An accused Mexican drug lord being held on charges in the United States has filed an unusual motion in federal court: He’s challenging the U.S.
government, saying he had been working with its own federal agents in Mexico.
Jesus Vicente Zambada Niebla. Photo courtesy: Mexican Ministry of Defense
Jesus Vicente “El Vicentillo” Zambada Niebla is one of the most senior drug trafficking figures in U.S. custody. He’s accused of working for the
Sinaloa Cartel, a powerful drug trafficking organization in Mexico. In fact, he’s the eldest son of one of its leaders. Zambada was arrested in Mexico
City in 2009, extradited to Illinois and is accused of trafficking nearly $6 billion in cocaine. He’s contracted some of the highest profile criminal
defense lawyers in the country, including George Santangelo, a mob lawyer for John Gotti’s Gambino Crime Family.
In 2003, the United States indicted Zambada in a massive anti-drug operation that stretched from Colombia to Mexico and into several U.S. cities:
Tucson, Los Angeles, Phoenix, New York, Virginia and Rhode Island. Nearly 250 people were arrested in “Operation Trifecta” and it was among the first
indictments filed against Zambada’s father, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, now one of the top leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel.
Last month, his attorneys filed a simple but explosive one page motion in federal court. They say the FBI, the DEA and various Dept. of Homeland
Security agents in Mexico were actually working with Zambada for more than five years.
Peter Henning is a law professor at Wayne State University Law School. He said the public authority assertion made by Zambada’s legal team is nearly
unheard of in organized crime cases.
“Essentially, this is the type of claim by a defendant that puts the government on trial; saying that the government sponsored illegal activity,”
Henning said.
Neither the Justice Department nor Zambada’s lawyers would comment for this story because of the sensitivity of the case.
But the motion names several DEA and FBI agents who have actively worked in Mexico, claiming they authorized Zambada’s activities. One that was named,
Eduardo Martinez, was the DEA’s attaché in the city of Hermosillo, in Sonora, Mexico until 2008. His name frequently surfaced in federal court
warrants as the investigating agent in cross-border drug trafficking cases.
“Given what’s going on with the Mexican drug cartels, the last thing the United States can handle is any kind of finding that it in fact sponsored one
of the drug cartels,” Henning said.
A date has not been set for the trial in Chicago. When that trial concludes, Zambada faces another trial in Washington D.C. for the Operation Trifecta
case.
I think one of the worlds wealthiest billionaires (senor Chapo Guzman) has a good legal team or he wouldn't still be out of prison running around
free. The current laws don't seem to apply to him and the legal "system" in Mexico keeps it that way. So why not reach across the border?
The Gambino family and the USA mobster of that day went down due to tax evasion- not because of how they got the money.
[Edited on 4-14-2011 by Woooosh]
Hope he gets off
Dave - 4-14-2011 at 11:22 AM
Anything to get more drugs in the hands of spoiled Americans is a good thing. He should get a medal.Woooosh - 4-14-2011 at 11:27 AM
Quote:
Originally posted by Dave
Anything to get more drugs in the hands of spoiled Americans is a good thing. He should get a medal.
You have to keep in mind that Mexico blames the USA for drug consumption, but it is the Mexican farm migrants coming to the USA in the early 1920's
that brought it to the USA with them and made it's use widespread. They always forget to mention the second part...
rts551 - 4-14-2011 at 11:29 AM
Hey we allowed them weapons. Why not allow them to operate?Mexitron - 4-14-2011 at 11:30 AM
What was it Bush Sr. was purported to have said..."The American people would be horrified if they knew what we had been doing in the name of the US."
? Something like that. That the drug cartels and the US are in bed together has been long talked about, outside mainstream media....so who knows.
Horse poop
Dave - 4-14-2011 at 11:40 AM
Quote:
Originally posted by Woooosh
it is the Mexican farm migrants coming to the USA in the early 1920's that brought it to the USA with them and made it's use
widespread.
No one is tied down and forced to use drugs.motoged - 4-14-2011 at 12:47 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by Woooosh
Quote:
Originally posted by Dave
.... it is the Mexican farm migrants coming to the USA in the early 1920's that brought it to the USA with them and made it's use widespread. ...
I believe that your previous president, George Washington, grew the stuff.....marijuana grows all over the planet....it's not just a Mexican thing...
DENNIS - 4-14-2011 at 12:54 PM
I thought George grew hemp. Isn't there a difference?motoged - 4-14-2011 at 02:47 PM
HEMP vs. MARIJUANA
The word "hemp" is English for a number of varieties of the cannabis plant, particularly the varieties like "industrial hemp" that were bred over time
for industrial uses such as fuel, fiber, paper, seed, food, oil, etc.
The term "marijuana" is of Spanish derivation, and was primarily used to describe varieties of cannabis that were more commonly bred over time for
medicinal and recreational purposes, like cannabis indica , and certain strains of cannabis sativa.Click picture for larger view
In fact, when all forms of hemp were made illegal in the early part of the last century, it was used in the majority of the prescription drugs then
sold in America. That was certainly no accident. Those who favor the use of what is now called "medical marijuana" recognize these strong medicinal
qualities.
