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Cartel massacres and territorial wars, US pressure on Claudia Sheinbaum's security strategy, and Trump's terrorist designation threats
The National Transportation Safety Board said Wednesday that the driver of a Tesla that crashed into a Texas home last month, killing a 76-year-old woman, had pressed the accelerator to full speed, overriding the vehicle's Full…
2026-07-16 · 3 MIN READMexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Monday her government will file criminal complaints with U.S. prosecutors and pursue civil lawsuits against private companies contracted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, following the…
2026-07-13 · 4 MIN READFederal prosecutors in Los Angeles on Tuesday announced the arrest of 24 suspects across the United States, Canada and Europe on charges linked to three India-based organized crime groups. The investigation, which resulted in 37 defendants…
2026-07-07 · 3 MIN READFour Venezuelan nationals have been charged with stealing more than $529,000 from ATMs along Interstate 95 in Connecticut using a technique known as "jackpotting," federal prosecutors said Monday. The men targeted at least nine cash…
2026-06-30 · 3 MIN READThe U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration permitted hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills to reach New Mexico streets between 2023 and 2025 as agents monitored shipments without seizing them in hopes of building larger trafficking cases,…
2026-06-30 · 5 MIN READNew Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said Monday that state officials could pursue billions of dollars in civil damages after revelations that U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents repeatedly allowed shipments of fentanyl to reach…
2026-06-29 · 3 MIN READInvestigators uncovered 117 dead dogs at a northern California animal rescue sanctuary that described itself as a 'no-kill' facility, with many of the remains showing evidence of gunshots, authorities said Friday.
2026-06-27 · 3 MIN READThe National Transportation Safety Board on Wednesday launched an investigation into a June 19 crash near Houston in which a Tesla crashed into a home, killing a 76-year-old resident, as the victim's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit…
2026-06-24 · 3 MIN READMichelle Zajko, a member of the cultlike Zizians group, has been charged with murder in the 2022 killings of her parents at their Pennsylvania home, prosecutors said Wednesday.
2026-06-24 · 3 MIN READBrazil's Federal Police on Tuesday launched an operation targeting an alleged financial fraud scheme at Banco Digimais, a digital bank controlled by evangelical bishop Edir Macedo, and secured a court order freezing assets equivalent to…
2026-06-23 · 3 MIN READThe U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration permitted hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills to be distributed in New Mexico between 2023 and 2025 as agents monitored shipments without seizing them, according to three current and former DEA…
2026-06-22 · 3 MIN READA small private jet carrying six people crashed onto a highway in Laredo, Texas, Tuesday night, killing at least one person and sending five first responders to the hospital with smoke inhalation, authorities said.
2026-06-17 · 3 MIN READThe U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has asked the Justice Department’s internal watchdog to investigate whistleblower claims that DEA agents allowed hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills to reach New Mexico streets between 2023 and…
2026-06-25 · 3 MIN READMexico has demanded that two archaeological artifacts be withdrawn from a June 18 Sotheby's auction in New York, arguing the pre-Hispanic objects are part of the nation's cultural heritage and must be returned.
2026-06-16 · 3 MIN READ
The New World screwworm, a flesh-eating parasite that had been eradicated in the United States since 1966, has been detected in 12 animals across Texas and New Mexico as of June 12, 2026, according to UPI. The first case was found June 3…
2026-06-15 · 4 MIN READOliver Tree, the 32-year-old American alt-pop musician and internet personality known for hits including "Life Goes On," "Miss You" and "Alien Boy," was among six people killed Sunday when the helicopter he was traveling in collided with…
2026-06-15 · 3 MIN READA shooting in Midland, Texas, on Friday left one person dead and nine others hospitalized, officials said. The suspect was found deceased after a standoff with police, and four victims were undergoing surgery as of Friday afternoon.
2026-06-12 · 3 MIN READThe New World screwworm, a flesh-eating parasitic fly that was eradicated from the United States six decades ago, has re-emerged in Texas cattle, threatening the livestock industry with more than $700 million in potential annual losses and…
2026-06-12 · 3 MIN READA Toronto police officer was shot and killed Thursday during a raid on a high-rise building, an operation linked to a March shooting outside the U.S. consulate in the city. One suspect remains at large and is considered armed and…
2026-06-11 · 3 MIN READMexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and her allies have reacted furiously to a U.S. indictment of Rubén Rocha, the sitting governor of Sinaloa and a member of her ruling Morena party, accusing Washington of meddling in Mexico's internal…
2026-06-06 · 3 MIN READA California cryptocurrency mogul who called himself 'The Godfather' pleaded guilty Monday to orchestrating the attempted kidnapping of a Connecticut couple whose son had been involved in a $245 million Bitcoin heist, federal prosecutors…
2026-06-02 · 3 MIN READFederal prosecutors have charged four suspects with trafficking more than one ton of cocaine for the Jalisco New Generation Cartel using a fake retail store in San Diego as the front for a sophisticated subterranean tunnel that ran across…
2026-06-02 · 3 MIN READMexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Tuesday publicly urged U.S. Ambassador Ronald Johnson to focus on the bilateral agenda and refrain from commenting on Mexico's domestic political affairs, citing constitutional principles of…
2026-06-02 · 3 MIN READHuman remains found in New Mexico's Carson National Forest on May 28 were identified as those of Melissa Casias, an administrative assistant at Los Alamos National Laboratory who was reported missing nearly a year ago. New Mexico State…
2026-06-02 · 3 MIN READChilean prosecutors said organized crime groups are opening new maritime trafficking routes through the Strait of Magellan at the southern tip of Chile, using the passage as an alternative to the Panama Canal to move weapons, drugs and…
2026-06-01 · 3 MIN READPolling data from Uruguayan firm Equipos Consultores indicates that ideological identification among adults aged 18 to 29 has reached rough parity between left and right for the first time in a generation, reflecting a broader regional…
2026-06-01 · 3 MIN READA United Airlines Boeing 767 bound for Palma de Mallorca, Spain, turned around mid-flight on Saturday evening and returned to Newark Liberty international airport after a possible security threat, according to the airport's operator, the…
2026-05-31 · 3 MIN READArgentine authorities seized more than 700 marine animals trafficked from Kenya at Buenos Aires’ Ezeiza International Airport, conservation groups said, in what they described as a major bust of exotic wildlife destined for the ornamental…
2026-05-27 · 4 MIN READArgentine authorities seized more than 700 marine animals trafficked from Kenya at Buenos Aires' Ezeiza International Airport on April 26, in a coordinated operation involving the Environmental Control Brigade, customs officials, the…
2026-05-26 · 4 MIN READChile has begun building a new border “shield” on parts of its frontier with Peru and Bolivia, a project the new far-right President José Antonio Kast has framed as a hardline response to migration. In northern Chile, crews are digging…
2026-05-23 · 3 MIN READDaniel Sikkema, the estranged husband of New York City art dealer Brent Sikkema, was convicted in federal court in Manhattan of murder-for-hire conspiracy resulting in death. Prosecutors said Daniel Sikkema used a burner phone line to…
2026-05-23 · 3 MIN READA Manhattan federal jury convicted Daniel Sikkema on Friday of murder-for-hire conspiracy for the 2024 stabbing death of his estranged husband, prominent New York art dealer Brent Sikkema. Sikkema, 55, faces a mandatory life sentence.
