@elparece.bsky.social
OS drug war research, opinions / theories / speculation / conjecture solely my own
It's insane that war with Iran hinges on whether or not the president's son-in-law and golfing buddy can negotiate a deal.
20.02.2026 14:37 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Another salvo of OFAC sanctions for a CJNG call center scam pitching fraudulent timeshares at a resort in Nayarit near the Jalisco border. This is the sixth time that businesses affiliated with the CJNG have been sanctioned for timeshare fraud.
home.treasury.gov/news/press-r...
This is an awfully inept criminal conspiracy for someone with an intimate knowledge of the law and it's pretty crazy to end the DEA's presence in the Dominican Republic when countering drug trafficking through the Caribbean is such a high priority for this administration.
apnews.com/article/domi...
This seems like a negotiating tactic rather than a serious idea since $5/gal gasoline is a pretty big political liability
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/19/b...
This will be even more absurd if Trump and Netanyahu start a war with Iran this week without authorization from the UN Security Council or even an AUMF from Congress.
19.02.2026 11:11 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Not condoning in any way what Russia has done and should answer for but it's difficult to imagine how any international body is going to hold countries outside of the developing world accountable for crimes of aggression after Trump.
www.justsecurity.org/131731/russi...
Delcy Rodríguez, Vladimir Padrino López, and Diosdado Cabello are as corrupt as Maduro and probably more directly involved in drug trafficking. Make it make sense.
apnews.com/article/vene...
I saw this last week and realized this was my district and it was the most hopeful I've felt after reading the news in months. Looking forward to electing a former member of the DoJ's public integrity section, someone who knows what's at stake better than anyone.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/u...
Pardoning a convicted multi-ton cocaine trafficker is one of the most shameless, incoherent, and corrosive things this administration has done. They should never live this down.
www.propublica.org/article/trum...
The message of the gospels is antithetical to a political movement that delights in cruelty
www.reuters.com/world/us/how...
When a privately owned international bridge monopoly is deemed a matter of "national security" by the guy with a lifetime of thoroughly documented ties to Italian-American, Chinese, Russian, and Israeli organized crime, there's probably more to that story.
www.propublica.org/article/trum...
Some actually interesting Epstein files-related news: Francisco D’Agostino, a Spanish-Venezuelan businessman sanctioned by OFAC in 2021 until the Trump admistration removed them last year, advised Epstein and his partners on investing in PDVSA bonds in 2012 and 2013.
www.occrp.org/en/scoop/eps...
This paragraph from an essay by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei on one of the perils of AI being wielded to influence any individual or even entire populations understates how advanced this threat already is
www.darioamodei.com/essay/the-ad...
The greatest threats to U.S. law enforcement from drug trafficking organizations are bribery and corruption, not drone attacks
www.reuters.com/world/us/car...
Imagine the reaction from the Republicans if Merrick Garland had acknowledged a secret FBI or DHS-curated database of people deemed to have illiberal personal views. I'll be surprised if the Democrats even make this an issue.
15.02.2026 14:05 — 👍 3 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
After politicized prosecutions, pardons for loyalists and other political manipulation, restoring the Department of Justice will require structural reforms after Donald Trump leaves office (via Bloomberg Opinion)
15.02.2026 13:30 — 👍 114 🔁 46 💬 15 📌 4
This is close to the DEA's annual budget (~$3.3B) with a fraction of the results to show for the effort. The DEA builds about 25-30,000 cases every year against bigger fish at every step in the supply chain, nearly all of which result in pleas or convictions.
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
It rules that the law about lasers and flight paths has an exception specifically for DHS and DoD, and as soon as the adults aren't around anymore to say no they just go buck wild and shut down air travel to El Paso for 10 days
www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/...
The amount of drugs smuggled by drone annually is probably less than the amount of drugs smuggled in vehicles crossing through CBP inspections on a busy day. These are kids playing with a new toy.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/14/u...
Never forget that the Democrats have abided Trump pardoning and removing sanctions on drug traffickers and terrorist financiers at the apex of the food chain without making it into a scandal. Sinaloa cartel conspirators, MS-13 confederates, Al Qaeda and Hezbollah financiers. Utterly insane.
13.02.2026 16:22 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0The president of one of the first countries to open an embassy in Jerusalem sanctioned for funding Hezbollah. Hmm...
en.mercopress.com/2023/01/27/c...
You don't even have to dig very deep to find all this shit.
web.archive.org/web/20220722...
I'm not sure if people realize this but the Biden administration sanctioned the former president of Paraguay who this case ultimately leads back to for involvement in financing Hezbollah and cocaine trafficking in 2022. Naturally, the Trump administration lifted them last year.
13.02.2026 12:49 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0Offensive use of drones to drop improvised explosive and incendiary devices on civilians, rivals, and security forces has been limited to Mexico. Reliable information about the use of drones for surveillance and reconnaissance is limited but they're probably used occasionally.
13.02.2026 10:07 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
The supposed threat from drones is overstated by DHS and segments of the defense industry selling drone countermeasures. Of all the methods used for smuggling drugs, drones are a fraction of a percentage compared to commercial and passenger vehicle traffic.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/12/w...
The rot in DHS is obviously systemic and the safeguards were woefully inadequate if all it took was an election outcome and less than a year to transform an entire executive cabinet department into a lawless, masked, street-fighting, paramilitarized occupation force
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/12/o...
The mafia families in Sinaloa that promote an image of themselves as the honorable, gentlemenly outlaws just selling drugs are actually parasites extorting working people like a tamale vendor who gets murdered and buried with the others that failed to pay the tax.
www.proceso.com.mx/nacional/202...
The offensive use of drones and improvised explosive devices by armed criminal groups really took off in Michoacán in 2020 where Colombian exmilitary and exguerrilla advisers taught CJNG conscripts TTP developed in Syria and Iraq in the 2010s.
12.02.2026 09:59 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
The use of drones for surveillance of the border is common especially in Tamaulipas where there's more irregular foot traffic. There's no public data about the prevalence of drone smuggling but it's miniscule compared to what crosses in commercial and passenger vehicles.
apnews.com/article/mexi...
Opening an essay about immigration enforcement titled "what ICE has done to us" with a description of a USBP agent shooting someone in Chicago is exactly why there should be a distinction between ICE and USBP.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/o...
