News of drugs

Mutilated bodies, gang wars shock once-peaceful Ecuador

03-03-2022 13:50 An intensifying drug war has shocked once-peaceful Ecuador with scenes of horrific violence.

Contaminated cocaine: Investigators switch focus to different drug gang

25-02-2022 17:27 Investigators believe gang led by convicted drug-trafficker Miguel Ángel 'Mameluco' Villalba is linked to the sale of tainted cocaine that killed 24 people last month.

Death toll from laced cocaine tragedy climbs to 24

04-02-2022 22:58 At least 24 people have died and more than 200 have sought medical attention in Buenos Aires Province after consuming cocaine that prosecutors believe was cut with a toxic substance.

‘I’m hoping for a miracle’ – Families of cocaine victims appeal for help

04-02-2022 02:47 Families of the “contaminated cocaine” victims plead with the authorities for help, asking that the tragedy “serves” to help addicts.

Drugs, crime and protests: Ecuador stares into the abyss

25-10-2021 12:44 Emboldened drug traffickers, hundreds of deaths in prisons, a government dogged by scandal, and an economy ravaged by Covid have Ecuador staring into the abyss.

Spain court suspends extradition of Venezuela ex-intel chief

22-10-2021 12:59 Spain's top criminal court on Friday suspended the extradition of Venezuela's former intelligence chief, General Hugo Armando Carvajal, to the United States where he is wanted on drug-trafficking charges.

Colombia's illicit coca economy helps communities thrive

03-09-2021 00:01 In the mountains and jungles of southwestern Colombia, peasants and migrantstoil determinedly in fields of coca despite the dangers and persecution they suffer.

Regional human rights body slams Ecuador over prison deaths

23-08-2021 20:39 Inter-American Commission on Human Rights condemns violence in Ecuadorean prisons that has left 121 inmates dead this year.

Maradona: Out of this world

28-11-2020 07:35 Diego Armando Maradona, the popular icon that Argentina was crying out for, blessed us mortals with 60 years in his magnetic presence. But now, the ‘Cosmic Kite’ has finally been called back to his home planet.

by Dan Edwards

Sister of River Plate midfielder in custody after police stop uncovers 40kg of cocaine

23-11-2020 14:48 An elder sister of River Plate midfielder Nicolás De La Cruz was in Buenos Aires on Saturday while travelling in a taxi. Police officers find 40 kilogrammes of cocaine in vehicle.

Mafia fugitives arrested in Palermo in drug-smuggling sting

24-07-2020 16:42 Three alleged members of the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta mafia organisation were arrested in Buenos Aires last week and are now being processed for extradition to Italy. The sting was part of a larger Interpol investigation of 45 members of the organisation who are spread across the world.