Drug Trafficking

How Hezbollah’s narco-trafficking networks help finance Iran’s global strategy

While it is true that Iran provides most of Hezbollah's financing, crime, including drug trafficking, gun running, blood diamonds, illicit timber, and even human trafficking.

|ByMATHILDA HELLER
Bags of cocaine that were seized by Israel Police.
Captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is escorted, as he heads towards the Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse in Manhattan, earlier this month. The handling of Maduro’s transportation to New York was done without discretion to send a message, the writer says.

US blocks Venezuelan govt. from paying for Maduro's legal representation in drug trafficking case

Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, both pleaded not guilty on January 5 to drug trafficking charges that could land them in a US prison for decades. They are jailed in New York awaiting trial.

|ByREUTERS
KURDISH INTERNAL security forces stand guard after seizing a quantity of captagon pills in Qamishli, Syria, March 25, 2025.

Syria announces major drug bust through coordination with Iraq against Captagon trafficking

A source in the Syrian Ministry of Interior told The Media Line that anti-narcotics units carried out what he described as a “high-quality” security operation in Homs province.

|ByRIZIK ALABI/THE MEDIA LINE
A member of the Mexican navy patrols Benito Juarez International Airport after Mexican drug lord Nemesio Oseguera, known as "El Mencho," was killed in Jalisco state, in Mexico City, Mexico, February 22, 2026.

Mexican army kills 'El Melcho': How is Mexico's most violent cartel so powerful? - explainer

With high-caliber weapons and military-grade equipment, the CJNG is one of Mexico's most powerful and violent drug cartels. But how did it gain so much power?

|ByTOBIAS HOLCMAN

New US military-led group aided Mexico's hunt for 'El Mencho' cartel boss

The Joint Interagency Task Force-Counter Cartel, which involves multiple US government agencies, was quietly launched late last year with the goal of mapping out networks of drug cartel members.

FEBRUARY 23, 2026ByREUTERS, TOBIAS HOLCMAN, GOLDIE KATZ
Vehicles drive past a burning bus used as a roadblock by organized crime following a federal operation in which a government source said Mexican drug lord Nemesio Oseguera, commonly known as "El Mencho," was killed, in Zapopan, Mexico, February 22, 2026.

Powerful Mexican Jalisco cartel head 'El Mencho' killed during military operation

Initial unverified reports on social media showed that members of the cartel violently overtook an airport in Jalisco. 

FEBRUARY 22, 2026ByGOLDIE KATZ, CORINNE BAUM
National Guard members stand guard near a burnt bus set on fire by organised crime groups in response to an operation in Jalisco to arrest a high-priority security target, at one of the main avenues in Zapopan, state of Jalisco, Mexico, on February 22, 2026.

US strikes more suspected drug-smuggling boats as warships shift toward Middle East – report

The Pentagon confirmed three new maritime strikes that killed 11, as US warships previously focused on Venezuela head toward the Middle East.

FEBRUARY 18, 2026ByFRAIDY MOSER
The world’s largest aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford arrives at Mediterranean Sea on October 11, 2023

Colombian President Gustavo Petro escapes assassination attempt while traveling to Córdoba

Petro alleged that a “new drug cartel board” has been plotting to kill him since he assumed office in August 2022, El Tiempo reported.

FEBRUARY 11, 2026ByLARA SUKSTER MOSHEYOF
Colombian President Gustavo Petro speaks during a meeting with members of the Colombian diaspora at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in Washington, DC, on February 5, 2026.

Israel Police arrests hit squad in Triangle region, seizes weapons and drugs

Israel Police and Border Police arrested five suspected assassins in the Triangle region, seizing stolen IDF ammo, explosive parts, drugs, and tens of thousands of shekels in cash.

FEBRUARY 10, 2026ByJAMES GENN
Israel Police and Border Police officers arrest suspected assassins in northern Israel, February 10, 2026.

Serbian police seize five tons of marijuana, assault rifles, rocket launcher

Cannabis production remains illegal in Serbia. Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said the investigation would ascertain the origin of the cannabis.

JANUARY 30, 2026ByREUTERS
cannabis background macro close up

'Must be held accountable': Trump admin. sued over deaths in boat strike off Venezuela's coast

The Center for Constitutional Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union filed the novel lawsuit under the Death on the High Seas Act and the Alien Tort Statute.

JANUARY 27, 2026ByREUTERS
Family members of Chad Joseph who believe Joseph was killed in a US military strike on a boat in the Caribbean, sit together as his family demands evidence to support US President Donald Trump’s claim that the victims were drug traffickers, in Las Cuevas, Trinidad and Tobago October 16, 2025.

Sharaa regime credited with disrupting Assad-era Captagon empire in major drug bust

The Syrian Interior Ministry claimed to have thwarted an attempt to smuggle nearly 650,000 Captagon pills and other drugs from Lebanon, though no arrests were announced.

JANUARY 13, 2026ByDANIELLE GREYMAN-KENNARD
The Syrian anti-narcotics unit allegedly thwarted a large-scale drug smuggling attempt from Lebanese territory, but alleged the suspects were able to escape arrest by retreating into Lebanon.

Thai Police arrest four Israelis following raid on ‘drug party’ in Koh Phangan

The four Israeli nationals were charged with joint possession of narcotics and psychotropic substances for sale, drug use, and possession of untaxed electronic cigarettes.

JANUARY 13, 2026ByYOAV ETIEL
Three Israelis were arrested for possession of narcotics and psychotropic substances for sale, drug use, and possession of untaxed electronic cigarettes after Thai police conducted a raid on a “drug party” in Koh Phangan, Thailand on January 6, 2026

Obtuse global piracy in Venezuela: Trump's illegal actions shatters US world standing - opinion

His invasion of Venezuela to seize its oil, under the pretense of combating drug trafficking, shatters the US's moral, legal, and ideological standing, while also violating international law

JANUARY 12, 2026ByALON BEN-MEIR
An activist holds a poster that reads ‘Condemns Donald Trump’s military aggression in Venezuela’, during an anti-US protest, after the US struck Venezuela and captured its President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, outside the US Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, January 6, 2026.