2026-05-22 · 3 MIN READThree people died and dozens of first responders were quarantined after emergency crews in rural New Mexico became sick while responding to a reported overdose call, authorities said. Fentanyl and methamphetamine were found at the home in…
2026-05-22 · 3 MIN READDaniel Sikkema was convicted in federal court in Manhattan of murder-for-hire conspiracy resulting in death for arranging the killing of his estranged husband, art dealer Brent Sikkema, in Brazil. Prosecutors said Daniel Sikkema used a…
2026-05-22 · 3 MIN READThree people were found dead and more than a dozen first responders were briefly quarantined after exposure to an unidentified substance in Mountainair, New Mexico, authorities said. Two people remained hospitalized Thursday, and…
2026-05-21 · 3 MIN READThe U.S. imposed sanctions Wednesday on more than a dozen people, a Mexican restaurant and a security firm it linked to Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel and fentanyl trafficking, the State Department and Treasury said. The Treasury Department’s…
2026-05-21 · 3 MIN READArizona executed Leroy Dean McGill on Wednesday for the 2002 killing of Charles Perez, after McGill threw gasoline on Perez and his girlfriend, lit them on fire, and Perez later died. McGill, 63, was pronounced dead at 10:26 a.m. PDT at…
2026-05-21 · 3 MIN READTwo people remained hospitalized Thursday after three people were found dead at a home east of Albuquerque, in Mountainair, New Mexico, authorities said. Investigators are trying to identify an unknown substance that may have contributed…
2026-05-21 · 3 MIN READArizona executed Leroy Dean McGill by lethal injection Wednesday morning for the 2002 murder of Charles Perez, whom McGill killed by dousing with gasoline and setting on fire inside a north Phoenix apartment. McGill, 63, was pronounced…
2026-05-20 · 3 MIN READThe U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions Wednesday on more than a dozen people, a Mexican restaurant and a security firm it links to fentanyl trafficking tied to Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel. The Treasury Department said the designations cut targets…
2026-05-20 · 3 MIN READTeen gunmen attacked the Islamic Center of San Diego on Monday, killing three men and then themselves, authorities said. The FBI later said the suspects met online and shared white supremacist views. Investigators said they recovered more…
2026-05-20 · 3 MIN READArizona carried out the lethal injection of inmate Leroy Dean McGill on May 20, 2026, marking the state’s first execution of the year and the first lethal injection since 2025. McGill was convicted of the 2002 murder of Charles Perez, whom…
2026-05-19 · 3 MIN READAn attack by two teenagers on the Islamic Center of San Diego left three men dead and the attackers dead Monday, as Muslim leaders called for increased security and investigators examined writings found in the suspects’ circle. FBI Special…
2026-05-18 · 4 MIN READAna García, a 26-year-old survivor of one of Spain's deadliest train crashes, has captured national attention with her plea to find her dog, Boro, who fled the wreckage as rescue crews helped her to safety. The high-speed train from Málaga…
2026-05-18 · 9 MIN READPeru’s National Elections Board on Sunday officially confirmed the results of the April presidential election, setting a June 7 runoff between Keiko Fujimori of the right-wing Fuerza Popular party and Roberto Sánchez of the leftist Juntos…
2026-05-17 · 3 MIN READGunmen killed at least 10 people, including a child, in the town of Tehuitzingo in Mexico’s Puebla state in the early hours of Sunday, according to a statement from the state’s public security agency.
2026-05-17 · 3 MIN READTeam Ratas, founded in 2016 by Dominique Verdier, has rescued over 8,000 rodents from 11 animal facilities and labs, finding homes for more than 3,000. The group's annual Ratapalooza event promotes adoption and challenges perceptions that…
2026-05-17 · 3 MIN READMexican authorities said at least 10 people were killed in an attack by gunmen in Tehuitzingo, a town in Mexico’s Puebla state. The Puebla public security agency said the victims included six men, three women and a child, all shot in the…
2026-05-17 · 3 MIN READA weapons-grade chemical called carfentanil is surging in the U.S. drug supply, killing hundreds and prompting warnings from federal authorities. The substance, which is 100 times more potent than fentanyl and 10,000 times more potent than…
2026-05-17 · 5 MIN READPolice in Trinidad and Tobago said they are investigating after 56 bodies—50 of them infants—were found dumped at a cemetery in Cumuto on Saturday. The discovery comes as authorities extend a state of emergency due to surging gang violence…
2026-05-17 · 3 MIN READIn a Mexican state rife with drug cartel violence, civilian search groups dig through suspected grave sites, conducting the investigations that authorities have largely abandoned. More than 130,000 people have been reported missing in…
2026-05-17 · 4 MIN READKeiko Fujimori and Roberto Sánchez will face off June 7 for Peru's presidency after final vote counts confirmed them as the top two finishers in April's election. Fujimori led with 17.18% of the vote against Sánchez's 12.03%, with both…
2026-05-16 · 3 MIN READA wave of cartel drone and gunfire attacks on small Náhuatl towns in Guerrero state forced hundreds of Indigenous residents to flee their homes last week, leaving the elderly, wounded, and displaced sheltering under a basketball court…
2026-05-16 · 3 MIN READA former mayor allied with a presidential candidate was shot dead Saturday in central Colombia, along with an aide, authorities said, the latest act of political violence two weeks before a presidential election.
2026-05-16 · 3 MIN READBombs and drone-fired explosives have forced residents of Tula in Mexico’s Guerrero state to flee, with many family members describing ruined homes, lingering fear and few resources to rebuild. The Associated Press visited people displaced…
2026-05-16 · 3 MIN READNEW CASTLE, Del. — A family-owned Latino grocery store in northern Delaware has turned its produce aisle into a concert stage for bilingual indie and Latin acts as part of its monthly “Mercadito” sessions, pulling small in-store crowds and…
2026-05-16 · 4 MIN READIn a federal court appearance in Manhattan, Gerardo Mérida Sánchez, a former Sinaloa state secretary of public security, was ordered jailed after U.S. authorities charged him with helping the Sinaloa Cartel smuggle drugs into the United…
2026-05-16 · 4 MIN READKeiko Fujimori and Roberto Sánchez will compete in Peru’s presidential runoff June 7 after finishing first and second in the April 12 election, according to the final vote count released Friday. Fujimori led with 17.18% and Sánchez…
2026-05-16 · 3 MIN READSix migrants from Honduras and Mexico, including a 14-year-old boy, died in a sweltering shipping container on a freight train in Texas, authorities said Thursday. Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said a seventh victim likely also died…
2026-05-15 · 3 MIN READTAPACHULA, Mexico — On Christmas Eve 2024, a young Cuban woman called her mother to say she had put on a life jacket and was boarding a boat that would carry her and 39 other migrants from a southern Mexican port toward the United States.…
2026-05-15 · 4 MIN READA U.S. federal grand jury on Thursday broadened the indictment against Audias Flores Silva, the second-in-command of Mexico’s Jalisco New Generation cartel, adding charges of methamphetamine trafficking and conspiracy to launder money to…
2026-05-15 · 3 MIN READA teen was among six people from Honduras and Mexico found dead in a shipping container at a Union Pacific rail yard in Laredo, Texas, authorities said May 14. Police said the group was believed to be part of a human smuggling effort and…
2026-05-15 · 3 MIN READFamilies in Mexico’s Chiapas state have been scouring ports and roadside businesses for clues after 40 migrants vanished in late December 2024 while traveling a sea route used by smugglers toward the United States. The search has centered…
2026-05-15 · 3 MIN READClashes erupted Thursday in La Paz, Bolivia, as police used tear gas to disperse a crowd of miners trying to breach the government palace and miners set off small dynamite charges. The violence marked the latest incident during a second…
2026-05-15 · 3 MIN READA U.S. federal grand jury expanded charges against Audias Flores Silva, second-in-command of Mexico’s Jalisco New Generation Cartel, accusing him of methamphetamine trafficking and conspiracy to launder money, the Associated Press…
2026-05-15 · 3 MIN READMexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and the CIA on Wednesday vehemently denied a CNN report that the U.S. intelligence agency facilitated a targeted killing of a Sinaloa cartel member on Mexican soil, with Sheinbaum calling the story a…
2026-05-14 · 3 MIN READMexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Wednesday denied a CNN report that the CIA carried out deadly operations in Mexico, saying the U.S.-based network was trying to “hurt the government and the people of Mexico.”
