Latest news with #cartel
Bloomberg
4 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
OPEC Says Output Hike Tempered by Compensation From Quota Cheats
Key OPEC+ nations added less oil to the market last month than the headline figure of its output plan, as the cartel's leadership pushed members to atone for earlier over-production. The eight members involved in the group's current accord raised production by 154,000 barrels a day, compared with a headline increase of 411,000 barrels a day, according to a monthly report from OPEC's secretariat. Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and Russia were among those compensating for past excess output.
The Sun
6 days ago
- The Sun
Love Island star jailed for 14 years over role in ‘Amazon-style' drugs cartel which flooded UK with narcotics
A LOVE Island star has been jailed for 14 years for her crucial role in a multi-million pound "Amazon-style" drug smuggling operation. Magdalena Sadlo, nicknamed Barbie, helped transport hundreds of kilos of cocaine across the world for a major cartel based in the Middle East. 6 6 6 The 30-year-old, who appeared in the 2021 series of Love Island in her native Poland, was working in hospitality in Dubai whilst helping to flood UK streets with "eye-opening" amounts of drugs. Carlisle Crown Court heard that Sadlo, of Bracknell, Berkshire, was brought in as a financial director for the smuggling ring. Their operation was so slick that some investigators compared it to Amazon. She helped organise the shipment of cocaine, ketamine and cannabis to Holland and then on to Britain. Prosecuting, Tim Evans told how the international cartel could not have operated at the level it did without Sadlo's "efficiency". He said: "She not only manages the profits, costs and expenses but also manages the stock levels. "She updates who has taken what, at what cost, from what batch and the profit margins involved. "She is very much part of the inner circle… and is operating and seated at the very highest of tables. "She clearly knew the scale and seriousness of the trade she was engaging in. "No organised crime group working at this level could operate or function without Magdalena Sadlo, or an equivalent, performing this role." While based in the UK, she operated as a drugs courier, often collecting cocaine as it was imported into the port of Harwich in Essex. Drugs experts believe she moved 300kg of cocaine across seven trips, including 33kg of cocaine to Greater Manchester on one date alone. The drugs were stored in safe houses in the Manchester area before being distributed to dealers over several months using BMWs. She then helped launder the proceeds by investing in designer clothes and luxury watches including a £130,000 Patek Philippe and a £30,000 Rolex. Detectives held Sadlo when she landed at Heathrow Airport on February 13 last year, having flown Emirates first class from Dubai. She was caught carrying luxury watches, bracelets and rings, and a 'crime CV' boasting her business acumen and qualifications. Encrypted texts on her phones revealed her "Barbie" nickname. In one message, she quipped: 'The devil works hard, but Barbie works harder.' Sadlo was due to have been sentenced in April after admitting conspiring to supply drugs and to launder money. 6 6 But sentencing was adjourned after insisting she played only a minor role as a £1,000-a-month personal assistant. Finally sentencing her to 14 years yesterday, Judge Nicholas Barker said that Sadlo was "central" to the organisation. He added: "I conclude there was gain and reward and in some way considerable to you. "You are an intelligent woman and well understand risk and reward. "I find you acted with real enthusiasm and sought to impress those at top." Thirteen members of the gang have already been jailed for up to 20 years each. 6
The Independent
11-06-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Immigration officers intensify arrests in courthouse hallways on a fast track to deportation
A transgender woman who says she was raped by Mexican cartel members told an immigration judge in Oregon that she wanted her asylum case to continue. A Venezuelan man bluntly told a judge in Seattle, 'They will kill me if I go back to my country.' A man and his cousin said they feared for their lives should they return to Haiti. Many asylum-seekers, like these three, dutifully appeared at routine hearings before being arrested outside courtrooms last week, a practice that has jolted immigration courts across the country as the White House works toward its promise of mass deportations. The large-scale arrests that began in May have unleashed fear among asylum-seekers and immigrants accustomed to remaining free while judges grind through a backlog of 3.6 million cases, typically taking years to reach a decision. Now they must consider whether to show up and possibly be detained and deported, or skip their hearings and forfeit their bids to remain in the country. The playbook has become familiar. A judge will grant a government lawyer's request to dismiss deportation proceedings. Moments later, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers — often masked — arrest the person in the hallway and put them on a fast track to deportation, called 'expedited removal.' President Donald Trump sharply expanded fast-track authority in January, allowing immigration officers to deport someone without first seeing a judge. Although fast-track deportations can be put on hold by filing a new asylum claim, people can be swiftly removed if they fail an initial screening. 