cartel watch

‘The Winners Are the Cartels’: Mexico Slaps Cuffs on the DEA

“The DEA miscalculated just how militarized this country has become ... maybe the CIA should have warned them.”

Jeremy Kryt

Colombia Considers Ultimate Hit on Cartels: Legalize Cocaine

A ground-breaking and controversial new Senate bill would allow the government to regulate and process the drug. But what would be the long-range consequences of such a move?

Jeremy Kryt

CRIMINAL INJUSTICE

Mexican Army’s ‘Secret Brotherhood’ Forced General’s Release

High-ranking military officers blackmailed the civilian government into pushing U.S. prosecutors to drop drug trafficking charges against a former defense secretary.

Jeremy Kryt

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SAVED BY THE BARR

DEA Investigators Fuming Over Mexican General’s Dropped Case

Some senior law enforcement officials who helped build the case against Gen. Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda were reportedly not consulted ahead of the dropped drug-trafficking charges.

David Shortell

CARTEL WATCH

COVID Death Squads Blamed for Record Colombian Massacres

A string of massacres has killed 48 people so far this month. Some claim “coronavirus death squads” are targeting those who violate lockdown, others blame a series of turf wars.

Jeremy Kryt

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THE BACKSTORY

How We Cover Dictators, Dissidents, and Dangerous Places

International news and U.S. news are perilously intertwined in ways they never have been before, in a constant rush of events that The Daily Beast covers around the clock.

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