A former Honduran president who was convicted of helping drug smugglers import 400 tons of cocaine into the United States walked free on Monday after receiving a pardon from President Donald Trump.
Juan Orlando Hernandez, who received a 45-year sentence last year, was released from a federal prison in West Virginia after writing a letter to Trump in late October, arguing that he was the target of a political prosecution and was set up by the Biden administration. Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115629406693931908">announced</a> on Friday that he was planning on granting Hernandez &#8220;a Full and Complete Pardon.&#8221; The president said that &#8220;according to many people that I greatly respect,&#8221; Hernandez was &#8220;treated very harshly and unfairly.&#8221;
Hernandez&#8217;s wife confirmed on Tuesday morning that her husband was a free man.
&#8220;After nearly four years of pain, waiting, and difficult trials, my husband Juan Orlando Hernández RETURNED to being a free man, thanks to the presidential pardon granted by President Donald Trump,&#8221; Ana García de Hernández <a href="https://x.com/anagarciacarias/status/1995796971739656532">said</a>.
Hernandez was convicted in a U.S. court of conspiring to import cocaine into the United States in what prosecutors called a &#8220;corrupt and violent drug-trafficking conspiracy,&#8221; CBS News <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/us-arrests-indicts-former-honduran-president-juan-orlando-hernandez/">reported</a>. Hernandez was also accused of using money he received from drug trafficking &#8220;to enrich himself, finance his political campaigns, and commit voter fraud, including in connection with the 2013 and 2017 Honduran presidential elections.&#8221;
In his <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/12/02/us/politics/hernandez-letter.html">letter</a> to President Trump pleading for mercy, Hernandez argued that his conviction was based on &#8220;uncorroborated statements from drug traffickers, one of whom even recorded a video exposing senior members of the Honduran radical left party, Libre, discussing bribes with traffickers, yet admitted during my rigged trial that they had no evidence to support their accusations against me.&#8221;
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Hernandez&#8217;s letter was given to Trump by the president&#8217;s adviser and longtime ally Roger Stone hours before the president said he was going to pardon the former Honduran president, The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/12/02/us/trump-ukraine-putin-news#hernandez-honduras-trump">reported</a>.
Trump&#8217;s decision to free a former Central American president who was convicted of a massive drug trafficking scheme was criticized by some on the Right and the Left, especially since Trump is currently taking out suspected Venezuelan drug runners and pressuring Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to curb drug trafficking into the United States.
&#8220;Why would we pardon this guy and then go after Maduro for running drugs into the United States? Lock up every drug runner! Don’t understand why he is being pardoned,&#8221; Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) <a href="https://x.com/SenBillCassidy/status/1995213682406760812">said</a> last week after Trump announced his plan to pardon Hernandez.
Trump <a href="https://x.com/MarioNawfal/status/1995264956262949278">told</a> reporters on Sunday that &#8220;many of the people of Honduras said that it was a Biden setup.&#8221;
&#8220;I don&#8217;t mean Biden, look, Biden didn&#8217;t know he was alive,&#8221; Trump added. &#8220;But it was the people that surrounded the Resolute Desk, that surrounded Biden when he was there. &#8230; [Hernandez] was the president of the country, and they basically said he was a drug dealer because he was the president of the country, and they said it was a Biden administration setup, and I looked at the facts and I agreed with them.&#8221;
The U.S. investigation into Hernandez <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/31/americas/honduras-juan-orlando-hernandez-dea-intl">began</a> in 2013, and he was <a href="https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/juan-orlando-hern%C3%A1ndez-former-president-honduras-indicted-drug-trafficking">indicted</a> in early 2022. The indictment charges that between 2004 and 2022, Hernandez protected drug runners who trafficked hundreds of thousands of kilograms of cocaine into the United States, and, in return, Hernandez and other Honduran officials received millions of dollars. Drug cartels in Honduras have long worked with cartels in countries such as Venezuela and Colombia to transport drugs into the United States, according to the Justice Department.
Trump&#8217;s pardon of Hernandez comes as Honduras is in the middle of a close presidential election, with results showing a &#8220;<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2dgp8mvmno">technical tie</a>&#8221; between right-wing candidate Nasry Asfura and liberal Salvador Nasralla. Trump endorsed Asfura, saying that the candidate has the &#8220;confidence&#8221; of the United States.
&#8220;If Tito Asfura wins for President of Honduras, because the United States has so much confidence in him, his Policies, and what he will do for the Great People of Honduras, we will be very supportive,&#8221; Trump wrote last week. &#8220;If he doesn’t win, the United States will not be throwing good money after bad, because a wrong Leader can only bring catastrophic results to a country, no matter which country it is.&#8221;

