The United States Congress approved $400 million to assist Mexico in its ongoing drug war. 

From the Washington Post:

 A U.S. plan to provide Mexico with a major anti-drug aid package has received congressional approval, following months of negotiations in which Mexico proved itself to be a far more assertive neighbor than in the past, according to current and former high-ranking officials in both nations.

The U.S. Senate approved the aid — known as the Merida Initiative — late Thursday after stripping conditions that Mexican officials said would have infringed on their sovereignty, particularly on the issue of human rights. The measure includes $400 million for Mexico — the bulk of which would be spent on equipment and training — and $65 million for Central American nations.

Black market activities are increasing in the energy sector due to its increasing costs.

From CBC:

Criminals have profited from the increasing demand for energy and the rising price of oil. The energy boom has given bad guys the opportunity to seek new profit centers and has encouraged corrupt behavior in countries that produce oil and gas.

The Houston Chronicle has an article on the recent raid in Houston where 120 women were rescued from dismal conditions. 

Read the entire article here.

Rebels in Afghanistan and Colombia are increasingly controlling land where illegal drugs are being grown, according to the United Nations.

From BBC News:

Afghanistan had a record opium harvest last year and coca leaf production in Colombia increased 27%, according to The World Drug Report 2008.

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) says most regions where these drugs are grown are held by insurgents.

It adds that increases in supply from these areas could fuel addiction rates.

7,500 people have died while in Indian prisons since 2002, according to a new report.

From BBC News:

The report by Delhi-based Asian Centre for Human Rights says many of these people were tortured in custody.

It says the Indian government is in a state of denial about torture.

Even when action is taken against officials who are accused of wrongdoing, the report argues, the system tries to cover up any crimes.

The Indian report was released to coincide with the United Nations’ global day against torture on Thursday.

The rights group has collated official figures and found that 7,468 people – that is four people every day – have died in prison or police custody since 2002.

The border fence between the United States and Mexico will now be able to proceed after the United States Supreme Court declined to hear a case regarding the waiver of environmental impact studies.

From the LA Times:

Three years ago, Congress gave Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff an unusual power to “waive all legal requirements” that could stand in the way of building the fence.

These requirements included the nation’s environmental protection laws. The same congressional action took away the authority of judges to review Chertoff’s decisions.

Last year, after Chertoff waived at least 20 laws and regulations to complete a section of the fence in Arizona, two environmental groups sued. They said it was unconstitutional to give a Cabinet secretary such sweeping power.

But a federal judge rejected that claim. And on Monday the Supreme Court without comment declined to hear a petition submitted by Defenders of Wildlife and the Sierra Club.

The high court’s refusal is not a ruling, and it doesn’t mean the justices won’t reconsider the issue. But for now, Chertoff and his department have the go-ahead to proceed with the fence. Nearly half the barrier has been built.

Drug users in the United States are helping to finance the ongoing drug war in Mexico by continuing to purchase illegal drugs.

From MSNBC:

In seeking more help from the United States, Mexican officials point out that most of the financing for the Mexican traffickers comes from the American users of cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamine and heroin smuggled across the border.

U.S. law enforcement officials estimate that $12 to 15 billion a year flows from the United States to the Mexican traffickers. And that is just the bulk currency amount, actual dollar bills, and doesn’t include all the money sent by wire transfers.

“In that sense, the U.S. is already financing this war. It is just financing it on the wrong side,” Attorney General Medina Mora said grimly.

Due to the increasing cost of fuel, the United States Navy and Coast Guard will begin testing a helium filled blimp to patrol the coastal waters off of Florida.

From Reuters:

With oil prices rising sky-high, the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard will test a helium-filled blimp to see if it can supplement the fuel-hungry aircraft that search the Florida Straits for smugglers and boats in distress.

The Navy is leasing a Skyship 600, about the size of a Boeing 747, for the six-week test mission between Florida’s southern coast and Cuba, Coast Guard Lt. Matthew Moorlag said on Tuesday.

The manned ship is held aloft by nonflammable helium and propelled by two Porsche 930 engines that consume 10 to 12 gallons of regular gasoline per hour.

Drug traffickers are using Persian carpets to bring illegal drugs into China.

From Reuters:

Drug traffickers in China’s far west are smuggling heroin into the country woven into carpets imported from Afghanistan and Pakistan, state media said on Tuesday.

Customs officials in Xinjiang, which borders both countries, have seized more than 30 carpets containing some 50 kg (110 lb) of heroin in the last several months, the official China Daily said.

The traffickers are covering the drugs with rolls of materials to make it look like yarn.

“Wang said traffickers first inject heroin into plastic tubes of 1-2 mm diameter and wrap them with colorful natural or synthetic fibers to make them look like yarn. They then weave them into the carpet along with normal yarn,” the report said.

The new smuggling method was making detection harder as equipment normally used by customs’ officers was not up to the task, the newspaper added.

The US Ambassador to Albania is said to have taken part in helping cover up a Chinese shipment of arms.

From the NY Times:

An American ambassador helped cover up the illegal Chinese origins of ammunition that a Pentagon contractor bought to supply Afghan security forces, according to testimony gathered by Congressional investigators.

A military attaché has told the investigators that the United States ambassador to Albania endorsed a plan by the Albanian defense minister to hide several boxes of Chinese ammunition from a visiting reporter. The ammunition was being repackaged to disguise its origins and shipped from Albania to Afghanistan by a Miami Beach arms-dealing company.

The ambassador, John L. Withers II, met with the defense minister, Fatmir Mediu, hours before a reporter for The New York Times was to visit the American contractor’s operations in Tirana, the Albanian capital, according to the testimony. The company, under an Army contract, bought the ammunition to supply Afghan security forces although American law prohibits trading in Chinese arms.