Free Republic

Baruch Vega's cellphone hardly rings these days. It's not like 10 years ago, when the Colombian photographer of models was an intermediary between the Drug Enforcement Administration and powerful drug traffickers, and his phone rang off the hook with calls from federal prosecutors and attorneys in South Florida while he discussed poses with European models at his Miami Beach penthouse. Now Vega, 61, seems to be tired of living on the razor's edge. He wants to put behind him the world that in 2000 took him to jail in the United States on charges of obstruction of justice and money...

HP-1353 "Treasury Designates Additional FARC International Commission Members" SNIPPET: "Washington, DC--The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today designated three international representatives of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a narco-terrorist organization. The OFAC action was taken pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (Kingpin Act), which applies financial sanctions against significant foreign narcotics traffickers and organizations, like the FARC. "Today's action exposes three additional members of the FARC's International Commission," said Adam J. Szubin, Director of OFAC. "The FARC is one of the world's largest suppliers of cocaine and continues to be...

Mexico’s acting consul in Del Rio called a crossing of the Rio Grande earlier this week by two Val Verde County Sheriff’s Office investigators illegal and “unacceptable.” But, he added, he values the close working relationship members of the consulate and the sheriff’s office have built over the years and said he hopes the incident will further open the lines of communication between the two agencies. In an interview Thursday, Fernando J. Valdés Vicencio, who is currently serving as the Mexico consul here, said Lt. Larry Pope, who heads the sheriff’s office criminal investigations division, and VVSO Sgt. James McGonagill,...

Two state troopers involved in a deadly police shooting in Mocanaqua on Wednesday have been cleared of any wrongdoing by Luzerne County District Attorney David W. Lupas. In issuing his decision based on two independent investigations and eyewitness accounts, Lupas called the actions by Trooper Gary Batt to use deadly force "appropriate" and "justified." "A police officer is permitted to use deadly force to prevent deaths or serious bodily injury to another," Lupas said. "In my determination, that's what occurred here." Trooper Batt fired a shot from his .40 caliber Beretta at Eddie T. Vega, 36, hitting him in the...