2026-05-14 · 3 MIN READFederal prosecutors opened a murder-for-hire trial Tuesday in Manhattan, alleging that Daniel Sikkema arranged the stabbing death of his estranged husband, prominent art dealer Brent Sikkema, in Rio de Janeiro. Testimony revealed the…
2026-05-13 · 3 MIN READHonduran authorities arrested former Tocoa mayor Adán Fúnez and two others on Tuesday, accusing them of masterminding the 2024 assassination of environmental leader Juan López — a breakthrough in a case that had drawn international…
2026-05-13 · 3 MIN READThe murder-for-hire trial in the stabbing death of New York City art dealer Brent Sikkema began in federal court in Manhattan, as prosecutors presented testimony from his estranged husband’s former spouse’s confidante. A witness testified…
2026-05-13 · 3 MIN READHonduran authorities arrested three people, including former mayor Adán Fúnez, accused of masterminding the 2024 killing of environmental defender Juan López, a case that activists and international figures highlighted as emblematic of…
2026-05-13 · 3 MIN READColombia’s armed conflict over the past year hit civilians the hardest in a decade as security deteriorated, the International Committee of the Red Cross said Tuesday in its annual report. The ICRC said the number of people displaced as…
2026-05-13 · 3 MIN READOfficials in Argentina's Tierra del Fuego province on Friday denied that the deadly hantavirus outbreak on an Antarctic cruise ship originated in Ushuaia, calling the emerging theory a 'smear campaign' and demanding national investigators…
2026-05-10 · 3 MIN READIndigenous organizations from across the Amazon and Latin America sent a letter to the United Nations on Monday warning that organized crime — including illegal mining, drug trafficking and logging — is expanding rapidly in rainforest…
2026-05-10 · 3 MIN READMexico is embracing ulama, a 3,400-year-old pre-Hispanic ballgame, as it prepares to co-host the 2026 FIFA World Cup. In Sinaloa, a family-run revival of hip ulama is taking place on a dirt field, even as authorities and companies mount…
2026-05-10 · 3 MIN READIndigenous organizations from across the Amazon and Latin America sent a letter to the United Nations warning that organized crime, including illegal mining, drug trafficking and logging, is driving violence and accelerating environmental…
2026-05-10 · 3 MIN READIn the days since a hantavirus outbreak on the MV Hondius, some Spanish passengers have worried about how they will be received back on land, not about contracting the illness. They said sensational news reports and online memes have…
2026-05-10 · 4 MIN READA Diamond Bar man has rescinded his guilty plea to charges stemming from a 2022 wrong-way crash that killed one Los Angeles County sheriff's recruit and injured more than two dozen others, his attorney said Saturday, after a judge…
2026-05-10 · 3 MIN READBetween 800 and 1,000 families fled their homes in the mountains of Guerrero, Mexico, on Sunday after four days of bombardment with drone‑launched explosives and gunfire from the criminal group Los Ardillos, community representatives said.…
2026-05-09 · 3 MIN READWashington is using cartel indictments to run Mexico and calling it cartel-fighting.
More than 800 families fled their homes in rural mountainous areas of Mexico’s Guerrero state as gunmen attacked communities with handmade explosives launched from drones and other weapons, community and human rights groups said. The displacement began on Wednesday when a powerful group known as Los Ardillos began attacking communities, they said.
Federal authorities arrested 18 people on charges related to selling illicit drugs including fentanyl and methamphetamine around MacArthur Park in Los Angeles, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Officials said investigators seized 40 pounds (18 kilograms) of fentanyl from a single home and identified a South Los Angeles couple as a key source of the drugs sold in the park. The defendants are scheduled to appear in court Thursday.
President Donald Trump signed off on a new U.S. counterterrorism strategy that makes eliminating drug cartels in the Western Hemisphere the administration’s highest priority, the White House announced Wednesday. The 16-page document also lays out additional priorities that include targeting Islamic military groups, violent anti-American secular political groups, and preventing nonstate actors from acquiring weapons of mass destruction.
Federal authorities said they arrested 18 people Wednesday on charges tied to selling illicit drugs, including fentanyl and methamphetamine, around MacArthur Park in Los Angeles. Prosecutors said agents seized 40 pounds (18 kilograms) of fentanyl from a home and alleged a South Los Angeles couple provided drugs to a storefront where the drugs were later distributed to street-level dealers.
An explosion at a coal mine in central Colombia killed nine miners and injured six others who were recovering in a hospital, officials said Tuesday. The blast happened Monday inside the Carbonera Los Pinos mine in Sutatausa, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Bogota, according to provincial and mining officials.
Mexican American business owners and Latino cultural leaders are leaning into history and community this Cinco de Mayo, as restaurants across the United States prepare festivities that go beyond mariachi, tacos and tequila. In Los Angeles, Cuernavaca’s Grill owner Nayomie Mendoza said her event will include a nod to the Battle of Puebla and will also collect food and toys for people struggling amid higher costs and heightened immigration enforcement.
At least twelve miners were trapped after an explosion in a coal mine in central Colombia on Monday afternoon, officials said. The governor of the Cundinamarca province, Jorge Emilio Rey, said three miners escaped on their own and one was taken to a hospital.
Police in Amarillo, Texas, are asking the public for help identifying suspects in a shooting at an apartment complex that killed two teenagers and wounded 10 other people. City authorities said the shooting happened at about 2 a.m. Saturday. Police released surveillance video and asked residents to check doorbell and surveillance cameras for any unusual activity around that time.
Two senior members of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s Morena party in Sinaloa state announced they would temporarily leave office after a U.S. indictment accused them and eight other politicians and security officers of protecting the Sinaloa cartel in exchange for bribes and political support.
Pickleball players killed when a small plane crashed in Texas Hill Country were mourned by fellow club members Saturday as federal authorities led the investigation. The Texas Department of Public Safety said the victims on the Cessna 421C included pilot Justin Appling and four other pickleball players who had departed Amarillo and were heading to New Braunfels.
