Tag: mexico

Pfizer bribery probe dropped after ex-company lawyer Pam Bondi takes over DOJ in February 2025.

The DOJ dropped its Pfizer bribery probe in China and Mexico soon after Pam Bondi, a former Pfizer legal consultant, became Attorney General in February 2025. The investigation’s closure, evident from Pfizer’s latest filings, has raised concerns about Bondi’s influence and DOJ impartiality.

For the past several years, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has been under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice for potential foreign corruption violations related to its activities in China and Mexico, according to the company’s financial filings.

But that appears to have changed after the Trump administration tapped Pam Bondi — previously an outside legal counsel for Pfizer — to lead the Justice department as attorney general.

In the company’s most recent annual report, filed three weeks after Bondi took office in early February, there was no longer any reference to the Justice Department investigations into the company’s potential violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practice Act. A quarterly a report in May also contains no reference to these investigations.

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El Salvador Recalls Ambassador To Mexico Over Drug Plane Allegations

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said on July 9 that he was recalling El Salvador’s ambassador to Mexico for consultations after Mexico’s security chief claimed that a plane allegedly carrying cocaine had originated in El Salvador.

In a social media post, Bukele called the accusation false and urged Mexico to clarify and correct comments by Security Minister Omar Garcia Harfuch, who said during a press conference that the July 3 flight had come from El Salvador before it was intercepted in Colima, Mexico.

Bukele shared an image of the flight path and said tracking data showed the plane never entered Salvadoran airspace.

The president said Costa Rica reported a suspicious radar trace northwest of its territory on July 3.

“It was Costa Rica that activated the regional alert through APAN, a Central American air security network,” Bukele said.

“According to its own report, the aircraft’s trace entered Costa Rican airspace, briefly disappeared from radar, and then reappeared as it exited toward the Pacific. Our radars did not register any aerial contact within our airspace … Their report is clear: the aircraft flew over the Pacific Ocean and never entered Salvadoran territory.”

Bukele also criticized the Mexican government for not making public that three Mexican men were arrested over the flight.

“El Salvador does not shield criminals nor tolerate drug trafficking. We didn’t before, and we won’t now,” he said. “Nor will we allow attempts to involve us in operations that are neither our responsibility nor within our jurisdiction.”

Mexican authorities previously said three people were onboard the flight. They were arrested in Colima after 940 lb (427 kg) of cocaine was allegedly seized from the plane after landing.

Within hours of the post, Garcia Harfuch responded to Bukele on the social media platform X, saying that Mexican authorities first detected the plane about 200 km (120 miles) south of San Salvador, after which it ordered the military to intercept the suspicious flight. The map he posted also showed the plane’s route, although incomplete, over the Pacific Ocean.

Garcia Harfuch acknowledged that the men were Mexican and said they were facing criminal charges.

“We reiterate our respect and appreciation for the people of El Salvador,” he added.

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US Orders “Immediate Shutdown” Of Mexican Cattle Trade After Cross-Border Parasitic Fly Threat

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has ordered the immediate suspension of all live cattle, bison, and horse imports from Mexico via the southern border. The move comes in response to a newly confirmed case of New World Screwworm in Mexico—a highly destructive parasite that poses a massive threat to U.S. livestock and the broader food supply chain.

“I have ordered an immediate shutdown of live cattle, bison, and horse trade through the southern U.S.–Mexico border,” Rollins wrote on X, adding, “This decisive action comes after Mexico confirmed another case of New World Screwworm in Veracruz. As promised, @USDA remains vigilant to ensure the protection of America’s livestock and food supply.” 

She quoted a U.S. Department of Agriculture press release that announced the trade suspension, which signals heightened biosecurity concerns within the USDA and reflects a zero-tolerance posture toward potential cross-border parasitic threats.

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Gunmen Hijack 33 Tons of Gold, Silver Concentrate in Truck on Mexican Highway

Authorities in Mexico are remaining tightlipped about how a team of gunmen was able to hijack a truck carrying 33 tons of gold and silver concentrate. The high-stakes robbery comes as Mexico’s government continues to claim that public safety is improving and that the country is safe.