'People are more likely to give up' The transgender woman from Mexico, identified in court filings as O-J-M, was arrested outside the courtroom after a judge granted the government's request to dismiss her case. She said in a court filing that she crossed the border in September 2023, two years after being raped by cartel members because of her gender, and had regularly checked in at ICE offices, as instructed. O-J-M was taken to an ICE facility in Portland before being sent to a detention center in Tacoma, Washington, where attorney Kathleen Pritchard said in court filings she was unable to schedule a nonrecorded legal phone call for days. 'It's an attempt to disappear people,' said Jordan Cunnings, one of O-J-M's attorneys and legal director of the nonprofit Innovation Law Lab. 'If you're subject to this horrible disappearance suddenly, and you can't get in touch with your attorney, you're away from friends and family, you're away from your community support network, that's when people are more likely to give up and not be able to fight their cases.' O-J-M was eligible for fast-track deportation because she was in the United States less than two years, but that was put on hold when she expressed fear of returning to Mexico, according to a declaration filed with the court by ICE deportation officer Chatham McCutcheon. She will remain in the United States at least until her initial screening interview for asylum, which had not been scheduled at the time of the court filing, the officer said. The administration is 'manipulating the court system in bad faith to then initiate expedited removal proceedings,' said Isa Peña, director of strategy for the Innovation Law Lab. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, did not respond to questions about the number of cases dismissed since last month and the number of arrests made at or near immigration courts. It said in a statement that most people who entered the U.S. illegally within the past two years are subject to expedited removals. 'If they have a valid credible fear claim, they will continue in immigration proceedings, but if no valid claim is found, aliens will be subject to a swift deportation,' the statement said. The Justice Department's Executive Office for Immigration Review, which runs the immigration courts, declined to comment. ICE has used increasingly aggressive tactics in Los Angeles and elsewhere while under orders from Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, to increase immigration arrests to at least 3,000 a day. Tension in the hallways In Seattle, a Venezuelan man sat in a small waiting room, surrounded by others clutching yellow folders while a half-dozen masked, plainclothes ICE officers lined the halls. Protesters held signs in Spanish, including one that read, "Keep faith that love and justice will prevail in your favor,' and peppered officers with insults, saying their actions were immoral. Judge Kenneth Sogabe granted the government's request to dismiss the Venezuelan man's deportation case, despite his objections that he and his wife faced death threats back home. 'I want my case to be analyzed and heard. I do not agree with my case being dismissed,' the man said through an interpreter. Sogabe, a former Defense Department attorney who became a judge in 2021, told the man that Department of Homeland Security lawyers could dismiss a case it brought but he could appeal within 30 days. He could also file an asylum claim. 'When I leave, no immigration officer can detain me, arrest me?' the man asked. 'I can't answer that,' the judge replied. 'I do not have any connection with the enforcement arm.' The man stepped out of the courtroom and was swarmed by officers who handcuffed him and walked him to the elevators. Later that morning, a Haitian man was led away in tears after his case was dismissed. For reasons that were not immediately clear, the government didn't drop its case against the man's cousin, who was released with a new hearing date. The pair entered the United States together last year using an online, Biden-era appointment system called CBP One. Trump ended CBP One and revoked two-year temporary status for those who used it. Alex Baron, a lawyer for the pair, said the arrests were a scare tactic. 'Word gets out and other people just don't come or don't apply for asylum or don't show up to court. And when they don't show up, they get automatic removal orders,' he said. At least seven others were arrested outside the Seattle courtrooms that day. In most cases, they didn't speak English or have money to hire a lawyer. A judge resists In Atlanta, Judge Andrew Hewitt challenged an ICE lawyer who moved to dismiss removal cases against several South and Central Americans last week and put them on a fast track to deportation. Hewitt, a former ICE attorney who was appointed a judge in 2023, was visibly frustrated. He conceded to a Honduran man that the government's reasoning 'seems a bit circular and potentially inefficient' because he could show he's afraid to return to his country and be put right back in immigration court proceedings. The Honduran man hadn't filed an asylum claim and Hewitt eventually signed what he called a 'grossly untimely motion" to dismiss the case, advising the man of his right to appeal. He denied a government request to dismiss the case of a Venezuelan woman who had filed an asylum application and scheduled a hearing for January 2027. Hewitt refused to dismiss the case of a young Ecuadorian woman, telling the government lawyer to put the request in writing for consideration at an August hearing. Immigration officers waited near the building's exit with handcuffs and took her into custody. ___
CBS News
11-06-2025
- CBS News
A Colorado family fled cartel violence and requested asylum. The father was still detained by ICE.
