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Viewing Category: Drugs
State receives federal grant to fight meth abusePHOENIX (AP) -- Arizona has received a three-year, $8.3 million federal grant to help fight against methamphetamine abuse in the state.
The money will support the expansion and enhancement of meth treatment and recovery services through drug courts. That will mean more options for substance-abuse treatment and recovery, including faith-based services.
Permalink [Filed under: Drugs]Posted by Editor at 01:10 PM
7.5 years for pot-stealing Border Patrol agentA Border Patrol agent who was caught on tape stealing marijuana while on duty was sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison Wednesday and will have to pay a $30,000 fine.Permalink [Filed under: Border Patrol, Crime, Drugs, Security]Michael Carlos Gonzalez, 34, was found guilty of possession with intent to distribute marijuana and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking offense, according to a U.S. Attorney's Office in Arizona news release.
The convictions, which came down in March, also resulted in Gonzalez having to serve three years of supervised release once he is out of prison.
Posted by Editor at 07:29 AM
Ariz. task force recommends 3-prong plan to attack meth useTUCSON, Ariz. - A state task force has recommended an expansive three-prong enforcement, treatment and prevention approach to address Arizona's methamphetamine crisis, which Gov. Janet Napolitano called the state's "No. 1 drug problem."Permalink [Filed under: Crime, Drugs, Governor, Law Enforcement]"Marijuana is out there, we've got it. Coke (cocaine) is out there; it's bad. Prescription drug abuse _ bad. All these things are bad," the governor said. "But you can add them all together and they probably wouldn't equal the social damage that is being caused in Arizona by methamphetamines."
Posted by Editor at 01:54 AM
'Shadow Wolves' use old ways in drug huntIn an age when securing the border increasingly means big-budget, high-tech measures, an elite unit of Native American trackers employs ancient methods to track pot smugglers through the desert. Called the Shadow Wolves, these Immigration and Customs Enforcement patrol officers painstakingly probe the dust and vegetation for the slightest sign that a "mule" has passed. Inch by inch, they cover the Tohono O'odham Nation, a desolate stretch of land the size of Connecticut that straddles the international border.Permalink [Filed under: Crime, Drugs, Law Enforcement, Security]
Posted by Editor at 04:05 PM
Mexican drug cartels using migrants as decoysSASABE, Mexico - Mexican druglords are taking over the business of smuggling migrants into the United States, using them as human decoys to divert authorities from billions of dollars in cocaine shipments across the same border.Permalink [Filed under: Crime, Drugs, Immigration]U.S. and Mexican law enforcement officials told The Associated Press that drug traffickers, in response to a U.S. border crackdown, have seized control of the routes they once shared with human smugglers and in the process are transforming themselves into more diversified crime syndicates.
The drug gangs get protection money from the migrants and then effectively use them to clear the trail for the flow of drugs.
Posted by Editor at 06:33 AM
Ad campaign reveals horrors of 'devil's drug'The campaign, called the Arizona Meth Project, is a collaborative effort among 10 counties to saturate the media with startling anti-meth messages that authorities hope will convince teens not to try the drug - "not even once."Permalink [Filed under: Ads, City County Local Govt, Crime, Drugs, State]"I think it could have an impact. This is more honest and more effective. Instead of just saying 'don't,' it shows what will happen," said 14-year-old Daniel Williams, who was one of 28 Scottsdale middle-school students allowed to preview the ads Tuesday.
The graphic ads got their start as part of the Montana Meth Project, an in-your-face campaign launched two years ago. Organizers in Montana say the media and educational blitz has dramatically reduced meth-related crime and changed attitudes.
Posted by Editor at 04:15 AM
State launches anti-meth driveScottsdale middle school students will get a sneak peek at a statewide anti-methamphetamine campaign Tuesday designed to scare them straight.Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard and Maricopa County Supervisors Chairman Don Stapley, R-District 2 of Mesa, Gilbert and Scottsdale, will be at Cocopah Middle School to unveil the Arizona Meth Project advertisements the day before the campaign’s official launch on Wednesday. They’ll also talk to about 30 students about the drug.