The robbery took place on Monday when a tractor-trailer carrying minerals was traveling from the Mexican state of Durango to the Port of Manzanillo in Colima State, where it was expected to be shipped out. However, while the truck was moving through the state of Jalisco, a group of gunmen in at least two vehicles intercepted the truck, overpowered the security detail, and kidnapped the driver.

According to information released by Grupo Bacis, the mining company that owned the precious metals, the gunmen held the security detail and driver for almost two hours while they stealing the cargo. After the gunmen released the victims, they made their way to a nearby tollbooth where they asked for help.  Mexican authorities were able to find the tractor-trailer soon after, but the cargo was gone. The company has not placed a value on the stolen cargo; however, it is expected to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

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American with ‘CIA’ credentials and variety of weapons arrested in Mexico

An American national with credentials that read “CIA” has been arrested in Mexico on weapons charges, Mexican authorities said Saturday. 

The unidentified man was arrested “for his probable involvement in the crimes of disturbing the peace and possession of weapons designated for exclusive use by the Army,” according to the Secretariat of Security of the State of Mexico.

Authorities found six firearms, magazines, live ammunition and tactical equipment, the agency said.

“The individual was carrying a credential with the inscription ‘CIA’,” authorities wrote on X.

Images posted by the security agency showed rifles, handguns, tactical vests, helmets, pocket knives and ammunition. 

The State Department told Fox News that it was aware of reports of the man’s arrest. 

An agency spokesperson said it has no higher priority than the safety and security of U.S. citizens abroad.

​’When a U.S. citizen is detained abroad, the department works to provide consular assistance,” the spokesperson said.

Mexican authorities have not disclosed any additional details about the man’s arrest or why he was in the country. 

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DHS Has Another Interesting Observation on Those Violent Mexico City Protests About ‘Gringos’

People got a big reminder over the weekend that leftist violent protests aren’t just something that happens in this country when things got out of hand in Mexico City on Friday. 

As we reported, there was a protest where hundreds came out against “gentrification” in the tourist areas, upset that foreigners, including many Americans, have moved into the area. Some of the signs were ironically fascinating. 

Masked protesters smashed through the windows and looted high-end businesses in the touristic areas of Condesa and Roma, and screamed at tourists in the area. Graffiti on glass shattered glass being smashed through with rocks read: “get out of Mexico.” Protesters held signs reading “gringos, stop stealing our home” and demanding local legislation to better regulate tourism levels and stricter housing laws.

Matt Vespa at our sister site, Townhall, picked up The NY Times description.

“Your new home is an invasion,” “We shouldn’t feel like foreigners in our own land,” and “Expat = gentrifier,” photos and videos of the protests showed.

There were also signs “Mexico for Mexicans” and “gringo go home.”

In this video, you can see protesters harassing tourists, smashing windows, with even one person spray painting, “Kill a gringo” on a building.

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USDA set to reopen Mexican beef imports despite concerns over flesh-eating screwworm infestation

Starting Monday, the United States will begin gradually reopening cattle imports from Mexico after a two-month suspension due to concerns over the spread of the screwworm, a dangerous livestock parasite.

Screwworms are parasitic larvae of the Cochliomyia hominivorax fly. Female flies lay their eggs in wounds or mucous membranes of warm-blooded animals, including humans, and those larvae then burrow into the animal. The larvae use tiny hooks in their mouths to eat the flesh of their victim and if that infestation is left untreated, an adult cow can die from it in just a few weeks.

Concerns were raised about the flies in 2024 after an outbreak was discovered in southern Mexico. Imports were restricted in November, then lifted in February before the screwworm made “unacceptable northward advancement” and the ban was implemented in May. USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins said at the time, “The protection of our animals and safety of our nation’s food supply is a national security issue of the utmost importance.”

The USDA announced that the first port to resume operations will be in Douglas, Arizona. The agency said this location poses the lowest risk due to its geographic position and its “long history of effective collaboration” with officials in Sonora, Mexico.

To support containment efforts, the USDA announced last month it would open a new sterile fly dispersal facility in Texas and invest $21 million to update a similar plant in Mexico. That facility will distribute sterile flies that are grown in Panama. No sterile fly factory exists right now in the United States.

