodríguez, was shot and later died in the hospital. According to reports, the attack took place in full view of festivalgoers.

His death underscores the alarming trend of violence against local officials in Mexico and raises serious questions about public-safety assurances for elected representatives.

Manzo Rodríguez, elected in September 2024 as mayor of Uruapan with an independent campaign, had gained prominence for publicly confronting organized-crime influence and urging the federal government for greater intervention in his municipality.

He had also accused state authorities of corruption and negligence. According to the federal security secretary, the assailant opened fire with a weapon linked to clashes between rival criminal groups. The attacker was killed on site, and two other suspects were arrested.

The assassination occurred despite Manzo’s having been placed under federal protection since December 2024, with additional security reinforcement in May 2025. Authorities said the perpetrators exploited the vulnerability of the public event to commit the crime.

The governor of Michoacán and the federal presidency condemned the attack and pledged that no impunity would be allowed.

They announced intensified security measures in the region and investigations into possible cartel involvement.

This killing took place in one of Mexico’s most violence-plagued states, where powerful criminal organizations fight for control of territory and resources, including the lucrative avocado industry — a point Manzo himself referenced in his public statements.

Keep reading

Report: US Preparing Mexico Mission Against Cartels That Would Include Troops and Drone Strikes

The Trump administration has begun developing detailed plans to send US troops and intelligence officers into Mexico to target cartels in operations that would include drone strikes, NBC News reported on Monday, citing current and former US officials.

The report said that US military personnel have already begun training for the potential mission, though a deployment is not imminent. Many of the troops would come from Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) and would operate under the authority of US intelligence agencies, with involvement from CIA officers.

Unlike the current US bombing campaign against alleged drug boats in the waters of Latin America, which the Trump administration is conducting without legal authority, the idea of the campaign in Mexico would be to keep it secret and not publicize attacks.

The NBC report said the administration wanted to operate in coordination with the Mexican government but was also considering conducting the campaign without Mexico’s approval, which would mark a significant violation of the country’s sovereignty. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has increased law enforcement cooperation with the US and has allowed the CIA to ramp up surveillance flights along the border, but she has repeatedly ruled out US military intervention in her country.

“The United States is not going to come to Mexico with the military,” Sheinbaum said in August. “We cooperate, we collaborate, but there is not going to be an invasion. That is ruled out, absolutely ruled out.”

The Mexican leader has also condemned US strikes on boats in the region, saying she “doesn’t agree” with the policy. The US recently bombed several alleged drug vessels in the Eastern Pacific, and in one case, the Mexican Navy had to rescue a survivor.

The Trump administration has not provided any evidence to back up its claims that the boats it has been targeting were carrying drugs and has admitted to Congress that it doesn’t know the identities of the people it has killed. Since the bombing campaign began on September 2, the US military has extra-judicially executed 64 people at sea.

The strikes on boats and the push toward regime change in Venezuela have come under increasing scrutiny from both Democrats and Republicans in Congress due to the lack of transparency and lack of legal authority.

Keep reading

Father and Son Arrested for Attempting to Smuggle Over 300 Firearms to Mexico

Two men from Alabama have been charged with trafficking more than 300 weapons with ammunition and magazines, announced Attorney General Pamela Bondi and U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.

Emilio Ramirez Cortes, 48, a Mexican citizen who legally resides in the United States, and his son, Edgar Emilio Ramirez Diaz, have made their initial appearances in Laredo federal court and will remain in custody pending a detention hearing set for Oct. 31.

Both are charged with smuggling firearms, ammunition, magazines and other firearms accessories as well as trafficking of firearms.

“Disrupting the illegal flow of weapons into Mexico is a key part of our whole-of-government approach to dismantling the cartels,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “This significant seizure represents our commitment to protecting Americans from brutal cartel violence.”

On Oct. 23, two vehicles appeared to be driving in tandem and approached the Juarez-Lincoln Port of Entry in Laredo, according to the complaint. 

The charges allege Ramirez Diaz was driving a Chevrolet Tahoe with Alabama license plates followed by his father in a Chevrolet Silverado with Mexican license plates. Both vehicles were allegedly hauling enclosed white box utility trailers.

“Those that illegally traffic guns to Mexico empower cartels to terrorize the innocent,” said Ganjei. “This seizure of an immense quantity of firearms illustrates the Southern District of Texas’s full-spectrum approach to fighting the cartels. We will attack every facet of their operations until they are wiped off the face of the earth.”

Keep reading

Former ATF agent: Most guns found at Mexico crime scenes are from legal US-Mexico government sales

he U.S.-Mexico border remains a flashpoint for debates over guns and crime. Mexico has long complained that guns from American firearms stores flow south to killer cartels responsible for tens of thousands of deaths each year.

In fact, in 2021, the Mexican government sued U.S. gun manufacturers blaming them for the bloodshed. It claimed that up to 90% of guns recovered at Mexican crime scenes trace back to the U.S. This figure, often echoed by U.S. policymakers, has fueled calls for tighter gun laws.

But a Full Measure investigation found the reality to be far different.