Juan Orlando Hernandez

Trump Frees Former Honduran President Convicted Of Flooding U.S. With Cocaine

Trump Frees Former Honduran President Who Was Convicted Of Flooding U.S. With Cocaine

Donald Trump

drug trafficking

Drugs

Pardon

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Advocates and angel families who lost children to the opioid epidemic applauded news Monday that President Donald Trump had signed the SUPPORT Act, legislation that strengthens resources for Americans facing substance use disorders.
Trump signed the legislation into law on Monday afternoon, reauthorizing and revising programs within the Department of Health and Human Services addressing substance use disorders, overdoses, and mental health.
Sandy Snodgrass, the mother of a victim named Bruce, and co-founder of Fentanyl Fathers and Angel Army, said simply: “The SUPPORT Act and Bruce’s Law will simply save the lives of young Americans.”
Another bereaved father, Greg Swan, thanked the president for listening to the story of his grieving family, noting that Trump created the original SUPPORT Act back in 2018. Monday&#8217;s action renewed the law with the addition of &#8220;Bruce&#8217;s Law,&#8221; written by Snodgrass, he said.
&#8220;Now we are empowered and backed by the Support Act to go into all 26,727 reluctant USA High Schools and preach the dangers of fentanyl as a bereaved army, the Angel Army,&#8221; said Swan, who is co-founder of Fentanyl Fathers and Angel Army. &#8220;110,000 lives will be saved by youth alone &#8211; and you can double that by the number of bereaved parents who WILL NOT have to have an empty chair for their &#8216;Tiny Tim.&#8217;”
Drew Siegel, co-founder of Victoria&#8217;s Voice, said that his organization is &#8220;forever grateful&#8221; to Trump and his administration for &#8220;answering the prayers of millions of bereaved parents, siblings, friends, and families across our country.&#8221; Drew&#8217;s sister, Victoria, is also a victim of a drug overdose.
&#8220;This is for you, Victoria,&#8221; he said simply. &#8220;We love you, and we miss you every day.”
<div id="attachment_1008249" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/angel-families-praise-trump-for-signing-law-to-combat-substance-abuse/president-trump-speaks-on-progress-made-combatting-opiod-crisis-in-east-room-of-white-house" rel="attachment wp-att-1008249"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1008249" class="wp-image-1008249 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-1052957848-864x576.jpg" alt="U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during an East Room event at the White House October 24, 2018 in Washington, DC. President Trump hosted an event to mark the one-year anniversary of the administration's declaration of combating the opioid crisis. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-1052957848-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-1052957848-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-1052957848-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-1052957848.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during an East Room event at the White House October 24, 2018 in Washington, DC. President Trump hosted an event to mark the one-year anniversary of the administration&#8217;s declaration of combating the opioid crisis. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)</div>
Robert Branner, co-founder of Fentanyl Fathers, described the legislation as &#8220;a lifeline for American families.&#8221;
&#8220;It is an Act designed to save lives, strengthen communities, and protect our children from a crisis that is touching every corner of this nation,&#8221; he argued. &#8220;I stand here as a Father who lost a daughter because she did not know the dangers of taking a pill that was not prescribed to her. She didn’t know it could be laced with fentanyl. She didn’t know one single pill could stop her heart. She didn’t know because she was never taught.&#8221;
Branner says the new law matters for all Americans, recognizing that &#8220;prevention is protection.&#8221;
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&#8220;It invests in education, awareness, treatment, and support,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It brings resources to schools, families, and communities so our children do not grow up uninformed, unprotected, and unaware. If my daughter had received the education that the SUPPORT Act encourages, if she had been taught early about the dangers of unprescribed opioids she might still be here today. And I know I am not alone. Families across this country have the same story, the same pain, the same loss.&#8221;
&#8220;The SUPPORT Act is an equalizer,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It doesn’t pick and choose which families to help. It reaches across race, class, background, and zip code because addiction and fentanyl do not discriminate. Education, prevention, and support should not either. &#8230; It saves lives. It strengthens families. And it gives our children the knowledge they need to survive in a world where one pill can take everything.”