Permalink [Filed under: Crime, Drugs, Education, State]
Posted by Editor at 06:59 AM
Border Patrol agent guilty of smuggling potA federal jury on Monday found a former U.S. Border Patrol agent guilty of smuggling marijuana in his Border Patrol pickup, a U.S. Attorney's Office District of Arizona spokesman announced Wednesday.Permalink [Filed under: Border Patrol, Crime, Drugs, Law Enforcement, Security]Michael Carlos Gonzalez, 34, of Vail could face up to life in prison and a $500,000 fine for possession with intent to distribute marijuana and possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney's Office public affairs officer Wyn Hornbuckle.
Chief U.S. District Court Judge John M. Roll heard the case, which began March 14 and ended Monday. Gonzalez will be sentenced June 26, Hornbuckle said.
Posted by Editor at 02:51 AM
Bill: 5% discount to firms with drug testingPHOENIX — State lawmakers are returning to an old favorite incentive to convince companies to test their workers for drugs and alcohol: money.Permalink [Filed under: Business, Crime, Drugs, Economy, Legislature, Taxes]Legislation approved by the House of Representatives would allow insurance companies that provide workers' compensation coverage to give policyholders a 5 percent discount if they have drug-testing programs. The measure, which already has been approved by one Senate panel, awaits a full Senate vote.
Posted by Editor at 02:28 AM
Sonora, Mexico killings reflect new dynamicBISBEE - A recent surge in drug-related violence in the Mexican state of Sonora is a result of new pressures affecting a group of loosely affiliated cartels known as "The Federation" that controls the state's lucrative smuggling routes, U.S. officials and analysts say.Permalink [Filed under: Border, Crime, Drugs, Murder, Security]At least 20 killings related to organized crime have been registered in Sonora already in 2007, and according to an analyst with the Texas-based private security consulting firm Stratfor, new crime-fighting efforts in Mexico are indirectly driving the violence. Shortly after taking office in December, Mexican President Felipe Calderon sent more than 24,000 soldiers and federal police to areas ravaged by drug violence, including Acapulco, Tijuana and the western state of Michoacan. Those deployments, said the Stratfor analyst, who asked not to be named due to personal safety concerns, has sent a number of unsavory characters scurrying to safer ground - a phenomenon that Sonora Gov. Eduardo Bours has called "the cockroach effect."
Posted by Editor at 12:37 AM
In Arizona Desert, Indian Trackers vs. Smugglers...At a time when all manner of high technology is arriving to help beef up security at the Mexican border — infrared cameras, sensors, unmanned drones — there is a growing appreciation among the federal authorities for the American Indian art of tracking, honed over generations by ancestors hunting animals.Permalink [Filed under: Border, Crime, Drugs, Law Enforcement, Security]
Posted by Editor at 06:37 AM
Goddard announces media blitz on meth useArizona Attorney General Terry Goddard visited Apache Junction this week to announce the kickoff of an aggressive statewide ad campaign to combat methamphetamine use among young people.Permalink [Filed under: Crime, Drugs, Judiciary]The campaign starts March 14 with a webcast — a stream of audio and video transmitted over the Internet — which will include images of the effects of meth on users, such as rotted teeth and extreme discoloration of skin.
Posted by Editor at 09:42 AM
Border agent sentenced for taking a bribeA former Customs and Border Protection agent was sentenced to nine years in prison Tuesday for taking a bribe to allow a vehicle packed with 440 pounds of cocaine to pass through the Mariposa port of entry.Permalink [Filed under: Border, Crime, Drugs, Law Enforcement, Security]Fernando Arango, 52, of Rio Rico, faced a maximum sentence of life in prison and a $4 million fine, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Phoenix.
Posted by Editor at 01:53 PM
Former customs officer gets 9 years in drug caseA former customs officer was sentenced to nine years in prison Tuesday after he knowingly allowed a vehicle with 440 pounds of cocaine inside to come into the United States.Permalink [Filed under: Border, Crime, Drugs, Law Enforcement, Security]Fernando Arango, 52, was working for U.S. Customs and Border Protection at the port of entry in Nogales when he decided to counsel a person who he believed to be a drug trafficker on how to purchase an RV and have it altered to smuggle drugs into the country, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Arizona.
