International
Mexican ex-cartel boss jailed for 28 years
AFP
A Mexican court has sentenced former drug lord Vicente Carrillo Fuentes, who headed one of the country’s leading cartels, to 28 years in prison, prosecutors said Tuesday.
The 58-year-old, known as “El Viceroy,” is the brother of the founder of the Juarez cartel, whose turf wars with enemies were blamed for thousands of deaths.
Amado Carrillo Fuentes, known as “The Lord of the Skies,” was considered one of Latin America’s biggest drug traffickers until he died during plastic surgery in Mexico City in 1997.
Vicente Carrillo Fuentes, who replaced his brother, was arrested in 2014 in the northern state of Coahuila on charges of organized crime and drug trafficking.
The Attorney General’s Office said in a short statement that a judge had handed down a 28-year jail sentence to the former cartel kingpin.
The United States had offered a $5 million reward for information leading to his capture, while Mexico offered $2.2 million.
The US Drug Enforcement Administration’s then-chief, Michele Leonhart, congratulated Mexico at the time for catching “one of history’s most notorious drug traffickers.”
“Carrillo Fuentes was the leader of the Juarez cartel and facilitated murder and violence in Mexico while fueling addiction in the United States and across the world,” Leonhart said.
The arrests of its leaders and bloody turf battles have sapped the strength of the Juarez cartel, which is no longer such a powerful force.
Carrillo Fuentes’ capture at a police checkpoint gave then-president Enrique Pena Nieto another victory against major drug traffickers.
The fallen drug lord, whose sentence takes into account time already served, was described by authorities as a “very low-profile and discreet” cartel boss.
Based in Ciudad Juarez, a city on the border with the US state of Texas, the Juarez cartel fought against Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s Sinaloa cartel for control of the major drug transit route.
Guzman is now serving a life sentence in a US prison.
The bloodshed in Juarez and elsewhere in Mexico led to the government’s controversial deployment of the military in the war on drugs in 2006.
The Latin American country has seen more than 300,000 murders since then, most of them blamed on criminal gangs.
International
Erin brings strong winds and storm surge despite weakening offshore
Hurricane Erin weakened to a Category 2 storm on Tuesday but continues to pose a threat to parts of the U.S. East Coast with potentially dangerous flooding, according to meteorologists.
Although the hurricane’s eye is expected to remain offshore, experts are concerned about Erin’s size, as strong winds extend hundreds of kilometers beyond the storm’s center.
In its 18:00 GMT bulletin, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) lifted tropical storm warnings for the Bahamasand Turks and Caicos Islands, but kept them in effect for parts of North Carolina.
Erin was located several hundred kilometers southeast of North Carolina and was moving northwestward.
“This means there is a risk of potentially life-threatening flooding of 60 to 120 centimeters above ground level,” said NHC Director Michael Brennan.
He also warned of the possibility of destructive waves, combined with storm surge, that could cause severe damage to beaches and coastal areas, making roads impassable.
International
Three U.S. Warships deploy near Venezuela to combat drug trafficking
Three U.S. naval vessels are moving toward the coasts of Venezuela, according to international media reports on Tuesday, after White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt confirmed that President Donald Trump is ready to combat and curb international drug trafficking.
Reports indicate that the ships will reach Venezuelan waters within the next 36 hours as part of a recent U.S. deployment aimed at countering international narcotics operations.
The announcement coincides with Leavitt’s statement that Trump is prepared to “use the full extent of his power” to halt drug flows into the United States. The naval deployment involves approximately 4,000 military personnel.
“The President has been clear and consistent. He is ready to use every element of U.S. power to prevent drugs from flooding our country and to bring those responsible to justice. The Maduro regime is not the legitimate government of Venezuela—it is a narco-terror cartel,” the spokesperson said during a press conference.
International
Cuban authorities free salvadoran convicted in 1997 hotel bombing
Salvadoran national Otto René Rodríguez Llerena was released after serving a 30-year prison sentence for his involvement in a terrorist attack at a hotel in Cuba in 1997, the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported.
During his trial, Rodríguez Llerena admitted to placing an explosive device at the Meliá Cohiba Hotel under the orders of anti-Castro exile leaders. He was arrested the following year when he returned to Havana with another load of explosives that failed to detonate.
“The Cuban government reiterates its commitment to combating terrorism, respecting human rights, and the need for the international community to hold accountable those who promote such acts,” the statement read.
He was released on August 15 and is the second Salvadoran to complete his sentence. In December of last year, another Salvadoran, Ernesto Cruz León, was released after planting bombs at tourist centers, one of which killed an Italian tourist identified as Fabio Di Celmo.
A third Salvadoran, Francisco Chávez Abarca, also received a 30-year sentence from Cuban courts in 2010 after being extradited from Venezuela through Interpol for actions against Cuba.
Rodríguez Llerena had requested conditional release in 2016, arguing that his actions had not caused any direct fatalities, but no further information was released about his situation until now.
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