Colombia has approved a plan to euthanize about 80 invasive hippos along the Magdalena River after officials warned the population could exceed 500 by 2030 without intervention. The decision has sparked debate in Puerto Triunfo, where tourism and livelihoods depend on the animals that were brought to the country illegally decades ago for Pablo Escobar’s private zoo.
Federal investigators said the man who carried out a mass shooting at Brown University and later killed an MIT professor did not act randomly, describing the attacks as rooted in personal grievances and a sense of marginalization. In a behavioral assessment released Wednesday, the FBI identified Claudio Neves Valente, 48, as the attacker and said he planned the Brown assault in isolation before killing two students and wounding nine others on Dec. 13.
The U.S. on Wednesday unsealed a federal indictment in Manhattan charging the governor of Mexico’s Sinaloa state, Rubén Rocha Moya, and nine other current and former Mexican officials with drug trafficking and weapons offenses. Prosecutors accused the group of helping mass narcotics importation into the United States, and said some of the defendants shielded cartel leaders from enforcement in exchange for millions of dollars in drug proceeds.
President Claudia Sheinbaum said Mexico will investigate a U.S. indictment of 10 current and former officials accused in New York of drug trafficking and illegal weapons possession tied to the Sinaloa Cartel, and she vowed Mexico would not allow foreign interference in prosecutorial decisions. The move follows Mexico’s statement that it saw an extradition request but found it lacked evidence to justify arrests.
Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum ruled out a conflict with the United States over an incident in Chihuahua in which two CIA agents died in an accident. Speaking at a morning news briefing on Monday, she said she hopes the episode remains isolated and that the federal government expects the U.S. to respect Mexico’s constitution and national security laws going forward.
Colombia’s defense ministry and analysts say rebel groups carried out dozens of attacks in the country’s southwest in the days before a May 31 presidential election, raising security fears for voters and government bases.
Workers in Rio de Janeiro resumed construction of the stage for Shakira’s free concert next weekend at Copacabana Beach after a worker’s death halted the work the day before. Police said a 28-year-old locksmith, Gabriel de Jesus Firmino, was crushed by two stage elevators when the equipment was activated. Investigators said the company that operates the stage is under investigation for alleged non-compliance with workplace safety regulations.
Mexico’s Ministry of Security said Saturday that two U.S. federal agents killed in a car crash in northern Mexico were not authorized to participate in operations on Mexican territory. The ministry said one entered as a visitor and the other with a diplomatic passport, and it said it was reviewing the case with local authorities and the U.S. Embassy.
Two Chinese nationals face U.S. charges alleging they managed a large Myanmar cyberscam compound where, prosecutors say, workers were forced to participate in cryptocurrency investment fraud scams. The complaint, unsealed in Washington, details alleged management of the Shunda Park compound in Min Let Pan before it was seized by armed forces in November 2025.
Federal authorities arrested more than two dozen alleged Mexican Mafia members and associates in an early morning crackdown across Southern California on April 23, federal officials said. The FBI and other agencies executed search and arrest warrants at about 30 locations, mostly in Orange County, prosecutors said. A total of 43 people were indicted on charges including murder, kidnapping, extortion, illegal gambling and drug trafficking.
Six current or former Mississippi law enforcement officers pleaded guilty by April 23 in an alleged drug trafficking bribery scheme, while a Greenville police officer was found not guilty. The case stems from federal indictments that said an FBI agent posed as a member of a Mexican drug cartel and paid bribes in exchange for help transporting cocaine through Mississippi Delta counties.
Más de dos docenas de integrantes y colaboradores de la Mafia Mexicana fueron arrestados en una redada de madrugada en el sur de California, informaron autoridades federales el jueves. El FBI y otras agencias ejecutaron órdenes de cateo y arresto en unas 30 ubicaciones, principalmente en el condado de Orange.
A Canadian tourist was killed and at least 13 people were injured when a gunman opened fire on visitors at Mexico’s Teotihuacán pyramids, authorities said. Officials said the 27-year-old assailant carried materials they said were apparently related to the 1999 Columbine High School shooting in Colorado.
Un hombre abrió fuego en la zona arqueológica de Teotihuacán, al noreste de Ciudad de México, y murió después. Una canadiense murió y 13 personas más —incluidas varias de Estados Unidos y otras nacionalidades— resultaron heridas; la Fiscalía del Estado de México informó que el atacante fue el único agresor y que la causa de su muerte se determinará conforme a protocolos.
Rex Heuermann told his ex-wife while he was in jail that he killed most of the women in the Gilgo Beach serial murders in the basement of the family’s home on Long Island, according to a teaser for a new documentary episode. Asa Ellerup said Heuermann told her that the eight women he admitted to killing were his only victims, and that he killed seven of them in the basement while she was away.
U.S. officials were working for the CIA when two of them died in a vehicle crash in northern Mexico while returning from a mission to destroy a clandestine drug lab, AP reported, citing a U.S. official and other people familiar with the case. Mexican authorities said two Mexican investigators also were killed during a convoy returning from an operation targeting drug-lab operations in the state of Chihuahua.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — Prosecutors in El Salvador have opened a joint mass trial of nearly 500 alleged MS-13 gang members, with charges that include homicide, extortion and arms trafficking, according to the Salvadoran government. The trial began Monday in San Salvador as the country continues to rely on a yearslong “state of exception” that rights groups say suspends key due-process protections.
Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum said she will demand explanations after U.S. Embassy instructors died in a crash in northern Chihuahua following an operation to destroy a clandestine drug lab. She said her government was not informed of the operation and that any collaboration with foreign entities on Mexican territory without federal permission would violate Mexican law.
Nicholas Gutierrez, 25, of Diamond Bar, California, pleaded guilty Monday to causing a wrong-way crash that killed a Los Angeles County sheriff's recruit and injured nine others during a training run in 2022. Gutierrez was sentenced to eight years suspended prison time and five years' probation, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office announced. The plea came more than three years after his SUV veered onto the wrong side of the road in suburban Whittier, striking recruits on a morning jog.
A planned confrontation among young people escalated into a mass shooting Monday morning at a public park in Winston-Salem, N.C., leaving two teenage boys dead and five others wounded, authorities said. The two fatalities were 16 and 17 years old and were pronounced dead at the scene after shots were fired around 10 a.m. at Leinbach Park. Five other people between ages 14 and 19 sustained injuries ranging from critical to minor, according to police Capt. Kevin Burns, with four of the five wounded being female.
Daniel Kinahan, described by Irish media as the alleged leader of a major Irish criminal network, has been arrested in Dubai, Irish and Dubai police said. Garda Síochána said an Irish man in his late 40s was arrested Wednesday under a warrant from Irish courts over alleged serious organized crime offenses.
A longtime Drug Enforcement Administration informant was sentenced Wednesday in Austin, Texas, to time served after pleading guilty to failing to report $3.8 million in DEA payments on his federal tax returns. Andres Zapata, 48, a Colombian-American dual national and professional money launderer, received the sentence as part of a cooperation agreement in a decade-long investigation into agent misconduct, according to two people not authorized to discuss the inquiry who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
U.S. military forces struck a vessel Wednesday in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing three men the Pentagon said were trafficking drugs, the Southern Command said. No U.S. personnel were harmed, according to the command.
