Gangs target taxi drivers in Mexican Pacific resort city

Organized crime groups have been targeting taxi drivers in Acapulco, a resort city in the southern Mexican state of Guerrero, killing four drivers and wounding seven others in a series of attacks that started last week.

The gangs are attacking taxi drivers to pressure them into paying protection money, a taxi union leader told EFE on condition of anonymity.

Sea monster emerges from the depths of the sea in Mexico

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The strange four-metre beast was found by beachgoers on Bonfil Beach, in the city of Acapulco, in the southwest Mexican state of Guerrero.

Stunned spectators gathered around and took photos, which they shared on social media, speculating about the possible species of the creature.

The floating body was brought to the shore by strong currents that have been affecting that particular part of the Mexican coast.

 

 

She said: ‘We have no idea what type of animal this is, but I do know that it does not smell bad or have a fetid aroma.

‘It is four meters long and was found on Bonfil Beach.’

 

Three Tucson women busted in separate smuggling attempts

• U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officers at the Mariposa Port of Entry referred a 52-year-old man from Culiacan, Sinaloa for further inspection of his Honda sedan. After an alert by a drug-sniffing dog, officers found more than 61 pounds of meth worth almost $184,000 within the vehicle’s rear floorboards.

• Officers at the Dennis DeConcini port referred a Ford sedan driven by a 23-year-old Tucson woman for further inspection. A drug-sniffing dog then led officers to several packages of marijuana that weighed nearly 145 pounds and were valued at more than $72,000.

Clinton calls for sanctions on Iran regime after more missile tests

U.S. Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton on Wednesday called for new sanctions against Iran's regime after Tehran brushed off U.S. concerns and test-fired two ballistic missiles that it said were designed to be able to hit Israel, Reuters reported.

The Iranian regime's state television showed footage of two Qadr missiles being launched from northern Iran, which the regime's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said hit targets 1,400 km (870 miles) away.

State-run media said the missiles were stamped with the Hebrew words, "Israel should be wiped from the pages of history."

Clinton, a former secretary of state under President Barack Obama, said she was "deeply concerned" by the tests, the second round of Iranian missile launches in two days.

"Iran should face sanctions for these activities and the international community must demonstrate that Iran's threats toward Israel will not be tolerated," said Clinton.

Her call for sanctions reflected a tougher line against the Iranian regime's recent missile activity than that taken so far by the White House, which said it is aware of and reviewing reports of the Iranian tests, and would determine an appropriate response.

"We know that Iran is in a season of carrying out a number of military activities, and so it certainly would not be a surprise if there are additional launches over the next several days," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said.

The Iranian regime's move on Wednesday came despite warning from the U.S. State Department after Tuesday's missile tests that Washington continues to "aggressively apply our unilateral tools to counter threats from Iran's missile program," a possible reference to additional U.S. sanctions.

Secretary of State John Kerry spoke on Wednesday with the Iranian regime's foreign minister about the test-firing of two ballistic missiles, a State Department spokesman said.

Mexico - missing 11 yr old girl ( where is karla ) ?

The Attorney General of the State of Tlaxcala issued for nationwide search of the girl Karla Romer Tezmol , 11 years old, who was kidnapped on the way from home to school Amber Alert , on January 13 .


The Amber Alert was issued during the afternoon of Thursday February 4, 21 days after the girl 's disappearance was reported by his family

This girl disappeared in the municipality of San Pablo del Monte, identified by the National Commission on Human Rights as part of the corridor of trafficking , where girls and women are trafficked to Puebla , Veracruz , Guanajuato , Morelos , DF and even Arizona and New York , to name a few geographical points where victims have been rescued

As narrated Olga Tezmol , mother of Karla , the day after his disappearance received an anonymous phone call , which required them to pay a sum of money for their recovery or , otherwise , she would be transferred to the United States.

Although the disappearance and subsequent call were reported immediately to the authorities so , the Attorney General of the State of Tlaxcala refused to initiate a formal investigation and to issue the Amber Alert for national search for small Karla .

Since the disappearance of the girl, her family has received six anonymous calls, one of which they were informed that Karla was being prostituted in the " hotel zone of Puebla ," particularly those located on 14th Street Poniente (within the tolerance zone located in the center of the capital of Puebla ) . However , he added the mother, the Attorney General of Tlaxcala refused to investigate the origin or veracity of these calls : both those in which they demanded payment of a ransom , as the call in recommending focus Puebla search .

CBP: Squash shipment hid $2.8-million pot load

Federal officers in Nogales have made yet another million-dollar marijuana bust at the Mariposa Port of Entry.

The latest seizure came March 1 when U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers sent a tractor-trailer driven by a 45-year-old man from Guaymas, Sonora for a secondary inspection.

After a drug-sniffing dog alerted to the trailer’s shipment of Italian squash, officers found 240 bundles of marijuana weighing a total of 5,700 pounds. The load was valued at $2.8 million.

Peruvian Villagers Hold Hostages to Demand Help after Oil Spill

LIMA – Residents of an indigenous community in the Peruvian Amazon are holding eight state employees hostage in order to pressure the government into including their village in the state of emergency declared following oil spills in the Loreto region.

An air force helicopter carrying provisions and workers of state oil company Petroperu and the OEFA environmental oversight agency had been barred from leaving since last Sunday in Mayuriaga.

Eight of the workers remained captive in the area Tuesday after the helicopter was allowed to depart on Monday to provide transport for an official committee, the press coordinator of the Interethnic Association for Peruvian Rain Forest Development, or Aidesep, Segundo Chuquipiondo, told EFE.

Petroperu Chairman German Velasquez and emergency services chief Gen. Alfredo Murgueytio are traveling to the area Tuesday to deal with the matter, the spokesman for the state oil company, Juan Jose Beteta, told EFE

The Mayuriaga community is not included in the Feb. 28 decree declaring an emergency in 16 communities in the Morona district of Loreto due to environmental damage caused by the oil spill from the North Peruvian Pipeline in Cashacaño.

Mayuriaga’s leaders demand that the government include its community in that decree, together with three others, and that it consider providing economic resources for the environmental restoration of the area, Chuquipiondo said.

The Aidesep spokesman recalled that Velasquez committed himself early this month to carrying out environmental restoration of the wetlands affected by the spill before resuming work on the oil pipeline.

The oil spills in the regions of Loreto Amazonas, according to a report released last month, have injured about 100 people and affected 4,500 others.

The first rupture of the North Peruvian Pipeline occurred on Jan. 25 in the municipality of Imaza-Chiriaco, where between 2,000 and 3,000 barrels of crude were spilled over the three days it took Petroperu to repair the conduit.

The second spill occurred on Feb. 3 in Datem del Marañon province and resulted in oil reaching the Mayuriaga River and then the Morona River, a Marañon tributary.

A national dialogue commissioner of the prime minister’s office is in simultaneous contact with indigenous community leaders and with officials of OEFA and Petroperu seeking to reach an agreement on the community’s demands, sources at the P.M.’s office told EFE.

Petroperu was fined 12.64 million soles (about $3.59 million) by the Energy and Mining Investment Supervisory Body for failing to properly maintain the pipeline.

The North Peruvian Pipeline transports oil extracted from fields in the Peruvian Amazon to the Pacific port of Bayovar along an 854-kilometer (530-mile) route