Free Republic

An Ohio grandmother was mauled to death by her neighbor’s pit bulls — which were later found to have been high on cocaine, according to a lawsuit. JoAnn Echelbarger, 73, was “peacefully gardening” in October when she was ripped apart by the pit bulls, Echo and Apollo, freely roaming her Ashton condominium’s common areas, according to court documents. Her husband, Stanley — who suffers from dementia and was in a wheelchair — watched helplessly as his wife was mauled for several minutes while “screaming for her life,” according to the complaint, which said one dog continued the attack even after...

Back in July 2023, when the Secret Service found a plastic bag of cocaine in the White House, the stonewalling began immediately. Despite the fact that the bag was found in the most closely watched and carefully guarded place on earth, with the world’s most elite investigators supposedly available to discover what really happened, no one could figure out whose cocaine it was, or how it had gotten into the executive mansion.

A Grammy Award-winning rapper and music producer originally sentenced to 14 years in prison for smuggling cocaine is one of 16 people receiving pardons or reduced sentences from President Bush. John Edward Forte of North Brunswick, N.J., a graduate of the elite Phillips Exeter Academy prep school who later became a producer for the rap group The Fugees and released two albums on his own, was caught in 2000 at Newark International Airport with two briefcases filled with $1.4 million worth of liquid cocaine, according to court documents. Forte, 33, a first-time offender, was convicted of possessing the 31 pounds...

She was sniffed out by the feds. A Mexican woman responsible for testing the quality of cocaine being trafficked by a drug cartel has been extradited to the United States and charged by federal prosecutors, the Justice Department said. Irma Elvira Cruz, known as "Huzipol" and "Madre," 60, was indicted earlier this month on federal charges of conspiracy to unlawfully import cocaine into the United States and possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. "Cruz allegedly played a critical role in the trafficking of hundreds of kilograms of cocaine into the United States," said acting U.S. Attorney Richard Moultrie, Jr....

EL PASO, Texas – A Customs and Border Protection officer was arrested in El Paso on criminal charges related to his alleged involvement in a conspiracy to smuggle undocumented noncitizens for financial gain and alleged drug trafficking activity. According to court documents, between on or about Dec. 21, 2023 and Feb. 5, 2025, Manuel Perez Jr., 32, of El Paso, allegedly smuggled and attempted to smuggle undocumented noncitizens into the United States for commercial advantage and private financial gain. The indictment alleges that, in multiple instances, Perez Jr. admitted a vehicle driven by an undocumented noncitizen at the Paso Del...

Cocaine is no worse for your health than the common glass of whiskey, claimed the president of Colombia — the world’s biggest producer and exporter of the illegal drug. In a first-of-its-kind, six-hour live broadcast ministerial meeting in the South American country, Colombian President Gustavo Petro argued that cocaine is only illegal because of global politics — further claiming that it can be consumed as casually as alcohol, according to a report. “Scientists have analyzed this. Cocaine is no worse than whiskey,” the 64-year-old president said, according to CBS News. It is not clear what analysis the president was referring...

President Biden will end his term next month leaving behind one of the biggest White House whodunits of all time as the public and politicos still wonder who brought cocaine into the most secure building in the world. Roughly 17 months after cocaine was discovered in a storage box near an entrance to the West Wing, the culprit remains a head-scratcher. And with the Secret Service closing the investigation in July 2023 after 11 days without interviewing a single suspect, security experts say it’s unlikely a culprit will ever be identified. “I don’t think that we are ever going to...

Joe Biden has issued a record-breaking clemency grant that benefits fraudsters, drug traffickers, cartel leaders, and crack dealers, court records show. The lame-duck president’s list of convicted criminals includes nearly 1,500 individuals who will have their sentences commuted. On Thursday, Biden announced he would commute sentences for individuals “who were placed on home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic and who have successfully reintegrated into their families and communities.” However, the list of commutations released by the White House includes several high-profile and dangerous criminals. One individual, Francesk Shkambi, was initially sentenced in July 2014 to 27 years in prison. According...

Gov. Gavin Newsom's office on Wednesday announced that he has granted clemency to a person who committed a crime in Monterey County. The governor is allowed to extend executive clemency in the form of a pardon, commutation or reprieve. According to Newsom's office, the governor bases his decisions on the grantee's self-development and accountability after conviction. Andy Silvestre, now a resident of Arizona, applied and was approved for clemency. Silvestre was sentenced to three years probation and 120 days in jail for possession or purchase of cocaine base for sale in 1990. He was approved after providing evidence he has...

The Brief A father and son from the Phoenix area are accused of running a large drug trafficking organization. The two leaders are also charged with the rare "Kingpin" statute and a majority of the defendants indicted are from Arizona. Phoenix DEA Special Agent in Charge Cheri OZ says Arizona is ground zero for drug trafficking.