The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned three individuals and two casinos this week over alleged links to Mexico’s Cartel del Noreste, which Washington has intensified its crackdown on. The designations include casinos in Nuevo Laredo and Tampico, and individuals described by U.S. authorities as helping the cartel move people and provide illicit support.
Colombian officials have authorized a plan to cull dozens of hippos that roam freely in a central region of the country, where they threaten villagers and displace native species years after Pablo Escobar brought them to his Hacienda Nápoles ranch. Environment Minister Irene Vélez said previous population-control efforts were too expensive or unsuccessful and that as many as 80 hippos would be affected.
Peru voted Sunday in a presidential election that will choose the country’s ninth president in a decade, with mandatory voting for Peruvians ages 18 to 70 drawing more than 27 million registered voters, according to election coverage. The contest features 35 candidates amid public anger over violent crime and corruption, and many contenders are proposing tougher security policies as protests over crime continue.
Special forces in Guyana searched dense jungle in a mountainous area near the Brazilian border for the pilot of a single-engine plane that crashed near a gold mining district, the Associated Press reported. The Cessna Caravan, a 13-seat aircraft, was declared missing after failing to land as expected the day before, and local civil aviation authorities said the pilot was the only person aboard.
Five people have been charged with murder over a July 1 explosion at an illegal fireworks warehouse near Esparto, Calif., that killed seven people, authorities said April 10. The charges stem from a grand jury indictment related to the blast that also injured two others, Yolo County prosecutors said.
A miner was rescued Wednesday after being trapped for nearly 14 days following a collapse and flooding at the El Rosario mine in Sinaloa, northern Mexico, authorities said. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum also confirmed that one miner was found dead and another remains missing. The dam breach caused by a structural failure flooded the mine after the March 25 accident, and rescuers later lowered equipment to reach the remaining survivor.
A Guatemalan man pleaded guilty in federal court in Laredo, Texas, acknowledging his role in an attempt to smuggle migrants to the United States that ended in a crash in Mexico in 2021. Daniel Zavala Ramos, 42, entered the plea to a federal felony conspiracy charge, the U.S. Department of Justice said, and sentencing is scheduled for July 7.
Rex Heuermann pleaded guilty April 8, 2026, in the deaths of seven women and acknowledged in court that he killed an eighth, according to the Associated Press. The case began in 2010 when police searching for a missing woman found human remains in scrub along Ocean Parkway on Long Island. Over the next decades, investigators used DNA analysis and other evidence to identify victims and connect remains found years apart.
Erick Valencia Salazar, a California man who co-founded the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court in Washington to a conspiracy charge tied to cocaine distribution for U.S. importation. Prosecutors said he helped run the cartel and coordinated activities including recruitment and gathering information about rivals.
A 12-year-old has been arrested on suspicion of murder in the death of a classmate who was hit in the head with a metal water bottle during an alleged bullying incident at a Los Angeles school, authorities said April 3. Los Angeles Police Officer Charles Miller said the juvenile was arrested Thursday and that the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office will handle filing charges.
Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum designated Roberto Velasco, a former North America subsecretary and U.S. relations specialist, as the country’s new foreign minister on April 2, replacing Juan Ramón de la Fuente, who requested to step down for health reasons. Velasco’s appointment must be ratified by Mexico’s Senate.
A pile-up at a toll booth on a busy highway in central Colombia killed at least two people and injured 19, local authorities said Wednesday. The crash occurred on the Cundinamarca highway about 50 kilometers north of Bogota after a milk truck lost control of its brakes, officials said.
Prosecutors in Galveston County, Texas, have indicted a man they allege was involved in the “Texas Killing Fields” deaths of Laura Miller, 16, and Audrey Cook, 30, whose bodies were found near Houston in the 1980s. The Galveston County district attorney said the case had been pursued as part of a long-running investigation into the deaths of dozens of women and girls found beginning in the 1970s.
Mexico’s government has denied accusations by environmental groups that it lied about where a massive oil spill off Veracruz in the Gulf of Mexico began, after the spill spread into protected nature reserves and coastal areas. Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, said Tuesday that authorities have not reported any leak in state oil infrastructure and that natural seeps are a more likely explanation. The groups, which include Greenpeace Mexico and CEMDA, cite satellite images and say an oil slick appeared in early February and points to a pipeline tied to state-run Pemex.
Filipino Americans are rethinking how to mark César Chavez Day and similar events after allegations of sexual abuse by the labor leader, with some states and localities renaming the holiday to Farmworkers Day. The 1965 Delano grape strike — led by Filipino labor leader Larry Itliong and Mexican American organizer organizers — is central to the push to broaden the story beyond Chavez, advocates and historians said.
The U.S. Marine corporal Andrew Paul Amarillas, an ammunition specialist at Camp Pendleton, was charged in federal court with stealing and selling military weapons and ammunition, including a shoulder-fired missile system, authorities said. Amarillas pleaded not guilty in Phoenix and is accused of transporting the items to Arizona to sell to co-conspirators, according to court documents.
President José Antonio Kast said his administration will tighten security at schools after a stabbing left one dead and four wounded, and after a student was detained trying to enter a school with a loaded firearm. Education Minister María Paz Arzola said her office is drafting a bill that would allow teachers to inspect students’ backpacks and that the government will work to expedite metal detectors at schools.
SAN BARTOLO MORELOS, Mexico (AP) — Cruz Monroy has carried towers of small cages filled with birds through the streets for 32 years, but he says Mexico’s street bird-vending tradition is fading. During Palm Sunday, hundreds of pajareros travel to Mexico City to decorate about 10-foot stacks of cages for a procession to the basilica, though authorities have tightened restrictions and animal rights groups have criticized the practice.
A pledge master for a fraternity at Northern Arizona University was indicted Friday on a felony hazing charge in connection with the death of a student who died after a night of drinking at a rush event, according to court and university statements. The charge alleges Carter Eslick caused or forced the drinking that led to Colin Daniel Martinez’s death on Jan. 31.
Four of seven law enforcement officers in Costilla County, Colorado, including Sheriff Danny Sanchez, were indicted by a grand jury on criminal misconduct charges, prosecutors said March 27. The charges include allegations involving the handling of human remains found in October 2024 and a separate case involving the use of a Taser during a February mental health crisis. District Attorney Anne Kelly said the office will pursue the cases regardless of who is accused.
Nestlé says about 12 tons—413,793 KitKat candy bars—were stolen after a shipment left the company’s production site in Italy and was headed for Poland. The Swiss company said the vehicle and its load were still missing as of Friday.
Mexico’s government said it has identified signs of life for about a third of the country’s roughly 130,000 registered missing people, a report issued as families and search groups renew demands for clearer records. Officials said they found activity in government databases for 40,367 people reported missing, and they said 5,269 have been marked as “found.” The announcement drew swift criticism from search collectives and a human rights group.
A stabbing at a school in Calama, in Chile’s northern Antofagasta region, killed at least one person and injured four others on Friday, police said. Carabineros said a 12th-grade student attacked three students and two staff members, and police later subdued and detained the attacker.
