Drug-related crime

Officer pleads guilty for using seized Porsche as prom ride

Jan. 17, 2020 11:43 PM EST

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A former Philadelphia police officer charged with taking a Porsche SUV from an impound lot and using it for his stepdaughter's prom has pleaded guilty, prosecutors announced Friday. James Coolen Jr., 47, pleaded guilty Thursday to a misdemeanor count of unauthorized use of a motor...

A police officer helps transport the body of one of at least five people killed during a skirmish between illegal armed groups in Jamundi, southwest Colombia, Friday, Jan. 17, 2020. Authorities say rebels with the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia operate in the area and may have been involved. (AP Photo/Christian EscobarMora)

Town on edge in Colombia after 5 killed, 2 vehicles burned

Jan. 17, 2020 10:59 PM EST

JAMUNDI, Colombia (AP) — A remote town was on edge Friday after at least five people were found shot to death, highlighting Colombia's struggle to bring peace to rural areas where drug crops are abundant and illegal armed groups are active. The killings happened overnight in an isolated part of the Jamundi...

North Dakota Gov. Burgum pardons 16 low-level pot offenders

Jan. 17, 2020 3:26 PM EST

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum announced Friday that he has pardoned 16 people convicted of low-level marijuana crimes, the first wave in what may be thousands under a new policy the first-term Republican said gives former offenders a second chance. The policy adopted last year allows...

FILE - In this Jan. 13, 2020, file photo Attorney General William Barr speaks to reporters at the Justice Department in Washington to announce results of an investigation of the shootings at the Pensacola Naval Air Station in Florida. The Justice Department has placed a high national-security priority on its probe of the incident, insisting that investigators must get access to data from two locked and encrypted iPhones that belonged to the alleged gunman, a Saudi aviation student. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

US attorney general talks drugs, guns at Mexico meeting

Jan. 16, 2020 6:09 PM EST

MEXICO CITY (AP) — U.S. Attorney General William Barr discussed a range of security-related topics with Mexican officials Thursday, according to a statement from Mexico's government. The meeting followed a December visit by Barr and continued the discussion of cooperation on arms trafficking to Mexico and...

FILE - In this Sept. 10, 2019 file photo, government contractors erect a section of Pentagon-funded border wall along the Colorado River in Yuma, Ariz. Defense officials say the Department of Homeland Security has asked the Pentagon to fund the construction of 270 miles of border wall this year as part of a counter-drug effort. (AP Photo/Matt York)

DHS seeks Pentagon funds for 270 miles of border wall

Jan. 16, 2020 5:33 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Department of Homeland Security has asked the Pentagon to fund the construction of 270 miles of border wall this year as part of a counter-drug effort, defense officials said Thursday. The officials said the request came in Wednesday, and the Pentagon is beginning what will be a...

37 charged in Puerto Rico to Wisconsin drug smuggling case

Jan. 16, 2020 4:32 PM EST

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Federal prosecutors have charged 37 people accused of sending cocaine and other drugs from Puerto Rico to Wisconsin and elsewhere in the country using the U.S. Postal Service, authorities said Thursday. The United States Attorney's Office in Eastern Wisconsin said the drugs were sold in...

Cypriot Kevork Tontian, right, and Brazilian Wemson Gabral da Costa talk during an interview inside Cyprus' prison complex in capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2020. Former heroin addict Kevork Tontian says he met the man he wanted to spend the rest of his life with behind bars, and not even his freedom was enough to keep him away from Wemson Gabral da Costa. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

Gay inmates tie the knot inside Cyprus prison

Jan. 16, 2020 12:49 PM EST

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Former heroin addict Kevork Tontian met the man he wanted to spend the rest of his life with behind bars. And not even his freedom was enough to keep him away from Wemson Gabral da Costa. Tontian, a Cypriot, says that after being released from Cyprus' central prisons complex two...

FILE - This combination of undated file photos provided by the Houston Police Department shows Steven Bryant, left, and Gerald Goines, in Houston. A grand jury has indicted former Houston Police Officers Bryant and Goines for their roles in a deadly January 2019 drug raid that killed a couple, prosecutors announced Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2020. (Houston Police Department via AP, File)

Murder indictments handed down in deadly Houston drug raid

Jan. 15, 2020 7:37 PM EST

HOUSTON (AP) — A grand jury has indicted two former Houston police officers — including one who is facing murder counts — for their roles in a deadly January 2019 drug raid that killed a couple, prosecutors announced Wednesday. The indictments follow similar charges that were filed in August...

FILE - In this July 8, 2019, file photo, Attorney General William Barr watches as inmates work in a computer class during a tour of a federal prison. in Edgefield, S.C. The Justice Department is making changes to its system used to identify whether an inmate is likely to commit crimes again after release from prison to ensure the process is fair and effective. It's part of a sweeping criminal justice overhaul measure that was enacted last year. The federal Bureau of Prisons has already assessed nearly all of the 175,269 inmates in federal custody. But the Justice Department plans to re-screen all of those inmates under new guidelines, which officials say places a stronger emphasis on accurately measuring an inmate’s change behind bars. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, File)

AP Exclusive: Justice changing how inmate risk is assessed

Jan. 15, 2020 4:48 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department is changing the system it uses to assess whether an inmate is likely to commit crimes after being released from prison, aiming to ensure the process is fairer and more effective. The impetus for the change is a criminal justice overhaul signed into law in late 2018....

In this undated handout made available by the Budapest Police shows cannabis cigarettes seized by the police from two Dutch men last summer on a scale as seen during a press conference by the Budapest Police (BRFK) in Budapest, Hungary. Hungarian police say they have recommended filing drug dealing charges against two Dutch men arrested in August at a popular music festival. One of the suspected drug dealers is promising Dutch sprinter Roelf Bouwmeester. (BRFK/MTI via AP)

Hungary police seek drug dealing charges against 2 Dutch men

Jan. 15, 2020 9:53 AM EST

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungarian police on Wednesday recommended filing drug dealing charges against two Dutch men arrested in August at a popular music festival. Budapest police said they found 20 kilograms of pre-rolled marijuana cigarettes and ecstasy pills with a street value of around 100 million...

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