International
H: the heroin derivative ravaging Ecuador’s poor
January 20 | By AFP | Karla Pesantes |
Shaking and delirious, Rina ambles half-dressed beside a dump in Ecuador’s port city of Guayaquil.
She is under the psychotropic effects of “H,” a cheap and addictive drug that is ravaging the poorest sectors of Ecuadoran society.
The scene was captured on video on New Year’s Eve and relayed to the municipal health center, which came to her aid.
“When I consume (the drug) I hear voices,” the 24-year-old, who is using a pseudonym, told AFP.
For the second time in less than a year she is following a drug rehabilitation program.
In her desperation, Rina stole and even worked as a prostitute to buy H, a heroin-based white powder that can be snorted or smoked and is sold for $1 a gram.
It is much cheaper and much more toxic than cocaine, which goes for $3 to $5.
H is cut with all sorts of toxic materials that can harm humans.
“We have found lime, cement, ether, rat poison and even ketamine, an analgesic used on horses,” in the white powder, said psychiatrist Julieta Sagnay, from the Guayaquil-based Neuroscience Institute, an NGO that supports drug addicts.
Guayaquil, a city of almost three million people, has become a hub of drug trafficking and addiction.
Officials say 162 kilograms of H were seized in 2022.
Sagnay, an expert with more than 30 years of experience treating addicts, says the number of patients she treats for H use is increasing every day.
And their physical condition deteriorates quicker than other patients.
In just six months, H addicts are constantly moving their legs, scratching, and not sleeping or eating.
Withdrawal symptoms are so severe, says Sagnay, that it is unbearable without at least eight days of pharmaceutical treatment.
‘They beat me’
There are three public clinics in Guayaquil for addicts and there are more than 30 private ones but they can cost up to $700 a month in a country where the minimum wage is just $450.
Some addicts turn to back-alley detox centers.
“They beat me, they poured a bucket of cold water on me and we ate chicken heads every day,” said Hugo Mora, who was treated four years ago in a dirty, dark, illegal center with no windows.
It only cost $150 but it was a failure.
After trying out two such clinics, the 24-year-old street vendor spent a week in a municipal hospital, where he was treated in a large room with more than a dozen beds.
The hospital takes in up to 150 daily patients, 90 percent of whom are suffering from an H addiction.
The InSight Crime think tank says H arrived in Guayaquil in 2011, pushed by Colombian cartels hoping to develop the heroin market.
But the H powder contains less than three percent heroin, according to forensic psychologist and retired police officer Segundo Romero.
“As there is so little pure drug, the addict needs to consume more and buy more,” said the forensic psychologist.
He told a story about meeting addicts in prison whose faces were covered in dust.
“As they no longer had any drugs, they had scratched the walls and put white paint in their nostrils,” he said.
With just one gram of heroin, a dealer can make 40 grams of H, with the mix of ingredients provoking psychotic symptoms and hallucinations.
In Cerro las Cabras, the drug supermarket in Duran, a town opposite Guayaquil along the Guayas river, H sales bring in $1 million a month, according to official estimates.
International
Man arrested after deliberately driving into seven children in Osaka
Japanese police arrested a man on Thursday after he rammed his car into a group of seven schoolchildren in an apparent deliberate attack in the city of Osaka.
The children, who were on their way home from school, sustained injuries and were taken to the hospital. All seven remained conscious, according to local authorities.
An Osaka police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the suspect is a 28-year-old man from Tokyo. The officer shared statements the man made after his arrest: “I was fed up with everything, so I decided to kill people by driving into several elementary school children,” the suspect reportedly said.
The man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.
The injured children, aged between seven and eight, included a seven-year-old girl who suffered a fractured jaw. The six other children—all boys—suffered minor injuries such as bruises and scratches and were undergoing medical evaluation.
Witnesses described the car as “zigzagging” before hitting the children. One witness told Nippon TV that a girl was “covered in blood” and the others appeared to have scratches.
Another witness said the driver, who was wearing a face mask, looked to be in shock when school staff pulled him from the vehicle.
Violent crimes are rare in Japan, though serious incidents do occur from time to time. In 2008, Tomohiro Kato drove a two-ton truck into pedestrians in Tokyo’s Akihabara district, then fatally stabbed several victims. Seven people were killed in that attack.
Internacionales
Clashes erupt during may day protests across France amid calls for better wages
May Day protests in France were marked by a heavy police presence and clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement in several cities.
In Paris, Lyon, and Nantes, thousands took to the streets to demand better wages, fairer working conditions, and to voice their dissatisfaction with President Emmanuel Macron’s government.
While the majority of the demonstrations remained peaceful, isolated confrontations broke out in some areas. Protesters threw objects at the police, prompting the use of tear gas and resulting in several arrests.
Videos showing police crackdowns circulated widely on social media, drawing criticism from labor unions and human rights advocates, who denounced the authorities’ response to the protests.
International
Kristi Noem credits Trump for mass migrant deportations by mexican president
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem claimed that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has deported “more than half a million” migrants due to pressure from former President Donald Trump.
During a cabinet meeting highlighting the “achievements” of Trump’s administration in its first 100 days, Noem asserted that under the Republican leader’s influence, “Mexico has finally come to the table” to negotiate on migration and fentanyl trafficking.
“The president of Mexico told me she has returned just over half a million people before they reached our border,” Noem stated, criticizing media reports that suggest the Biden administration deported more migrants than Trump’s.
“I wish those deportations were counted,” Noem added, “because those people never made it to our border—she sent them back because you made her.” She went on to thank Trump: “They never made it here because they got the message—because you were so aggressive.”
Noem has made controversial claims about Sheinbaum in the past, prompting the Mexican leader to refute them.
On April 1, Sheinbaum responded to one such statement by declaring, “The president answers to only one authority, and that is the people of Mexico,” after Noem said on Fox News that she gave Sheinbaum “a list of things Trump would like to see” and that Mexico’s actions would determine whether Trump granted tariff relief.
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