Mexico’s navy secretary said a Gulf of Mexico oil spill that began in early March spread more than 600 kilometers (373 miles) and reached seven nature reserves along parts of Veracruz and Tabasco, with contaminants also tied to natural oil seeps. Admiral Raymundo Morales said authorities identified three spill sources after satellite analysis and inspections, including a vessel near Coatzacoalcos and two types of “chapopotera” or other seep sites, and that the spill’s most likely effects were not expected to be severe.
Two pilots who died when an Air Canada regional jet collided with a fire truck on a LaGuardia Airport runway were identified this week as Mackenzie Gunther and Antoine Forrest, according to a family member and a Canadian college that confirmed their training. The crash sent about 40 of the roughly 70 passengers and crew on the regional jet, as well as two people from the fire truck, to hospitals for treatment, with many released by Monday morning, authorities said. An investigation is under way into the crash’s cause.
Mexican authorities found 229 migrants packed in the back of a truck traveling through the eastern state of Veracruz, marking the first such encounter in months, officials said. The migrants were discovered after they began calling for help from inside a vehicle that had been taken to a police impound lot, according to the state official and a witness who spoke anonymously.
Spanish police said they found the body of James “Jimmy” Gracey, an Illinois college student who went missing in Barcelona while on spring break.
Ecuador’s foreign minister said her country has carried out attacks against Colombian irregular armed groups only in Ecuadorian territory, after Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro alleged a bomb fell from an aircraft near the border. The two nations also remain locked in a widening tariff dispute that has hurt businesses and transport as officials trade accusations over border security.
The shooting happened Tuesday evening at Holloman Air Force Base near Alamogordo, New Mexico, where a U.S. Air Force statement said one person was killed and another was injured. Military officials said the incident was the result of an isolated domestic dispute, and they did not identify either victim. The base was placed on lockdown for nearly three hours after reports of an active shooter.
Ecuadorian authorities and Colombian police said an Ecuadorian man wanted in Colombia and Ecuador for the 2023 killing of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was arrested in Mexico and transferred to Colombia. Colombian migration officials said the man, known as “Lobo Menor,” arrived at El Dorado Airport in Bogota and was intercepted by Colombia’s migration authorities on Wednesday.
A shooting at Holloman Air Force Base near Alamogordo, New Mexico, left one person dead and another wounded, according to military officials. The base went into lockdown after reports of an active shooter near a convenience store, and the wounded person was taken for medical treatment.
Mexico City set a world record for the largest soccer class ever on Sunday, organizers said, as 9,500 participants filled the capital’s Zócalo ahead of the World Cup opening match in June. Guinness World Records’ Alfredo Arista Rueda confirmed the record during the event, which featured drills led by instructors.
Spain’s King Felipe VI said during a museum visit in Madrid that the Spanish conquest of the Americas included “much abuse” and “ethical controversies,” acknowledging historical harm as a dispute with Mexico over colonial-era abuses continues to simmer. Speaking after conversations with Mexico’s ambassador to Spain, Quirino Ordaz, Felipe said Spain’s actions cannot be judged “with excessive moral presentism,” while still saying modern values make it “obvious” the history “cannot make us feel proud.” Sheinbaum said she would look into the king’s remarks, while Spain has stopped short of a formal royal apology.
Mexico’s agave spirit mezcal is still made largely the same way as in past generations, with work guided by knowledge passed down within Indigenous families, the Associated Press reported. In villages in Oaxaca, where mezcal is produced, the spirit is used as a home remedy and served at weddings, funerals and community celebrations. The AP described the steps from harvesting agave to distillation, including how some producers are adopting practices aimed at reducing water and waste.
Ecuadorian officials said they deployed 75,000 soldiers and police to four crime-ridden provinces to enforce a nightly curfew from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. The curfew began Sunday night in Guayas, El Oro, Los Ríos and Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas and is expected to last two weeks, officials said.
Siblings Antonio and Maribel Espaillat, owners of the Jet Set nightclub, appeared in court in Santo Domingo on Monday for the first hearing in a case over the 2025 roof collapse that killed 236 people. Prosecutors accused them of involuntary manslaughter and involuntary assault and battery, and a judge postponed the hearing until April 6. Outside the courthouse, families and supporters shouted at the brothers as they left, while lawyers for the Espaillats did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Peruvian presidential candidate Napoleón Becerra, 61, died Sunday in a car accident on a remote Andean highway while traveling to a political rally, according to local police. His Workers and Entrepreneurs Party said his body was taken to Huamanga in the Ayacucho region, where the accident occurred. The April 12 election is set against a backdrop of political instability following a corruption-driven ouster of a prior interim president in February.
Ecuador will launch a major offensive against criminal organizations in three western provinces this weekend, with logistical support from the United States, Interior Minister John Reimberg said Wednesday. Reimberg also urged residents in the provinces of Guayas, Los Ríos and Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas to follow an 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew from March 15-30, aimed at keeping roads clear for troop and equipment movement. The announcement came days after Ecuador and the U.S. began joint military operations against organized crime groups, and later Wednesday the two sides announced an agreement to establish an FBI office in Ecuador.
A bombing at the Dali nightclub in Peru’s Trujillo region injured 33 people, including minors, authorities said Saturday. The blast happened in the pre-dawn hours at the venue along the northern coast, according to a statement from the local Emergency Operations Center.
Authorities in Peru arrested three people after a bombing at a nightclub in Trujillo injured 33 people, including minors, and the number of injured rose to 44, according to health officials. The explosion happened in the pre-dawn hours Saturday at the Dalí nightclub in La Libertad, local emergency officials said.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum visited the western state of Jalisco on Friday, a senior security briefing held after a wave of violence that authorities linked to the killing of a top cartel boss. The visit came with fewer than 100 days before the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with Guadalajara among the host cities.
Colombian police said they captured 121 people charged with kidnapping and extortion in a multi-city operation called “Operation Jade.” The arrests included suspects linked, police said, to groups such as the Gulf Clan, the National Liberation Army and Tren de Aragua, with raids carried out in cities including Bogota, Medellin and Cartagena. Police said the effort targeted regions where traffickers and rebel groups have expanded territory.
A prehistoric skeleton has been found deep in a flooded cave system on Mexico’s Caribbean coast, near Tulum and Playa del Carmen, a cave-diving archaeologist said. The skeleton was recovered in late 2025 and is being analyzed, after the discovery was made about 26 feet (8 meters) below the surface.
Mexican authorities returned the body of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho,” to his family after the Mexican army killed him last week, officials said. The Attorney General’s Office said it completed “all the necessary procedural protocols,” including genetic testing to confirm the family’s blood ties. Violence that followed the killing killed more than 70 people across about 20 states, authorities and analysts said.
The death toll rose to 22 Saturday after a military cargo plane crashed near La Paz, Bolivia, damaging vehicles and scattering newly printed banknotes, a police commander said. Police said 29 people were injured, most of them passengers traveling on public transportation where the plane came down.
A Bolivian Air Force cargo plane carrying newly printed currency crashed near La Paz on Friday, leaving at least 15 people dead and damaging vehicles on a nearby highway, officials said. Defense Minister Marcelo Salinas said the Hercules C-130 “landed and veered off the runway” at an airport in El Alto before ending up in a nearby field.
Families in Guadalajara, Jalisco, are hanging thousands of fliers with photos of people who were forcibly disappeared, saying authorities are trying to make it easier to remove the signs ahead of the FIFA World Cup. The conflict follows violence after the killing of the cartel leader known as “El Mencho,” and some search groups say they have had to suspend investigations.
