Tagged News

• They were under siege by a Mexican cartel. Now these civilians fight back with AK-47s and grenades

  March 20, 2026 3:04 PM

  GUAJES DE AYALA, Mexico (AP) — Jesús Domínguez pushes through thick brush lining a rugged mountainside with an AK-47 slung over his shoulder and a grenade fastened to his leather belt. He marches alongside a pack of camouflage-clad men patrolling the rural stretches of Mexico against one of the... more »

• Trump administration to add militarized zone along California's border with Mexico

  December 10, 2025 5:59 PM

  SAN DIEGO (AP) — The Trump administration announced plans Wednesday to add another militarized zone to the southern border — this time in California — as part of a major shift that has thrust troops into border enforcement with Mexico like never before. The Department of Interior said it... more »

• White House says admiral ordered follow-up strike on alleged drug boat, insists attack was lawful

  December 1, 2025 6:05 PM

  WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House said Monday that a Navy admiral acted "within his authority and the law" when he ordered a second, follow-up strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean Sea in a September U.S. military operation that has come under bipartisan scrutiny. White House... more »

• US military's 20th strike on alleged drug-running boat kills 4 in the Caribbean

  November 14, 2025 6:49 PM

  WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military's 20th strike on a boat accused of transporting drugs has killed four people in the Caribbean Sea, the U.S. military said Friday, coming as the Trump administration escalates its campaign in South American waters. The latest strike happened Monday, according to a social... more »

• What a reporter found when she investigated US military strikes on Venezuelan drug boats

  November 7, 2025 3:59 PM

  GÜIRIA, Venezuela (AP) — One was a fisherman struggling to eke out a living on $100 a month. Another was a career criminal. A third was a former military cadet. And a fourth was a down-on-his-luck bus driver. The men had little in common beyond their Venezuelan seaside hometowns... more »

• Trump administration announces 17th deadly strike on an alleged drug boat

  November 7, 2025 3:54 PM

  WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday announced another deadly U.S. strike on a boat he said was trafficking narcotics in the Caribbean Sea. The attack Thursday killed three people aboard the vessel, Hegseth said, bringing the death toll from the Trump administration's campaign in South American... more »

• US launches strikes on 4 alleged drug-running boats in the eastern Pacific, killing 14

  October 28, 2025 4:41 PM

  WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Tuesday that the U.S. military has carried out strikes in the eastern Pacific Ocean on four boats accused of carrying drugs, killing 14 people and leaving one survivor in the deadliest single day since the Trump administration began its divisive campaign against... more »

• US is sending an aircraft carrier to Latin America in major escalation of military firepower

  October 24, 2025 5:15 PM

  WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military is sending an aircraft carrier to the waters off South America, the Pentagon announced Friday, in the latest escalation of military firepower in a region where the Trump administration has unleashed more rapid strikes in recent days against boats it accuses of carrying drugs.... more »

• US strikes two more alleged drug-carrying boats, this time in the Pacific Ocean

  October 23, 2025 11:54 AM

  WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military on Wednesday launched its ninth strike against an alleged drug-carrying vessel, killing three people in the eastern Pacific Ocean, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said, expanding the Trump administration's campaign against drug trafficking in South America. It followed another strike Tuesday night, also in... more »

• Trump confirms the CIA is conducting covert operations inside Venezuela

  October 16, 2025 11:38 AM

  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump confirmed Wednesday that he has authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations inside Venezuela and said he was weighing carrying out land operations on the country. The acknowledgement of covert action in Venezuela by the U.S. spy agency comes after the U.S. military... more »

• Trump administration has yet to provide Congress hard evidence that targeted boats carried drugs, officials say

  October 8, 2025 6:12 PM

  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has yet to provide underlying evidence to lawmakers proving that alleged drug-smuggling boats targeted by the U.S. military in a series of fatal strikes were in fact carrying narcotics, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the matter. As bipartisan frustration with the... more »

• Venezuela denounces alleged 'extremist' plan to attack shuttered US Embassy complex

  October 6, 2025 12:58 PM

  CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela warned Monday of an alleged plan by extremists to attack the shuttered U.S. Embassy complex in Caracas with explosives, coming as bilateral tensions simmer over Washington's military deployment in the Caribbean. Jorge Rodríguez, head of the National Assembly and of Venezuela's delegation for dialogue... more »

• Trump's strike on alleged Venezuelan drug boat raises questions about his use of military power

  September 10, 2025 11:11 AM

  WASHINGTON (AP) — Within a week of Donald Trump's election, Sen. Lindsey Graham counseled the president-elect to quickly send a message to the drug cartels from the White House. "Blow up something," Graham told Trump. The brazen military strike on a suspected drug-smuggling speedboat carrying 11 people from... more »

• Trump says US strike targeting Venezuelan gang will cause cartels to think twice

  September 4, 2025 10:49 AM

  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday justified the lethal military strike that his administration said was carried out a day earlier against a Venezuelan gang as a necessary effort by the United States to send an unmistakable message to Latin American cartels. Asked why the military did... more »

• Mexico says there's no agreement with DEA for new border enforcement collaboration

  August 19, 2025 3:41 PM

  MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum denied her administration had an agreement with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Tuesday, a day after the U.S. agency announced "a major new initiative" to collaborate in the fight against drug cartels. Sheinbaum was referring to "Project Portero," an effort announced... more »

• Mexican banks face cascading consequences following US sanctions

  July 1, 2025 3:32 PM

  Mexico City (AP) — Three Mexican financial institutions sanctioned by the Trump administration last week have felt a cascade of economic consequences following the allegations that they helped launder millions of dollars for drug cartels. It comes after the U.S. Treasury Department announced that it was blocking transactions between... more »

• Mexico's security chief says drug cartels are recruiting former Colombian soldiers

  June 10, 2025 6:09 PM

  MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico's most powerful drug cartels are recruiting former Colombian soldiers, prompting Mexican authorities to turn away dozens of Colombians trying to enter the country in recent weeks, Mexico's security chief said Tuesday. Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch's comments followed the arrest last week of 12... more »

• Supreme Court tosses Mexico's $10B lawsuit claiming US gunmakers have fueled cartel violence

  June 5, 2025 9:30 AM

  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Thursday tossed out a $10 billion lawsuit Mexico filed against top firearm manufacturers in the U.S. that claimed the companies' business practices were helping fuel cartel violence plaguing the country. In a victory for the firearm industry, the unanimous ruling tossed out... more »