Drug Trafficking

Cover of Darkness: S.F. Police Turned a Blind Eye to Some of the City's Most Dangerous Criminals — Who Were Also Some of Their Most Trusted Sources

Drug NAFTA: More Mexican Cartels in the United States, but Americans Are Doing the Smuggling

It can be hard to figure out exactly what to make of the evil, ugly specter known as Mexican drug cartels. A pair of investigative reports, conducted by the Associated Press and the Center for Investigative Reporting, have given us some conclusions to chew on -- and together, they paint an odd pictu ... More >>

Feds Admit There's No Proof Mexican Drug Cartels Link to California Marijuana Grows

A while back, a medical cannabis grower told us this story: Needing help on his pot farm, a young entrepreneur drove down Cesar Chavez Avenue, convinced some day laborers to become season-long laborers, and headed north. All went well until the helicopters overhead turned into boots on the ground, a ... More >>

Marijuana Legalization in Two States Has Mexico, Costa Rica Questioning U.S. Role in Drug War

On Nov. 6, the country watched closely as voters legalized small amounts of marijuana for adults in Colorado and Washington. And now those votes are resonating south of the border.This week, the president of Costa Rica said that increased demand for marijuana will impact Drug War-torn countries. And ... More >>

Mexican Study: Marijuana Legalization Would Hurt Cartels -- Badly

Backers of marijuana legalization measures on the ballot next week in Colorado, Washington, and Oregon -- sorry, California, but nobody ponied up the cash to give us the choice -- have an enemy with means: Mexican drug cartels, whose profits might dip as a result of legalization, according to a new ... More >>

Pusher Men

S.F Cops Bust a Bunch of Drug Dealers Near Local Schools

This is how the San Francisco Police Department welcomed students back to school this year: Putting drug dealers behind bars. Just in time for school to start,police  wrapped up its two-week program called "Operation Safe Schools," where they successfully plucked 25 accused drug dealers off the ... More >>

Endorse the Federal Narcotics Price Support Program and Other Drug War Euphemisms

To win a war, one must win the minds of the people (unless one chooses to vaporize said minds with a superweapon instead).So the next time you step over a crack-addled soul sprawled out on a Tenderloin sidewalk or dodge a gang of teenagers trying to sell you weed at the Stanyan Street entrance to Go ... More >>

Thizzin' Sensation: DEA Calls Mac Dre's Label an Ecstasy Front, But Insiders Are Skeptical

Bay Area Rap Mogul Stretch on the DEA Tying Mac Dre's Label to an Ecstasy Bust

[Editor's note: This week's music feature looks at a recent DEA drug bust that claimed a substantial connection between late Vallejo rap legend Mac Dre's record label and a large-scale Ecstasy trafficking ring, of which 25 alleged members were arrested last month. One source for our story was East B ... More >>

Feds: Drug Cartels Are Here, and They're Taking Our Jobs

Gone the way of UAW​The Drug War is going the way of the "evildoers," according to a federal report released last week. Two years ago, foreign drug cartels were in 230 American cities. Today, the cartels -- from Mexico, East Asia, and, presumably, Canada -- have infiltrated more than 1,000 America ... More >>

Francisco Carrillo-Beltran, Mexican National, Accused of Smuggling Meth Through Airport

Great for massages, not so great for drug smuggling​Border Patrol agents seized about 11 pounds of methamphetamine from Francisco Carillo-Beltran's luggage as he traveled through the Fresno/Yosemite International Airport on Sept. 11. Customs and Border Protection officers arrested 42-year-old Carr ... More >>

AG's Office Warns of Gang-and-Drug Armageddon If State Budget Passes

Kamala Harris​As lawmakers prepare to finalize the state budget today, another government agency has joined the chorus of groups declaring that spending cuts in the plan will be disastrous: the office of California Attorney General Kamala Harris.Harris, who has been on the job in Sacramento for si ... More >>

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

Asylum Denied

Only a fraction of Mexicans get U.S. asylum.

Held Captive

Coyotes who smuggle immigrants torture and extort their victims, helped by out government's failure to enact immigration reform.

The Killer of His Daughter's Mother

A cunning American boy becomes a Mexican Cartel soldier and East L.A. executioner.

Cowboy Down: Rob Krentz's Family Talks About the Life and Death of the Murdered Arizona Rancher

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

Chronic City: Marijuana, Money, and the Media

Compassion Family MinistriesYes, Grasshopper... Money grows on killa trees.Things are smoking on the marijuana front, and I'm not just talking about the ringing cash registers at newly emboldened dispensaries statewide. Time after time this week, the media brought together money and marijuana in pub ... More >>

The Druglord Connection: From the Windy City to Your Very Neighborhood!

Get Out of Jail Free

In the process of taking down the city's baddest gangsters, prosecutors and cops set some very scary people free.

South to the Future

Mexican Families to File Class Action Lawsuit Against U.S. Drug Consumers

Stop the Spread of Nukes -- Legalize Dope

Alan Cranston and George Zimmer devise a bold strategy at the State of the World Forum

The Housing Authority's Dirty Dozen

Twelve convicted drug dealers and other major felons have recently been employed by the San Francisco Housing Authority. But are there even more criminals on the public payroll?