Drug Sentence
The Ninth Circuit on Monday upheld a 10-year federal prison sentence for Sean Libbert after he conspired to import and sell millions of dollars worth of a synthetic Chinese cannabinoid known as spice or bath salts.
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Is Common Sense About Drugs Possible?
“They’re building bigger and better prisons in the States and they’re getting fuller and fuller. But I don’t really see how that’s helping the drug problem.” — Dexter Gordon, 1966
Read moreFentanyl Smuggler
A U.S. citizen who lived in Tijuana faces 10 years to life in prison after pleading guilty Thursday to smuggling more than 20,000 fentanyl pills into the United States.
Read moreNew Zealand Makes Biggest Cocaine Bust in Banana Shipment
New Zealand police have made the country’s largest cocaine seizure, with 190 kilograms (418 pounds) of the drug found in a container of bananas shipped from Panama.
Read more‘El Chapo’ Loses Bid to Hug Wife Before NYC Trial
Citing legitimate concerns that an escape attempt could follow, a federal judge refused Thursday to let Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman hug his wife before the start of his drug-trafficking trial.
Read moreCocaine Mogul Nailed
Luis Carlos Melgar Morales, 28, of Guatemala, faces up to life in federal prison after pleading guilty Thursday to conspiring to distribute more than 10,000 kilos of cocaine, worth $600 million on the street.
Read moreChris Cornell
The family of rocker and former Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell sued a doctor they say overprescribed drugs that led to his death, which authorities ruled a suicide.
Read moreTop Massachusetts Court Orders Sprawling Relief on Tainted Drug Cases
Expanding relief for a class of drug defendants whose cases crossed paths with a now-disgraced chemist, the highest court in Massachusetts agreed Thursday to throw out nearly a decade’s worth of meth convictions plus all cases from the chemist’s last four years on the job.
Read moreFrench National Sentenced in Dark Web Drug Conspiracy
The administrator of one of the world’s largest dark web marketplaces for narcotics was sentenced to 20 years in prison Tuesday, having previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and money laundering.
Read moreSan Francisco Accused of Racial Bias in Drug Arrests
San Francisco police officers targeted 37 black people with arrests for selling “small amounts of drugs” because of their race, six arrestees claim in a federal lawsuit filed Thursday.
Read moreComputer Criminal Faces 20 Years for Drug Dealing
The CEO of Canada-based Phantom Secure faces up to 20 years in prison and must forfeit more than $80 million for conspiring to use encrypted devices to distribute more than 450 kilos of cocaine, and other illegal drugs around the world.
Read moreNo Safe Injection Sites
California Governor Jerry Brown vetoed a bill that would allow San Francisco to open safe injection sites through a pilot program to combat dirty needles, saying any such sites should require that drug users receive treatment.
Read more75 Arrested on Drug Trafficking Charges in North Carolina
Seventy-five people were arrested on drug trafficking charges in Western North Carolina Thursday after a joint undercover operation by Interior Department and the Cherokee Indian Police Department.
Read moreEx-Veterinarian Pleads Guilty to Smuggling Drugs in Puppies
Former Colombian veterinarian Andres Lopez Elorez will plead guilty Friday in his role in a drug ring that smuggled heroin into the United States using various methods, including inside balloons sewn into the stomachs of dogs.
Read moreOpen Letter Warns Brexit May Threaten UK’s War on Drugs
A drug and addiction monitoring organization warned the U.K. Wednesday that its decision to leave the European Union may result in it being out of the loop about Europe’s illegal drug problem.
Read moreCentral American Scion
The Second Circuit on Thursday affirmed a sentencing enhancement that led to a 24-year prison term for Fabio Porfirio Lobo, the son of a former president of Honduras who pleaded guilty to cocaine-distribution charges.
Read moreDrug Kickbacks
Connecticut brought a suit Tuesday that accuses Assured Rx, NLM LLC and 12 people of costing state taxpayers $11 million in a prescription drug kickback scheme.
Read moreE-Cigarette Regulation Case Kicks Up Smoke in DC Circuit
Casting federal restrictions on e-cigarette advertising and sales as an existential threat, a trade group for the vaping industry urged the D.C. Circuit on Tuesday to block a rule change by the Food and Drug Administration.
Read moreInquest: Cranberries Singer O’Riordan Drowned After Drinking
The Cranberries singer Dolores O’Riordan accidentally drowned in a bathtub after drinking, a coroner’s inquest concluded Thursday.
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