Drug Trafficking

Mafia Cocaine Ring Ran Through Beverly Hills?

A mob-connected drug trafficker was living right under our noses in Beverly Hills, helping to stash kilos of cocaine, make deals with the Sinaloa drug cartel and move millions of dollars worth of drugs for the Rizzuto organized crime family of La Cosa Nostra. Those are the facts of the case for 39- ... More >>

15 Marijuana Grow Houses From L.A. To I.E. Busted In Federal Raid; 10 Arrested

Ten people were arrested yesterday and 8,000 plants were seized in a hydroponic marijuana-grow ring that spanned Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced. That's a lot of weed. Authorities say one of the ringleaders, a 39-year-old "top lieutenant" fr ... More >>

Griselda Blanco, Original Cocaine Kingpin With SoCal Ties, Assassinated in Colombia

Griselda Blanco, the cocaine queen who plied her trade in Southern California in the early 1980s, was fatally gunned down in her native Colombia yesterday. You're probably asking, What took so long? Blanco was one of the most murderous drug kingpin's in recorded history, having turned Miami into a ... More >>

Need to Get Your Drugs Through LAX? Just Bribe a TSA Screener

Four TSA screeners were arrested for allegedly taking cash in exchange for letting suitcases full of cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana to pass through checkpoints. The allegations focus on two current and two former TSA screeners: Three were arrested this morning and one was arrested last nigh ... More >>

AFI Film Festival 2011: Miss Bala

Teen Prostitute From Southern California Found Working Tijuana Streets

Nathan GibbsA woman in Tijuana's Zona Norte.​As we've noted, it's sweeps time for TV news in L.A. So you can expect a lot of typically sensational reporting (CBS2 found a city worker buying alcohol before heading to the mayor's house, for example). NBC Los Angeles' look into Tijuana prostitut ... More >>

El Chapo Guzman, World's Most Wanted Drug Lord, Just Had 2 Baby Girls Born in Los Angeles: Say Hello to my Little Twins

razon.com.mxHot mama: Emma Coronel.​They're not exactly anchor babies: Mom is an American citizen. Maybe they're more like AK babies, though, because dad is the most-wanted drug lord in the world, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. And his twin girls said hello to life on Aug. 15 at Antelope Valley H ... More >>

James Rosemond, Alleged Tupac Attack Orchestrator, Indicted For Interscope-Related Cocaine Ring

James Rosemond​Update: Interscope reps have responded to allegations that their L.A. offices were involved in the narcotics ring described below. Washing their hands of Rosemond, they call reports of Interscope's involvement "erroneous and completely unsupported," asserting that his alleged us ... More >>

Will Wright, Wannabe Hollywood Drug Kingpin in 'Six Degrees of Paris Hilton,' Gets His Wish: Cops Hunt Him for L.A.-to-NY Cocaine Ring

33-year-old Will Wright​Will Wright, one of the most outlandish characters in "Six Degrees of Paris Hilton" -- long-form journalist Mark Ebner's 2009 expose on the nasty, druggy innards of young Hollywood -- is finally seeing the spotlight he craved. "He's always wanted to be a drug kingpin, ... More >>

William C. Rempel's New Book At the Devil's Table: 7 Astounding Revelations About Colombian Drug Lords

Robert HarmonRempel, author of the new book about the Cali Cartel called At the Devil's Table​ William C. Rempel, who for 36 years worked as an investigative reporter and editor at the L.A. Times, has written the book At the Devil's Table: The Untold Story of the Insider Who Brought Down the C ... More >>

Jimmy Chau, San Gabriel Wah Ching Gang Member, Allegedly Had 2,000 Ecstasy Pills on Him During Traffic Stop

YouTubeWah Ching.​Damn, drug dealers have to learn have to learn how to drive. We warned you about this when last we reported about a suspect named Johnny V. Pham, who got popped in Arcadia for allegedly rolling through a stop sign -- with 8,000 ecstasy pills in his car. Now authorities say ... More >>