But marijuana and the medical or recreational varieties of cannabis are not really at issue today, because science readily allows us to distinguish
them from industrial hemp by simple tests for the huge difference in the potency of the plants, i.e. the percentage of the psychotropic ingredient:
delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol ("THC"), the active psychotropic ingredient found in the leaves and flowers of the female plant, but not in her seeds or
stems.
Two cannabinoids are preponderant in cannabis: THC, the psychoactive ingredient, and CBD, which is an antipsychoactive ingredient. Marijuana is high
in the psychoactive cannabinoid, THC, and low in the antipsychoactive cannabinoid, CBD. The reverse is true for industrial hemp; when hemp was or is
bred for its desirable industrial qualities, the percentage of THC is minimal, while the percentage of CBD is high.
While marijuana has a potency range of 3% to 20% by dry weight of THC, industrial hemp is generally defined as having less than 1.0% THC, and the
normal range is under 0.5%. These THC levels are so low that no one could get high from smoking it. To receive a standard psychoactive dose would
require a person to power-smoke 10-12 hemp cigarettes over an extremely short period of time. The large volume and high temperature of vapor, gas and
smoke would be almost impossible for a person to withstand.
Moreover, hemp contains a relatively high percentage of another cannabinoid, CBD, that actually blocks the marijuana high. Hemp, it turns out, is not
only not marijuana; it could be called "antimarijuana."
Feral hemp, or "ditchweed", is a remnant of the industrial hemp once grown on more than 400,000 acres by U.S. farmers. It also contains extremely low
levels of THC, as low as .05 percent. It has no drug value, but does offer important environmental benefits as a nesting habitat for birds. About 99
percent of the "marijuana" being eradicated by the federal government-at great public expense-is this harmless ditchweed.
So industrial hemp or ditchweed simply does not have enough THC for any practical use as a recreational drug, and anyone who grows industrial hemp
will certainly have to suffer the legal consequences of trying to grow marijuana. But that too is very unlikely for a number of reasons:
Industrial Hemp is grown quite differently from marijuana. Hemp plants are cultivated inches apart to produce plants with tall stalks, while pot
plants are short and spaced a few feet apart to produce bushy, THC-rich flowers and leaves. Moreover, they are harvested at different times.
Marijuana cultivators also try to cull male plants to prevent fertilization of the female plant. Unfertilized females produce more THC, making it
attractive as a drug (sinsemilla). In contrast, hemp production typically seeks fertilization to produce seeds.
And cross-pollination between hemp plants and marijuana plants would significantly reduce the potency of the marijuana plant. If hemp does pollinate
any nearby marijuana, genetically, the result will always be lower-THC marijuana, not higher-THC hemp. "The pot crop would always get weaker,"
Mahlberg said. If hemp is grown outdoors, marijuana will not be grown close by to avoid producing lower-grade marijuana. A pot grower would fear the
inevitable pollen from hemp cultivation in a mixed plot, and would not hide his plant in industrial hemp fields.
Likewise, extracting THC from industrial hemp and further refining it to eliminate the preponderance of CBD would require such an expensive,
hazardous, and time-consuming process that it is extremely unlikely anyone would ever attempt it, rather than simply obtaining high-THC marijuana
instead.
[Also see: www.votehemp.com/PDF/myths_facts.pdf to review: Hemp and Marijuana -- Myths and Realities by Dr. Dave West, who holds a Ph.D. in Plant Breeding
from the University of Minnesota and has spent 18 years as a commercial corn breeder, and, since 1993 he has served as an advisor to the emerging hemp
industry regarding industrial hemp germplasm.]
All of this goes to show why, in countries where hemp is grown as an agricultural crop, the police have experienced no such burdens. In fact, there
are over 30 nations on the planet currently growing industrial hemp. These include Canada, Australia, England, France, Germany, Austria, Spain,
Russia, and China.
The regulations established in these countries are simple: contract production, aerial ASCS type maps of fields, only government certified low THC
seed, pre- and post-harvest field surveys, field checks on THC levels and an open field policy. And they do not have an increased problem with
prosecution for marijuana use. So legalizing hemp would not burden local police forces.
This explains why the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) recently adopted a resolution strongly urging the U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) to collaboratively develop and
adopt an official definition of industrial hemp.
This also explains why legislation to deregulate industrial hemp and/or allow scientific study by state universities is pending or passed in over 20
states:
Bills Passed: ND, HI, MN, IL, MD -- Resolutions Passed: AK, CA, KY, MT, VA, VT
Legislation In Process: SD, IA, ME, NH, NM, OR, TN -- Voter Initiatives: AK, CO, MIBajahowodd - 4-14-2011 at 04:23 PM
It's just one, sick international jobs program. Jobs for the growers. Jobs for the traffickers, and jobs for the "warriors" in the war on drugs.
Everyone gets a paycheck. Some might call it warped capitalism.