The U.S. State Department announced on Thursday that it will pay up to $10 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of brothers Rene Arzate Garcia, 42, and Alfonso Arzate Garcia, 52, who are alleged to control the Sinaloa cartel’s key trafficking hub at Tijuana. The reward—$5 million for each brother—targets a critical node that the department says gives the cartel a tactical advantage at the busiest border crossing in the Western Hemisphere. A superseding indictment was also filed against Rene Arzate Garcia on charges that include conspiracy, narcoterrorism and material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.
As spring break approaches, security and travel-risk experts urged travelers to assess Mexico destinations carefully after cartel-related violence flared in parts of the country last weekend.
Antonio Tejero, a former Spanish lieutenant colonel who led a failed coup attempt in 1981, died Wednesday evening in the eastern town of Alzira, his family’s law firm said. He was 93.
A man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter in a head-on crash in rural West Texas that killed Laura Lynch, a founding member of the country group now known as The Chicks, prosecutors said. The crash occurred Dec. 22, 2023, in Hudspeth County, and prosecutors said Domenick Chavez was driving on a suspended license and at highway speeds.
People in Mexico fled to online information during unrest after Mexico’s Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho,” was killed, but social media posts depicting a country in chaos spread faster than verified reporting. Mexican officials and a private university said many of the viral claims involved misleading content and images generated by artificial intelligence, including false messages that gunmen had seized an airport and that the president was hiding on a naval vessel.
Mexican forces killed Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, alias “El Mencho,” in an operation in Jalisco that Mexico’s Defense Ministry said was supported by U.S. intelligence. The death of the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) was followed by arson, looting and road blockades across 20 Mexican states, according to authorities.
Gunfire and explosions in Jalisco, Mexico, on Feb. 24 amplified local worries about whether Guadalajara can host FIFA World Cup matches as the country’s drug war churns. President Claudia Sheinbaum and Jalisco Gov. Jesús Pablo Lemus said there is “no risk” for fans and that World Cup venues will not change, after Mexico’s military killed cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho.”
Mexican authorities said Monday they killed Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho,” the Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader, during a special forces operation in Jalisco on Sunday. The Mexican Defense Secretary, Gen. Ricardo Trevilla, said the effort followed surveillance of a romantic partner and included U.S. intelligence information.
A severe winter snowstorm across the northeastern United States, violence following a powerful cartel leader's killing in Mexico, and a partial government shutdown converged Monday to disrupt air travel, with airlines canceling more than 5,600 flights. The overlapping crises cascaded through ground transportation networks and complicated border operations.
The Mexican army killed Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, alias El Mencho, on February 23 during an operation in Tapalpa, Jalisco, Defense Secretary Ricardo Trevilla said. The death of the leader of the Jalisco Cartel Nueva Generación—Mexico's fastest-growing drug trafficking organization and one of the world's largest fentanilo suppliers—triggered immediate and widespread cartel retaliation across the country, with hundreds of highway blockades, arson attacks, and assaults on authorities.
The Mexican army killed Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and one of the world's most wanted drug traffickers, during an operation Sunday in Jalisco state. Defense Secretary Ricardo Trevilla said the killing marked the government's most significant victory against organized crime in more than a decade. Cartel gunmen responded with violence across Mexico, torching cars and blocking roads in 20 states.
Mexican soldiers killed Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, in a shootout Sunday in the town of Tapalpa. His death triggered a surge in violence across Mexico, with cartel gunmen blocking more than 250 roads across 20 states and setting fire to vehicles. More than 70 people died in the operation and its aftermath, authorities said Monday.
The Mexican army killed the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel on Sunday after an operation to capture him in Jalisco state, the Defense Department said. Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, known as "El Mencho," was wounded during the military operation in Tapalpa on February 22 and died while being transported to Mexico City, authorities said. The operation marked a major victory for the Trump administration's push to crack down on drug trafficking from Mexico to the United States. The White House said it provided intelligence support for the operation.
Trinidad and Tobago’s annual carnival reached its climax Tuesday as the country’s creative community tried to keep the celebrations affordable for residents squeezed by higher prices. The Associated Press reported that ticket costs for premium events were nearing $700 and costumes for some masquerade bands topped $2,000, prompting community-led efforts such as free lessons and free performances. Organizers and residents said the pressure is leaving some families unable to take part in the street festivities that draw tens of thousands of people.
Colombian officials identified the remains of Camilo Torres, a priest who joined an armed guerrilla group and was killed in combat nearly 60 years ago, the Unit for the Search of Missing People said Monday. The agency said forensic and genetic tests and historical document reviews confirmed that bones found in Bucaramanga two years ago belonged to Torres, who was killed in a firefight with Colombia’s army in February 1966.
In coastal mountain towns in Sinaloa, Mexico, residents and families searched for answers after 10 employees were abducted from a Canadian-owned silver and gold mine in late January. The bodies of five were found nearby, and authorities had not identified the remaining five as of the AP report, as fighting between two factions of the Sinaloa Cartel continues to drive fear and displacement.
Rio de Janeiro police say officers dressed as characters from “Money Heist” and “Friday the 13th” to blend into Carnival crowds and catch cellphone thieves during festivities. The civil police said the undercover officers in Santa Teresa followed suspects after seeing a cellphone snatched and arrested two people with five phones.
Hundreds of people and their dogs gathered at a Carnival street party in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday to protest violence against pets, organizers said. At the event, Marco Antonio Marinho, the Blocao’s chief organizer, urged people to keep pets comfortable and safe during festivities. The protest also drew attention to the January killing of a dog in southern Brazil that triggered national anger, the Associated Press reported.
Shakira is playing five sold-out shows in El Salvador’s capital this week, part of a broader push by President Nayib Bukele to reshape the country’s international image after years of gang crackdowns. The concerts at National Stadium Jorge “El Magico” González follow high-profile events such as international surfing competitions and the Miss Universe pageant, which have helped position El Salvador as a safer destination for visitors.
GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — A judge ordered Thursday that jailed Guatemalan journalist José Rubén Zamora be returned to house arrest while awaiting trial after nearly a year in jail in his latest incarceration, according to a court order described by The Associated Press. Zamora, the founder of El Periodico, had previously been granted house arrest in October 2024 before prosecutors appealed and won rulings that sent him back to jail in March 2025.
Rio de Janeiro’s mayor handed the city’s key to King Momo as Carnival celebrations began Friday, setting up a five-day reign for the symbolic monarch. King Momo will preside over festivities through Wednesday, including parades and promotions of joy, while city officials also announced a security operation to address theft concerns.
Airspace over El Paso, Texas, was temporarily closed on Wednesday, prompting concern along the U.S.-Mexico border and focusing attention on how Mexican drug cartels use drones. The Associated Press reported that U.S. officials and Mexican government data say the unmanned aircraft help cartels smuggle fentanyl, surveil territory, and carry out attacks.
The FAA closed airspace over El Paso, Texas, on Wednesday for several hours after the Pentagon allowed U.S. Customs and Border Protection to use an anti-drone laser earlier this week, according to two people familiar with the situation. The Trump administration said the shutdown stemmed from efforts by the FAA and Pentagon to stop a possible incursion by Mexican cartel drones, and the restrictions were lifted after flights resumed.