Enedina Arellano Felix: Meet Mexico's First Female Drug Lord (Hot)

Just call her La Narcomami​Mexico's Proceso magazine is calling Enedina Arellano Felix the world's first female drug lord today, based on information from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. While we're not buying that lofty title -- "Cocaine Cowboys" star Griselda Blanco was the godmother of b ... More >>

Mexican Cartels in L.A: Alleged Arellano Felix Plot to Kill Five People Over Drug Debt Unravels, Three Arrested

They're here.​If you need evidence that Mexico's bloody drug war continues to spill across the border, look no further than Palmdale, where authorities this week arrested three men they say are linked to an Arellano Felix drug-cartel plot to kill five family members over a drug debt.

Pot Shops: Protesters Decry Move to Ban Dispensaries in San Bernardino County

Troy HoldenA scarce resource in San Bernardino County?​Protesters are pissed off about pot in San Bernardino County. Or lack thereof. A group of demonstrators took to the San Bernardino County Planning Commission meeting Thursday in hopes of changing its mind: The county is headed toward an o ... More >>

Now That L.A. Has a Grip on Marijuana Dispensaries, Will Their Alleged Ties to Shady Supplies Fade?

Are cartels the buds of L.A. pot shops?​The city of L.A. on Friday tried to shore up it's pot-shop regulations. The new language would only allow 100 dispensaries to survive. That's a fraction of the more than 450 that operated at the peak of the city's marijuana dispensary business in spring, ... More >>

Miami Man Tries To Smuggle 14 Pounds Of Colombian Cocaine Through LAX In Candy Easter Eggs

Easter came early for ICE officials last Thursday​Esteban Galtes, the 23-year-old Miami resident due in L.A. federal court today for smuggling blow, could have at least waited until springtime to disguise his stash in little pastel candies shaped like Easter eggs. When asked why he was carryi ... More >>

Man Attempts to Smuggle 14 Pounds of Cocaine Inside Easter Candies

Flickr user ♥ellie♥Easter candy​Simone Walsh, over at LA Weekly's blog the Informer, is reporting that a Miami man is due in L.A. federal court today after attempting to smuggle cocaine, "in little pastel candies shaped like Easter eggs," at LAX. It would seem as though his plan has failed ... More >>

L.A. Cocaine Ring Tied To 'Behind Da Scenes' Record Label Used Private Jets To Move Product To Baltimore, Feds Say

GulfstreamAuthorities say it was snowing in the friendly skies.​Apparently, these guys were feeling fly "Like A G6." In fact, they were probably flying in G6s. That, at least, is the contention of federal prosecutors who announced a bust of a major coke-distribution ring. The bad guys, say th ... More >>

Federal Agents Bring The Pain Against 'East Side Pain' Gangsters In Los Angeles

The feds say East Side Pain moved weight.​We're telling you, if criminal organizations switched to old-timey names like the Eastside Benevolent Society and dressed in suits like the guys in Boardwalk Empire, there would be no heat. When you belong to a set called "East Side Pain," you display ... More >>

Legalizing Pot Would Cut Mexican Cartel Revenues Only Slightly, Could Boost Violence, Study Finds

​Legalizing marijuana in California would cause only a modest drop in revenues for Mexican drug cartels, according to a Rand Corporation study released today.Proposition 19 could also lead to a short-term increase in Mexican drug violence, as warring cartels fight over a diminished market, the rep ... More >>

Cell Phones Flooding to Mexican Mafia Prisoners

Schwarzenegger vs. Legislature pissing match means no crackdown

Pinalcchio: Renowned Forensics Experts Say a Pinal County Deputy's High-Profile Tale About Getting Shot After Encountering Drug Smugglers Doesn't Add Up

