Crime

“Oil Theft” New Business For Cartel In Mexico

Published

7 years ago

January 25, 2018

(Via Zerohedge)

In a new mind-numbing report from Reuters, Mexico’s drug cartels are increasingly diversifying beyond narcotics and have recently entered into the petroleum business.

Cartels have jumped into the fuel theft game stealing billions of dollars worth of oil from pipelines controlled by the state oil company Pemex, which at current rates could paralyze the country’s top refineries.

Organized crime gangs are taking advantage of Mexico’s deteriorating oil infrastructure that is suffering from years of underinvestment and declining production by tapping into pipelines to steal tremendous amounts of crude products. If that fails, cartel members resort to bribing and or threatening Pemex employees for critical information about operations. Some Pemex employees have fled the country following unbearable death threats, while others have been found mutilated for not complying.

While President Enrique Peña Nieto has been unable to govern the country amid the out of control cartel violence, fuel theft is turning into a national security threat draining revenue from the federal government. Reuters reports that fuel thefts have cut more than $1 billion in annual revenue from state coffers, along with creating an unfriendly environment that is deterring foreign investment to revamp the aging refineries. Its been reported that the federal government generates about one-fifth of its income from Pemex. Serious issues are emerging as the declining oil revenue could lead to funding concerns for the government, therefore jeopardizing the fight against cartels.

The Federal Police, under the authority of the Secretariat of the Interior, recently launched offensives across the country that toppled drug kingpins turning 16% of the states into a Level-4 classification via the U.S. State Department, meaning that the areas are on par with a war-zone in the Middle East. Cartels have been fractured but are still cash-strapped as their decision to enter the petroleum business is cheap and it implies less risk than drug trafficking.

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Democrats

Joe Biden “The Lemon Lot”!

Published

4 years ago

May 21, 2020

michaelam

Is the deeply flawed and dementia impaired Joe Biden the best the Democrats have to offer?

The Democratic establishment has wholeheartedly gotten behind the former vice president of the United States Joseph Robinette Biden, as the Democratic nominee for President of The United States in 2020. Did they give it a test drive, kick the tires, check the engine or even look up the blue book value? The answer is a resounding NO! Joe Biden was the best of a bad socialist lot. There was a plethora of manufactured cookie cutter candidates. Bernie Sanders seemed the logical choice…..but! Bernie was an Independent who caucused with the Democrats. Bernie openly and proudly professed his affinity for socialism, at least coherently. The painful truth for the Bernie Bros was the Democrat establishment would never let an Independent/ Socialist drive the party off of the electoral cliff of a 2020 national election.

The party turned to Joe Biden to save the day. The best of a bad lot. The former VP with a solid connection to the first Black President of the United States and the all important Black vote. This may be death by a thousand cuts. We already know Joe is a walking, talking, stuttering gaffe machine. His son, brother, son-in-law and others have all profited handsomely from his position and name in big time national politics. He has the Tara Reade debacle. There is the firing of the Ukraine prosecutor who was investigating the corrupt Ukrainian gas company his son Hunter was working for. His team seems to be wisely trying to let Joe out in public view only when absolutely necessary. He has more skeletons in his closet than a thriller video! They say when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Cheers to the left.

By Michael Ameer

Crime

FISA Warrant For Carter Page Exposes Weak Basis

Published

6 years ago

July 22, 2018

Populist Wire Editorial Board

(Via Zerohedge)

The Saturday release of the FBI’s heavily redacted FISA warrant application for Carter Page reveals that the Obama administration, eager to make a case to spy on a US citizen (and arguably the Trump campaign) cobbled together a combination of facts and innuendo from Page’s business dealings in Russia, several press reports of varying reliability, and of course, the infamous Clinton-funded “Steele Dossier,” which the FBI went to great lengths to justify despite being largely unable to verify its claims.

Perhaps the most concerning takeaway, however, is the stark disconnect between the FBI’s multiple allegations against Page versus the fact that he hasn’t been charged with a single crime after nearly two years of DOJ/FBI investigations.

Once issued, the FISA warrant and its subsequent renewals allowed the Obama administration to better spy on the Trump campaign using a wide investigatory net. As such, the October, 2016 application painted Page in the most criminal light possible, as intended, in order to convince the FISA judge to grant the warrant. It flat out accuses Page of being a Russian spy who was recruited by the Kremlin, which sought to “undermine and influence the outcome of the 2016 U.S. presidential election in violation of U.S. criminal law,” the application reads.

In order to reinforce their argument, the FBI presented various claims from the dossier as facts, such as “The FBI learned that Page met with at least two Russian officials” – when in fact that was simply another unverified claim from the dossier.

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Crime

‘Pirate Attacks’ More Common In Caribbean

Published

6 years ago

May 26, 2018

Populist Wire Editorial Board

(Via Zerohedge)

Modern-day pirate attacks in the Caribbean and Latin America are out of control, according to a Wednesday report which found a 163% spike in pirate activity that led to the loss of $948,690 in stolen goods. The report, produced by nonprofit group Oceans Beyond Piracy, found that 59% of the attacks involved robberies on yachts.

“We have observed a significant increase in violent incidents and anchorage crime, particularly in the anchorages of Venezuela and the recent violent incidents off Suriname in the first part of this year,” says Maise Pigeon, the report’s lead author. “Pirate activity in 2017 clearly demonstrates that pirate groups retain their ability to organize and implement attacks against ships transiting the region.”

Pirates have hit waters off the coast of Suriname hard.

In April, at least a dozen fishermen from Guyana went missing or were feared dead following a pirate attack in the area.

Guyana President David Granger called the attack a “massacre.”

And a fishing boat captain was shot dead after his ship was attacked in May. The rest of his crew survived.

The buccaneers also attacked anchorages in Venezuela, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Colombia and St. Lucia. -Marketwatch

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