Family in Colorado faces uncertainty as they navigate the current U.S. immigration system Family in Colorado faces uncertainty as they navigate the current U.S. immigration system Family in Colorado faces uncertainty as they navigate the current U.S. immigration system A Colorado mother is pleading for help after her husband was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement during what was supposed to be a routine court check-in. The couple, who came to the United States with their four children last year, fleeing cartel violence and seeking asylum, had been complying with immigration protocols, including check-ins with ICE. The family asked not to be identified out of fear of retaliation. "My husband was detained, and I really don't know what to do," the mother said tearfully in Spanish. "I'm just scared to go back to my country." CBS News Colorado reporter Jasmine Arenas, right, interviews a woman who says her husband was arrested while at a required check-in with immigration officials and is now facing deportation. The woman, who didn't want to be identified out of fear of retaliation, said she and her family fled cartel violence in their home country and had formally requested asylum in the U.S. CBS Her husband, Rogelio, was reportedly arrested last week without warning. The family's advocate said ICE officers cited a deportation order, but no such order has been presented, and no record has been found online. "We got there, and the officer told us they would detain him because he has a deportation order," the mother said. The couple's attorney and an advocacy group assisting them say Rogelio has no criminal record. Public records reviewed by CBS News Colorado found no criminal charges or convictions in Colorado. The mother is now left caring for the four children alone, including 7-month-old twin U.S. citizens. She cannot work or drive and is struggling to meet basic needs. ICE told CBS News Colorado that "most aliens who illegally entered the United States within the past two years are subject to expedited removals" and that "ICE is now following the law." But immigrant advocates say families like this are being unfairly swept up in immigration enforcement, even while following all government directives to attain citizenship the legal way. "It is not fair to these people to be taken in for a check-in and then be taken into custody," said Andrea Loya, executive director of Casa de Paz, a nonprofit that supports immigrants in detention. "This seems like a lottery." "It's something we're hearing about more and more in the community," she said. The national group Rise Up America is supporting the family. It says cases like Rogelio's show that deportations aren't only targeting criminals. "This is a hardworking family trying to do everything right," a spokesperson for the group said. "But they're still being targeted."
Daily Mail
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Homan reveals the truth on how LA riots started
Donald Trump 's border czar, Tom Homan, revealed that the raids that sparked the violent LA riots were not for immigration purposes. Homan explained that the raids that took place in downtown Los Angeles on Friday were part of a criminal investigation into a money laundering scheme and cartel activity. 'It wasn't an immigration raid. It was to service of three criminal warrants at locations based on a large criminal conspiracy that ICE is investigating,' Homan on MSNBC . 'That's why no one is talking about the Fashion District, it wasn't an immigration raid. It was to service of three criminal warrants at locations based on a large criminal conspiracy that ICE is investigating,' Homan said. 'That has to do with money laundering, tax evasion and customs fraud where a company under-declared over $80 million in goods, failed to pay $17 million in fees.' 'And it's part of an overall conspiracy on numerous businesses that they believe that some of this money is being laundered in Mexico and Colombia, the cartel activity.' Homan noted the raids were no unsolicited migrant round-ups, but specific arrests were made based on warrants. 'So, this was a criminal investigation that they all responded to in the beginning. That's how it all started. But the facts never got out,' he said.