Secretary Rollins confirmed the phased plan in a public statement, highlighting efforts by the Trump administration to contain the pest.

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Mexico City Protest Against American Ex-Pat ‘Invasion’ Turns Violent

In a role reversal that underscores a universal resentment of economic and social impacts caused by a major influx of foreigners, demonstrators marched in Mexico City on Friday to protest against the city’s status as a hot new residential destination for American ex-pats and remote workers. Though it started peacefully, many demonstrators turned violent, with some of them accosting Americans and smashing the restaurants, banks and other businesses that cater to them.

Angered by soaring rents they rationally blame on foreigners, hundreds of protesters marched through Condesa and Roma — two neighborhoods that are particularly popular with Americans living in or visiting Mexico City —  and proceeded to the US embassy and to a metro station. Their signs expressed a variety of sentiments: 

  • Gringo: Stop Stealing Our Home
  • Mexico For Mexicans
  • Pay Taxes, Speak Spanish, Use Pesos Or Get Out Of Here
  • Death To The Neo-Colonizer
  • Expat = Gentrifier
  • Your New Home Is An Invasion
  • Gentrification = Neo-Colonization
  • To Gentrify Isn’t Progress, It’s Dispossession 
  • We Shouldn’t Feel Like Foreigners In Our Own Land

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Gunmen kill Mexico city councillor during basketball game

Gunmen burst into a sports hall in central Mexico and shot dead a local government official attending an amateur basketball game on July 5, local authorities said.

Families and children had gathered at the sports centre in the violent state of Guanajuato, where Mr Ignacio Alejandro Roaro, a city council secretary in Apaseo el Grande, was killed.

The city council “strongly condemns the treacherous, despicable, and cowardly attack that occurred this Saturday, in which our colleague and friend, city council secretary Ignacio Alejandro Roaro, lost his life”, it said in a statement.

Local media said an armed man had been arrested.

Guanajuato is a thriving industrial hub and home to several popular tourist destinations, but it is also Mexico’s deadliest state due to gang turf wars, according to official homicide statistics.

In June, 11 people were shot dead and about 20 others injured in a shooting targeting a neighbourhood party in Irapuato, about 80km west of Apaseo el Grande.

A month earlier, 17 bodies were found by investigators in an abandoned house in Irapuato.

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FBI Compromised by Cartel Hacker Who Gained Control of Cameras, Multiple Left Dead in Fallout

Unidentified computer hackers associated with the Sinaloa drug cartel were able to garner phone records from the FBI, then used Mexico City surveillance cameras to compromise key informants and witnesses so they could murder them back in 2018, a new report showed.

This information was disclosed to the Justice Department in an Inspector General audit of the FBI’s efforts to “Mitigate the Effects of Ubiquitous Technical Surveillance,” according to Fox News.

The report cited the case against Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, who used to lead the cartel, but who was extradited to the United States back in 2017. While federal authorities were working the case, they were alerted to the hiring of a hacker “who offered a menu of services related to exploiting mobile phones and other electronic devices.”

The hacker “had observed people going in and out of the United States Embassy in Mexico City and identified ‘people of interest’ for the cartel, including the FBI Assistant Legal Attache (ALA T), and then was able to use the ALA T’s mobile phone number to obtain calls made and received, as well as geolocation data, associated with the ALAT’s phone,” the audit read.

“According to the FBI, the hacker also used Mexico City’s camera system to follow the ALAT through the city and identify people the ALAT met with,” the report continued. “According to the case agent, the cartel used that information to intimidate and, in some instances, kill potential sources or cooperating witnesses.”

The audit also highlighted how modern technology has “made it easier than ever for less-sophisticated nations and criminal enterprises to identify and exploit vulnerabilities created by” data from everyday items like smartphones and personal computers.

Some within the U.S. intel community, including CIA officials, described the threat as being “existential.”

This should send a message to the U.S. that computers have become the new battlefield. And we are still vulnerable in this area.

Even if the federal government expanded funding and continued using all the technology at its disposal, drug cartels can still gain the upper hand.

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