“Ever since I was first assigned to work on firearms trafficking on the Southwest border, it has widely been reported and utilized that the U.S. civilian firearms market is responsible for the majority of crime guns being recovered in Mexico,” former Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms Special Agent John Dodson tells Full Measure. “[That] our right to bear arms is to blame for the violence in Mexico and along the southwest border. [But] the vast majority of crime guns recovered in Mexico are purchased directly by the Mexican government.” 

Dodson says it’s an important fact that is often kept hidden from the public. Most of those guns flowing to Mexico and recovered at crime scenes there were sold legally to the Mexican government – by the US government in a well-intentioned program that dates back to the early 2000s.

“Why is the US government selling so many guns to the Mexican government?” Full Measure asked Dodson in an interview.

“When we first started telling the Mexicans, ‘You have to do something to stop the drug trafficking coming north of the border,’ the Mexican authorities needed resources and funds to do that,” he replied. “They needed to get the equipment to combat the Mexican drug cartels. So we started funding these operations, providing them with military surplus equipment, helicopters, firearms, providing them with hundreds of millions of dollars to purchase equipment. Much of that firearms.”

The U.S. gave Mexico money and issued gun licenses for their government to buy weapons for counter-narcotics operations.

“What’s the importance of that?” Full Measure asked.

“The impression that people have and the impression that the Mexican government is trying to push forward, not only publicly, but in their lawsuit against the Arizona dealers is that the U.S. civilian firearms market is to blame for the violence and the firearms activity in Mexico. And that is simply not the case,” says Dodson.

The State Department audits only a tiny sample – less than 1 percent of sales – but the results are disturbing: In 2009, more than a quarter (26%) of the guns sold to the region that includes Mexico were “diverted” into the wrong hands, or had other “unfavorable” results.

“When Mexico traces these guns, the report shows they were purchased by their own government,” Dodson says. “They know this, but the narrative blames U.S. dealers.”

Full Measure then asked: “So you must have told everybody, including your supervisor, so they knew?”

“Yes,” Dodson says. “I’ve been pounding this drum for what, almost 16 years now. I’ve brought this up to every supervisor I’ve had with ATF since 2009. I’ve taken this as far through my chain of command as I can take it. Up until the day I retired, I even spoke to the highest ranking DOJ official in Mexico City and showed them this data and nothing has changed.”

“You’re sending people to fight cartels, and in another office, someone’s authorizing sales that arm those cartels,” Dodson said. He argues that halting these sales – by canceling Mexico’s FFLs and export licenses – could cut 70% of cartel-bound U.S. guns “in one phone call.”

Keep reading

Mexico finances the Cuban regime while Pemex sinks into debt

Between May and August of 2025, Mexico sent more than 3 billion dollars in subsidized fuels to Cuba through the state subsidiary Gasolinas Bienestar, a figure that triples the shipments recorded during the last two years of the previous administration.

This has raised serious questions about transparency, public spending priorities, and possible diplomatic risks, as some of the shipments may have been carried out using a vessel sanctioned by the United States.

Quantity, frequency, and routesIn those four months, 58 shipments of hydrocarbons – including gasoline, diesel, and crude oil – were documented leaving Mexican ports for the Caribbean island.Most of those ships departed from Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, with only three leaving from Tampico, Tamaulipas.

The shipments are carried out by Gasolinas Bienestar, a Pemex subsidiary created in 2022 with the declared mission of supplying Cuba with subsidized fuel.

Use of a sanctioned vessel

One of the vessels identified on these routes was the Sandino, included in 2019 by the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on its blacklist for participating in operations linked to the shipment of Venezuelan oil to Cuba.

In August, the Sandino sailed from the Pemex terminal in Laguna de Pajaritos, Veracruz, and arrived seven days later at the “Camilo Cienfuegos” refinery in Cuba.

Financial impact and budget comparison

The more than 3 billion dollars equate to about 60 billion Mexican pesos, approximately the same as the projected budget for the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC) in 2026.

Gasolinas Bienestar has already reported losses and debt in its first year of operation, attributed to the “gifted” fuel to Cuba.

This increase in shipments occurs while Pemex faces financial and debt challenges, raising concerns about the sustainability of these subsidies.

Keep reading

Celebrity lawyer shot and killed in downtown Mexico City in broad daylight

Celebrity attorney David Cohen Sacal was mysteriously shot and killed in broad daylight while leaving a Mexico City courthouse.

Sacal’s celebrity clients have included singer-songwriter Anahi, actress and singer Maite Perroni, model and actor Sebastian Rulli and fugitive former football boss Billy Alvarez.

Witnesses claimed that a young man approached the 48-year-old at Mexico City’s Courthouse Plaza in the late afternoon of October 13 and fired at least twice, according to Newsbreak.

One bullet hit the victim in the head while the other struck his thigh.

In video following the incident, Sacal was seen lying in a pool of blood as emergency responders lifted him onto a stretcher and loaded him into an ambulance. 

The ‘Judicial City’ houses the local Superior Court Justice, civil and criminal courts, the Attorney General’s Office and the city’s investigative police, one of the areas in the city with the biggest police presence.

His attacker attempted to ride away on a motorcycle but he was quickly stopped by an off-duty police officer who shot him in the arm.

Police identified the attacker as 18-year-old Hector Hernandez, who allegedly confessed to being paid almost $2,000 to carry out the hit, according to Record.

Keep reading