Did his attempt to curry favor with Iran work? One of the ways Hezbollah earns money — about one billion dollars a year — is by drug trafficking. It controls much of the sale of drugs sent from Colombia and Venezuela to customers in the United States, Europe, and the Middle East. For eight years, beginning in 2008, a wide-ranging investigation by the Drug Enforcement Agency known as Project Cassandra uncovered how Hezbollah had transformed itself from a Middle Eastern political and military organization into an international crime syndicate, but Project Cassandra was shut down by the Obama administration, that...

Joe Biden regrets picking Attorney General Merrick Garland to lead his Justice Department after the agency prosecuted his son Hunter. Publicly, Biden has remained hands off with his son's tax and gun legal troubles, but in private his anger towards his Attorney General has simmered, according to excerpts of journalist Bob Woodward's new book obtained by CNN. 'Should never have picked Garland,' Biden told an associate, Woodward writes. 'This is never going to f**king go away.'

Bob Woodward, a far-left author and Washington Post editor, is set to drop an ‘October surprise’ on Kamala Harris and Joe Biden. Far-left author Bob Woodward’s forthcoming book about Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will drop several bombshells on October 15. Per RealClearInvestigations reporter Paul Sperry: OCTOBER SURPRISE: A source close to Bob Woodward says his forthcoming book, “War,” about the Biden-Harris administration’s inner workings will “not be kind to Biden or Kamala” and will drop several bombshells on Oct. 15 when Simon & Schuster releases the tome … developing … Simon and Schuster called Bob Woodward’s forthcoming book ‘War,’...

Furious Joe Biden regrets choosing Attorney General Merrick Garland to lead the Justice Department after the agency prosecuted his son Hunter, a new book by Bob Woodward claims. The allegation is just one of a number of bombshell insights into the Biden White House in “War,” out October 15. The book reveals a president desperately trying to stave off war in the Middle East, fearful of Russia unleashing nuclear warfare, and worn down by his wayward son. Biden also lashes out about everyone from Garland to Vladimir Putin, Benjamin Netnyahu and even Barack Obama — who Biden blames for not...

BOMBSHELL: A recent report claims it was Kamala Harris, not Hunter Biden, who brought cocaine to the White House in 2023 Is this legit? https://x.com/i/status/1841939582792679751 Independent journalist James Bolden posted a video on social media, showing a man claiming Kamala Harris is somehow linked to the Hunter Biden cocaine scandal. Without providing any evidence, the unidentified individual said President Biden's son took fall for the incident. Neither the president nor the First Son have reacted to the newly surfaced clip yet. In July 2023, the Secret Service found a small plastic bag containing less than a gram of powder cocaine...

The Rev. Al Sharpton may claim he wore a wire for the feds because he had been threatened by the mob — but a new report says he turned rat to save himself after a federal drug sting. The FBI “flipped” the bombastic reverend after agents confronted him with a surveillance video showing him discussing cocaine with an ­undercover agent, The Smoking Gun Web site said Wednesday. During that March 1983 conversation, Sharpton wore a cowboy-like hat that was garish by even the rabble-rousing preacher’s 1980s standards. He later showed up at a Manhattan apartment for another meeting that June...

President Joe Biden greenlit the release of Colombian businessman Alex Saab, accused of acting as Venezuelan socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro’s top money launderer, on Wednesday. Saab’s release is allegedly the result of a prisoner swap with the rogue socialist regime that will also allow for the release of unjustly detained Americans in Venezuela, the Associated Press reported. Saab, 51, is a close personal ally of Maduro and is widely considered the socialist dictator’s financial brain. American law enforcement authorities arrested Saab in Cape Verde in 2020 after the Department of Justice indicted him in 2019 on charges of laundering $350...

For Daniel Guerra, an aspiring Brazilian sailor keen to travel the world, the job ad was a dream come true. A British yacht owner was seeking two deck-hands to help sail his boat from Brazil across the Atlantic, one of the great ocean journeys. There would be no salary, but all expenses paid - and, crucially, Mr Guerra would gain some of the sailing experience he needed to qualify as a sea captain. "My dream was to become a captain and go work in Europe," remembers the 43-year-old, who saw the advert from an online sailing recruitment agency. "So I...

The Department of Justice announced Thursday that it is creating a task force to take a fresh look at drug-trafficking and money-laundering operations linked to Hezbollah after an investigative report last month claimed that the Obama administration turned a blind eye to such activities to preserve the Iran nuclear deal. The task force, dubbed the Hezbollah Financing and Narcoterrorism Team (HFNT), will begin its work by reviewing investigations stemming from Project Cassandra, a campaign led by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) targeting the Lebanese terror group’s actions. According to a Politico report published last month, officials with the Obama Justice...

The most deadly witness in the Biden impeachment inquiry is due to testify Tuesday in a closed-door interview on Capitol Hill. He will be able to lay out in forensic detail the times he knows that Joe met with Hunter’s business partners, both during and after his vice presidency. He will bring documents in which the Chinese talked of their delight about doing business with the “B family” and the encrypted messages and emails in which Joe was referred to either directly or in code as “the big guy” or by Hunter as “my chairman.”