Angel Families Praise Trump For Signing Law To Combat Substance Abuse

Fentanyl

Health

Opioid Crisis

U.S.

White House

President Donald Trump said on Monday that he&#8217;s open to green-lighting strikes inside of Mexico &#8220;to stop drugs&#8221; from crossing into the United States.
Trump spoke with reporters in the Oval Office about targeting &#8220;narco-terrorists&#8221; in the Caribbean Sea, and said he would be &#8220;okay&#8221; with using that same strategy to take out out drug runners on land — even if they&#8217;re inside of Mexico.
&#8220;Would I launch strikes in Mexico to stop drugs? That&#8217;s okay with me,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;Whatever we have to do to stop drugs. I looked at Mexico City over the weekend. There&#8217;s some big problems over there.&#8221;
Asked if he would seek Mexico&#8217;s permission before launching a strike on drug traffickers inside of the country, Trump said, &#8220;I wouldn&#8217;t answer that question.&#8221;
&#8220;I&#8217;ve been speaking to Mexico. They know how I stand,&#8221; Trump added. &#8220;We have lost hundreds of thousands of people to drugs, so now we&#8217;ve stopped the waterways. We know every route. We know the addresses of every drug lord. We know their address. We know their front door. We know everything about every one of them. They&#8217;re killing our people. That&#8217;s like a war.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>: &#8220;We have lost hundreds of thousands of people a year&#8230; and much of it comes through Mexico. So, let me just put it this way — I am NOT happy with Mexico.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/MzvJreOuEM">pic.twitter.com/MzvJreOuEM</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1990517686544273579?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 17, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The president said he would be &#8220;proud&#8221; to conduct land strikes on drug cartels, adding that he would &#8220;probably&#8221; go to Congress before striking inside of a foreign country. Trump also discussed potentially hitting &#8220;cocaine factories&#8221; inside of Colombia.
The Trump administration has been criticized by Democrats and some Republicans for taking out suspected drug runners in international waters without congressional authorization. Trump has ordered 11 strikes in the Caribbean Sea in the past two months, killing over 80 suspected drug traffickers.
The Trump administration says that at least 85% of drug trafficking through waterways has been stopped following the &#8220;narco-terrorist&#8221; strikes, but most illegal drugs are <a href="https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/fact-sheet/fentanyl-smuggling/">snuck</a> into the United States on land, coming in through ports of entry. Most fentanyl trafficked into the United States comes from Mexico or China and is driven across the U.S. southern border in passenger vehicles, <a href="https://www.gao.gov/blog/fentanyl-continues-be-leading-cause-overdose-deaths.-whats-being-done-combat-trafficking-united-states">according</a> to the Government Accountability Office.
Mexico has said that it would not approve of U.S. military operations on its soil.
“We reject any form of intervention or interference. That’s been very clear, Mexico coordinates and collaborates, but does not subordinate itself,” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum <a href="https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2025-04-08/mexico-warns-against-potential-u-s-drone-strikes-on-cartels">said</a> in April.
NBC News <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/trump-administration-planning-new-mission-mexico-cartels-current-forme-rcna241167">reported</a> earlier this month that the Trump administration is considering <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-admin-may-send-u-s-troops-to-mexico-to-target-cartels">deploying troops</a> to Mexico to target drug cartels with drones. Six Mexican cartels were designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations by the State Department just weeks after Trump was sworn in for his second term.