Posted by Editor at 06:26 AM
Drug charges lead to prison for O'odham leader's brotherThe brother of the Tohono O'odham Nation chairwoman was sentenced Monday to more than two years in prison after pleading guilty to drug-trafficking charges.Permalink [Filed under: Crime, Drugs, Law Enforcement, Native Americans]Nicholas C. Juan, brother of Chairwoman Vivian Juan-Saunders, confessed July 21 to possession with the intent to distribute 134 pounds of marijuana, said Wyn Hornbuckle, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney in Arizona.
Posted by Editor at 06:22 AM
Border officers find more marijuana; seizures up substantially in fiscal '07The Arizona Daily Star has the story.
The record haul of marijuana continued this week along the Arizona-Mexico border.Permalink [Filed under: Border, Crime, Drugs]Department of Homeland Security officers seized nearly 4,100 pounds of marijuana the past two days near Nogales.
Posted by Editor at 06:05 AM
Sen. Harper is clean, results of drug test sayThe Arizona Republic has the story.
Folks who want to create Arizona laws should prove they follow existing ones by taking a drug test, a state senator is proposing.Permalink [Filed under: Drugs, Legislature]To prove he is serious about a bill that would require drug testing of all Legislative candidates, state Sen. Jack Harper took a drug test of his own this week and passed with flying colors.
Posted by Editor at 06:46 AM
State lawmaker finally takes drug test - at his own expenseThe Arizona Daily Star has the story.
A day after complaining he felt compromised by The Arizona Republic's request he take a drug test that he hopes to require of all legislative candidates, state Sen. Jack Harper took a test at his own expense.Permalink [Filed under: Drugs, Legislature]Last week, Harper, R-Surprise, had agreed to the newspaper's request that he take a drug test as a way of showing his support for Senate Bill 1066, which would require drug tests of legislative candidates. The newspaper arranged for the test, including payment.
Posted by Editor at 08:23 AM
DEA wants Mexico to OK office in NogalesThe Tucson Citizen has the story.
The Drug Enforcement Administration has asked Mexican authorities to approve new DEA offices in Nogales, Son., and two other border cities as part of the agency's campaign to combat narcotics smuggling.Permalink [Filed under: Drugs, Mexico]Steve Robertson, a spokesman at DEA headquarters in Washington, D.C., said the proposal is under consideration by federal officials in Mexico City.
Posted by Editor at 09:07 AM
Parents seem to support new random drug tests at SalpointeThe Tucson Citizen has the story.
Parents are willing to let their children be tested for drugs if it will give the teenagers a legitimate reason to refuse to use drugs.That appeared to be the feeling of most of the 100-plus Salpointe Catholic High School parents at a meeting Wednesday night on mandatory drug testing, which the private school will begin in August.
Permalink [Filed under: Drugs, Education]
Posted by Editor at 09:02 AM
County attorney and adult probation working on meth programThe Prescott Daily Courier has the story.
The Board of Supervisors will decide Feb. 5 whether to participate financially with Maricopa County in the Arizona Meth Program.Permalink [Filed under: Drugs, Health Care, Law Enforcement]County Administrator Jim Holst Tuesday said county-elected officials discussed the statewide program during the County Supervisors Association legislative summit this past September.
Posted by Editor at 08:58 AM
Senator proposes drug tests for would-be candidatesArizona Daily Star has the story.
A three-term state senator wants his colleagues, and those who want to serve with him in the future, tested for drugs.Permalink [Filed under: Drugs, Legislature]The proposal Monday by Sen. Jack Harper, R-Surprise, would not bar anyone from running or even holding office because of a positive test. Instead, the results would simply be made public.
Posted by Editor at 08:18 AM
Marijuana: Judge Throws Out Religious Defense in Arizona Marijuana CaseStop The Drug War has the story.
A federal judge ruled December 22 that the founders of an Arizona church that uses marijuana as a sacrament, and worships it as a deity, must stand trial on marijuana trafficking charges despite their claim that they are protected under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. That means Dan and Mary Quaintance, founders of the Church of Cognizance, face a January 16 trial on charges related to a 172-pound marijuana seizure in New Mexico. They face up to 40 years in prison each.Permalink [Filed under: Drugs]
Posted by Editor at 07:43 PM
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