Ecuador’s attorney general’s office said Tuesday that Guayaquil’s mayor, Aquiles Álvarez, was detained on money laundering and tax evasion charges. The case also led prosecutors to detain 10 additional people, including Álvarez’s brother Xavier, according to the office.
Mexico’s attorney general’s office said Monday that five of 10 workers missing from a mine operated by Canadian firm Vizsla Silver Corp. in Sinaloa have been identified among 10 bodies found in clandestine graves. The company said families informed it that its colleagues taken from the Concordia project site were found deceased, while authorities said the remaining bodies were awaiting identification.
Mexican authorities said they found bodies and remains in Sinaloa in an area where a search is under way for 10 workers reported missing from a Canadian gold and silver mine. The Attorney General’s Office said one of the bodies had “characteristics of one of the people reported as missing,” and it reported arrests of four people believed to be tied to the disappearances.
Search and rescue crews in Colombia on Saturday finished recovering the bodies of miners trapped earlier this week after a methane gas explosion at an informal coal mine, the country’s mining regulator said.
Mexico said it made an “adjustment” to the protected area for the vaquita, the world’s most endangered small porpoise, to better balance conservation and fishing activity in the northern Gulf of California. Environmental groups and some scientists warned the change could increase the risk to vaquitas, while Mexico’s environmental authority said it came with stronger enforcement measures.
U.S. documents often expect a single last name, but many people of Spanish and Latin American heritage use two surnames tied to both parents. An Associated Press explainer uses examples including Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny and Austin-based interpreter Susana Pimiento to show how that tradition can collide with U.S. forms and systems.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro said a man whom he described as allegedly tied to the killing of soccer player Andrés Escobar was shot dead in Mexico.
In downtown Mexico City, artisans and families are repairing broken Baby Jesus figurines ahead of Candlemas on Feb. 2, when the Catholic feast marks the end of Christmas celebrations. Many of the plaster figures lose hands, noses or other details from one year to the next, but some households choose repair over replacement for sentimental reasons. “It is cheaper to buy one, but it is not so much the one you buy, but the one someone has given you, (it’s) why you have it. Nothing more,” said María Sánchez Arena, 61.
Mexico’s nationwide ban on selling electronic cigarettes has forced legal vape shops to close while organized crime and unregulated products move in, researchers and shop owners say. The ban took effect Jan. 16, and lawyers say a lack of clear implementation rules has created opportunities for extortion and uncertainty for consumers. In the U.S., vaping remains legal and regulated, even as regulators and scientists continue debating risks and benefits.
Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum said Thursday that operations on Mexican soil are carried out by Mexican forces, after U.S. officials described a joint operation that led to the detention of former Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding. Sheinbaum made the comments at a daily press conference following a phone call with President Donald Trump in which, she said, the two did not discuss Wedding’s arrest.
A small plane crashed in a rural part of Colombia’s Norte de Santander province on Wednesday, killing all 15 people aboard, including a member of Congress, authorities said. Satena, the airline that operates the flight, said it had not received prior warning of adverse weather conditions that could have prevented the trip, and it is awaiting the results of a formal investigation.
A small plane crash in rural Norte de Santander in northeast Colombia killed all 15 people on board, authorities said Wednesday. The victims included Diógenes Quintero, a member of the House of Representatives, and a social leader running for Congress.
China executed 11 people it said it found guilty in connection with killings of Chinese citizens and large-scale scam and gambling operations, the Wenzhou city Intermediate People’s Court said. The executions were carried out after the court rejected an appeal, and the detentions began in November 2023 as China pressed border-area authorities to crack down on scams.
Mexico is investigating a soccer field attack in Salamanca, Guanajuato, in which gunmen killed at least 11 people and injured 12 others during a gathering after an amateur match, according to authorities. The attack took place Monday, a day after the killings, and sparked an ongoing probe, state and federal security moves, and appeals for federal help.
A former Canadian Olympic snowboarder pleaded not guilty Monday to running a billion-dollar cocaine trafficking ring and orchestrating multiple killings, making his first U.S. court appearance since his arrest in Mexico last week. Ryan Wedding, who competed in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, was ordered held in custody by U.S. Magistrate John D. Early following the hearing in federal court in Santa Ana, California.
Mexican lawyers and family members accused the government on Monday of violating the law by sending nearly 100 cartel members to the United States without extradition orders. The challenge centers on 37 cartel suspects transferred recently as Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum seeks to maintain cooperation with the Trump administration, which has pressed Mexico to intensify its cartel crackdown.
The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions Thursday on five Costa Ricans and five Costa Rican entities for allegedly helping to transport tons of cocaine from Colombia, storing the drugs in Costa Rica, and shipping them to the United States and Europe. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in announcing the action that "the entire drug trafficking supply chain — from shipping facilitators to money launderers — bears responsibility for American addictions and deaths."
Mexico transferred 37 suspected members of the Sinaloa Cartel and Jalisco New Generation Cartel to the United States on Tuesday at the request of the U.S. Justice Department. President Claudia Sheinbaum said Wednesday that the decision was a "sovereign decision" by Mexico's National Security Council, made after analyzing what was "convenient for Mexico" and in line with its "national security." U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi called the transfer a "landmark achievement" in combating cartels.
Mexican authorities said they arrested an alleged organized crime figure known as “El Botox” in connection with the killing of an outspoken leader of the state’s lime growers. The arrest was announced by Mexico City-based Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch on Thursday, according to AP.
Mexico’s security minister said Tuesday that Mexico has sent another 37 people tied to drug cartels to the United States, as President Donald Trump pressures governments to crack down on trafficking networks. Omar García Harfuch, Mexico’s security minister, said the transferred people were “high impact criminals” in a post on X. Mexico said the transfers are part of a broader effort that has sent 92 detained cartel members to the U.S. in total since the government began the program.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum moved to calm concerns after the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration warned U.S. aircraft to “exercise caution” over the eastern Pacific near Mexico and other parts of the Americas, citing “military activities.” She said her government waited for “written” assurance that there would be no U.S. military flights over Mexican territory.
Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum said Friday that Mexico’s efforts to crack down on cartels and reduce migration north are producing “compelling results,” as the Trump administration signals potential new steps against trafficking groups. The remarks came a day after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Mexico’s Foreign Secretary Juan Ramón de la Fuente issued a joint statement following a phone call agreeing that “more must be done to confront shared threats.”
Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum said she spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday and that the two governments will keep working on security issues without U.S. intervention against drug cartels. Sheinbaum said Trump asked about what the U.S. did in Venezuela after the removal of Nicolás Maduro and that she reiterated Mexico’s opposition to interventions.
Mexico’s government said homicides fell sharply in 2025, presenting the figures as evidence its security strategy is working. During President Claudia Sheinbaum’s daily news conference, officials said the rate was 17.5 murders per 100,000 people last year, the lowest since 2016.
Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum played down the risk of U.S. military action against drug cartels in Mexico, after President Donald Trump threatened such steps in the wake of a U.S. operation in Venezuela. Sheinbaum said Monday that there was coordination with the United States government and that she did not see “risks” of intervention. Analysts told AP that while unilateral action is considered unlikely, the threats could persist as a negotiation tactic.