‘Whatever We Have To Do’: Trump Says He’s ‘OK’ With Striking Inside Mexico ‘To Stop Drugs’

Drug Cartels

Global Politics

Mexico

Military

Politics

World

The United Kingdom has stopped sharing intelligence with the United States on drug boats in the Caribbean to stay out of major counter-narcotics strikes in the region.
While controlling multiple territories in the Caribbean, the U.K. has long helped the U.S. interdict drug smugglers in the open sea, CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/11/11/politics/uk-suspends-caribbean-intelligence-sharing-us">reported</a>. But as the mission becomes more lethal, the U.K. no longer wants to be involved.
The intelligence blackout began over a month ago.
The Department of War has launched more than a dozen strikes on boats, killing 76 people.
Believing that the strikes violated international law, the U.K. started to worry that its intelligence was helping the U.S. locate the vessels before obliterating them.
Trump administration officials have <a href="https://www.facebook.com/DepartmentofWar/videos/4345830319036573/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">defended</a> the strikes, saying the drug traffickers are “operating under the control” of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro.
Some legal experts, however, have questioned President Donald Trump&#8217;s authority to act on the threats without congressional approval.
Brian Finucane, a former State Department legal adviser, recently told The Daily Wire that “the strikes are not legal” and lack justification.
“The precedent that this administration seems to be invoking are strikes the U.S. has taken over the course of the last 20-plus years in the context of the U.S. war on terror against groups like Al Qaeda and ISIS,” he said. “But those precedents are really irrelevant and a red herring with respect to the strikes we’re seeing in the Caribbean and now the Pacific.”
“For the first time, the U.S. government designated criminal entities, drug trafficking organizations as foreign terrorist organizations,” he explained. “But those assertions seem to be undermined by the U.S. Intelligence community.”
Dr. Nicholas Creel, law professor at Georgia College and State University, believes the strikes are legal, pointing to roughly five out of 30 examples of “instances where we moved first and somebody died” where the president actually received congressional approval.
“What a lot of people lose in this is if we do agree that the president has the authority to respond to attacks, who is it that gets to define an attack is? It has to be the president,” Creel said. “It necessarily cannot be Congress.”
“That’s why we chose this word to give the president the authority to respond to these attacks so it has to be that decides what this attack is. And if you or I think this is not an attack, fine, but we’re not the president.”
He continued: “Pretty much every president since FDR would have to have been said to have acted unconstitutionally in terms of the war powers, which seems a bit odd. If it’s that common a practice, is it really, I mean, just because people are doing it doesn’t mean it’s legal, but at the same time, if everybody is basically doing it? Is it really illegal?”

Trump/Starmer

UK Now Refuses To Share Certain Intelligence With United States Over Drug Boat Strikes

