Smugglers

With the easy way closed, the refugees and immigrants are turning to human traffickers. -Vasilis Chronopoulos  Smugglers are currently offering to take people a short distance to the Hungarian or Croatian border, a service that costs between 200 and 300 euros ($214-321). They’ve also got wire cutters for the Hungarian border fence. Hundreds of people a […]

That accuracy . . . Maybe those scenes from the movie, Commando are not as improbable as previously thought. Regardless, there really had to be a better way to destroy that boat. Other than the longest sustained machinegun burst(s) ever caught on camera.

The post-ambush recovery showcases an interesting collection of materials. Nevertheless, solid ambush – as it was, immediately successful.

Government informants revealed to authorities that, in one case, a Gulf Cartel commander known as El Puma ordered that rifles and vests which had been used in a kidnapping and murder be placed in a box and buried in a property belonging to the Beltran family. The Beltran group had De La Cruz get rid of the weapons, which he did by taking them to a local gun store to be sold off.

Surrendering large groups of families to the Border Patrol is a method cartels have been using since before the humanitarian crisis two years ago. With August reporting the highest number of immigrant apprehensions during that same period since 2012.

Undocumented immigrants are flooding the border once again at the hand of criminal cartels, a tactic that Villegas said doesn’t always work.

“We’re always one step ahead of the game,” he said. “They have their tactics, we have ours. We have multiple units doing what they have to do, we have cameras, we have sensors, and we have things to make sure that they can’t accomplish their mission.”

Joel Luna seemed an ideal Border Patrol hire: south Texas native, high school ROTC standout, Army combat veteran.

A ledger documented the sale of drugs, guns and ammunition. Most damning of all, authorities said, was a commemorative Border Patrol badge and documents belonging to Joel Luna, including his work station password and Security Service Federal Credit Union account number.

Joel said he “had no knowledge of the safe,” according to investigators’ dash camera video. He was arrested on various charges, including tampering with evidence and capital murder. In his mugshot, he looked weary.

In a bid to stem the flow of migrants, the EU struck a controversial deal with Turkey.

In exchange for political sweeteners such as visa-free access to the Schengen zone for Turkish people, Ankara agreed a ‘one-in-one-out’ system for migrants trying to cross into Greece.

Implemented in March, it is aimed at halting the mass movement of migrants into Europe by sending those who do not apply for asylum or if their claim is rejected back to Turkey.

This is a likely explanation for the meteoric rise in Turkish smugglers, as new ways are found around security measures implemented by governments, leading to ever-shifting routes.

You read that correctly; this may sound too James Bond to be real, but it is.

The probe began in September last year after an Italian was arrested in Hungary “while driving in a vehicle with several illegal migrants”, Eurojust said in a separate statement. Italian police said the smuggling ring picked up migrants who had reached Hungary, and from there they were moved on toward Germany, Austria, and more rarely to France and Italy.

“Jihad is not only in Islamic State, it is everywhere,” one message said.

There is an ever-growing list of wrongdoing occurring along the border, and the issues run deeper than simply pinning the blame on Mexico and Mexicans.

MOSCOW –  Ukraine’s security service says it has uncovered a plot to smuggle Islamic State sympathizers to Western Europe. The SBU said in a statement Wednesday that it has sent an undercover agent posing as an ISIS sympathizer wanting to get to Western Europe to an apartment in the eastern city of Kharkiv. The agency […]

It was just outside of Brownsville, Texas where I drove amidst the beach. With the Gulf of Mexico to my left while I took a four-wheel drive through the sand and surf along what seemed like the far reaches as I skirted around fishermen and beach goers. It was early in the afternoon, and I’d […]