Prop. 19: Former Police, Justice Officials Stand Up For Pot Legalization Effort

​Backers of the November ballot initiative that would legalize pot on Monday rolled out several law enforcement and justice officials who are backing California's Prop. 19. A press conference was held in West Hollywood to announce the endorsements by cops, judges and prosecutors. "I was with ... More >>

Asylum Denied

Unlike refugees from other troubled countries, only a fraction of Mexicans seeking U.S. asylum are accepted – no matter how horrible their wounds or their stories

Seized

Inside the brutal world of America's kidnapping capital

Federal Authorities Crack Down On Pasadena-Based Bloods Gang

streetgangs.com​Thirty-four members of the Pasadena Denver Lane Bloods gang were arrested Tuesday morning following a crackdown by a task force consisting of federal agents and local police. Eleven of the suspects were named in federal indictments of 23 of the members, who were charged with co ... More >>

East Los Angeles Hit Man Trained by Mexican Cartels

A cunning American boy grows up to execute his friends and family

Cowboy Down

Murdered Arizona rancher Rob Krentz's family talk about his life and death

Badlands: From Ground Zero of the Immigration Crisis Along the Mexican Border

America's Cocaine King Hid From Drug Cartels for 25 Years

It took a screenwriter to find him

200 Pounds Of Meth And Heroin Seized In SoCal

Yuma County Narcotics Task ForceThis is your face on meth.​What does 119 pounds of meth look like? Oh, about yay-high, lives in a trailer park, missing some teeth. But seriously, that's a lot of country crack, and it was seized right here in Southern California. Attorney General Jerry Brown, ... More >>

Street Gang With Ties To Mexican Mafia Raided

​Federal and state authorities raided an Ontario street gang that allegedly has ties to the Mexican Mafia. Twenty-seven members of the Black Angels were arrested in the action Wednesday morning after a Los Angeles federal grand jury indicted 50 of the gang's members on suspicion of racketeerin ... More >>

Feds Hit Mexican Drug Cartel in SoCal

Federal agents today and Wednesday fanned out across Southern California and the rest of the nation in what has been described as the largest domestic crime strike against a Mexican drug cartel. Twenty-four people were arrested locally and three area cells related to the La Familia cartel were targ ... More >>

George Torres, Numero Uno No More: Even After His Racketeering Conviction, Questions Remain About Which L.A. Political and Business Figures Were Influenced by His Money

Troubling allegations unsealed in investigative files of case against the grocery-chain magnate, who was a symbol of either the ethnic striver or the ingenious gangster -- or both

Mario Beltran's Undertow

Police probe whether the Bell Gardens pol helped a three-time felon win a sensitive towing contract

Numero Uno's George Torres Faces Murder Charges

Rags-to-riches story of L.A. grocery king goes sour

Grocery King George Torres Fingered in Murders

Racketeering charges against Numero Uno markets founder include bribing two former L.A. planning commissioners

The Town the Law Forgot

An L.A. ’burb is mired in gangs, cartels and south-of-the-border-style politics

Bad Night for the Vineland Boyz

Huge raid could be a mortal blow to notorious Valley gang

LA’s Underground Power Broker

The name Vignali receded into L.A. history after the “Pardongate” scandal of 2001, but questions remain about drug-dealing son Carlos and his real estate magnate father, Horacio, who just might be pulling the strings in the remaking of downtown L.A.

A Kilo Full of Kryptonite

Big Joe Bralic thought he was Superman. Then the Canadian tried to do a drug deal in L.A.

Police and Thieves

Fernando Meirelles on the dead-end denizens of Rio’s favelas

All in the Familia

One man’s dogged pursuit of his drug cartel in-laws

Other Assassinations in Mexico

White Line Fever

Ted Demme’s Blow

Magic Marker Dragoon

Suing the CIA

Mom tackles the agency

Corridos Prohibidos

Los Tigres del Norte, Idolos del Pueblo

Re-Hash

Cockburn and St. Clair's Clip Job on the CIA-Drug Paradigm

The Coke Machine

The Story behind the Contra-crack cocaine story