UK Stops Sharing Certain Intelligence With US Over Drug Boat Strikes

Colombia

United Kingdom

Venezuela

A staffer for Massachusetts Democrat Governor Maura Healey faces charges for drug trafficking and illegal possession of a firearm.
Lamar Cook of Springfield is accused of trafficking 200 or more grams of cocaine and illegally possessing a firearm and ammunition.
“The Governor’s Office has been made aware of the arrest of an employee, Lamar Cook,&#8221; a Healey spokesman told<a href="https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/employee-for-gov-healeys-office-fired-following-his-arrest/3835936/"> NBC 10 Boston</a>.
“The conduct that occurred here is unacceptable and represents a major breach of the public trust. Mr. Cook has been terminated from his position effective immediately. This criminal investigation is ongoing, and our administration will work with law enforcement to assist them in their work,” the statement added.
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According to the Hampden District Attorney’s office, there’s an “ongoing and active” investigation going on by state authorities and Homeland Security Investigations into cocaine trafficking in Springfield, which started when authorities came across two packages at the Hotel UMass in Amherst with “suspected cocaine” inside.
In addition, authorities seized 9 kilograms of the drug on Saturday while busting a “controlled delivery operation” at the Springfield State Office Building, where Cook, 45, worked. Authorities searched the building with a warrant on Monday.
However, the Hampden DA’s office said in a press release that there could be “additional charges” as part of the Hotel UMass seizure of the 13 kilograms of cocaine.
Cook pleaded not guilty during his arraignment on Thursday and faces another hearing on Friday, according to<a href="https://www.wwlp.com/news/crime/who-is-lamar-cook-from-western-massachusetts-deputy-director-to-alleged-drug-trafficker/"> WWLP</a>.
&#8220;Eight kilos?? Whoa. That&#8217;s a LOT of dope,&#8221; Fox News Contributor and law enforcement expert Paul Mauro posted to X.
The arrest sparked criticism of the governor.
&#8220;A top aide to Gov. Maura Healey is a drug trafficker. This is beyond shocking. This is a reflection not just on our governor and her failed leadership and management skills, but on our entire state, and we shouldn’t tolerate it. Gov. Healey owes Massachusetts an explanation,&#8221; Brian Shortsleeve, a Republican running for governor in Massachusetts, posted on X.
Healey came under fire last year for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dem-gov-refuses-to-help-deportations-as-ice-busts-alleged-illegal-alien-child-rapists-in-her-state">refusing</a> to comply with President Donald Trump&#8217;s deportation orders.

Boston, MA – August 8: Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey held a morning press conference announcing significant action related to the state’s emergency shelter system.

Major Drug Bust Shakes Up Massachusetts’s Dem Governor’s Office

Cocaine

Crime

Massachusetts

maura healey

As history shows, nearly every civilization has progressed and evolved using some form of alcohol. But no civilization in history has ever experimented with the types of industrialized THC products Western countries are now recklessly legalizing, commercializing, and normalizing. We might pause to ask ourselves why zero Asian countries have done so and why China is so anxious <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/06/24/1238497863/chinese-marijuana-farms-new-mexico">to promote</a> this cultural suicide weapon here.
A 2023 <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(25)01917-8/fulltext__;!!JA_k2roV-A!F0P_XFB6ND8ziqH2ovImdot2Tze_kgHA6TLYEc8Ifkn-grY-c9CqSJv-NPamf6v0PFrGk-6w--NkTAtaIIr-JHw$">global study</a> on life expectancy showed we are back to pre-pandemic levels with one notable exception: Teens and young adults in Western countries are dying at higher rates, driven largely by suicides and substance use.
Traffic fatalities continue to be a major cause of death in young adults, which is one reason The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh has been vocal about <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@mattwalsh_/video/7559991047514836237">his opposition</a> to the legalization of marijuana. In fact, a recent study of dead drivers in a major Ohio county morgue found that 42% of them tested <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/health/fatal-crash-report-finds-nearly-half-deadly-wrecks-tied-illegal-drug">positive for THC</a>. 
Pot apologists quickly jumped to their defense, noting that THC can be detected for up to a month after use. But the national past 30-day marijuana use rate <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/07/08/facts-about-marijuana/">is only 16%</a>, yet these drivers had average THC levels 5 to 10 times the state legal limits.
Some will argue, “Well, it&#8217;s no worse than alcohol.”
Marijuana use, however, is associated with <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6296897/#:~:text=Analyses%20revealed:%201)%20daily%20marijuana,marijuana%20use%20and%20negative%20consequences.">more alcohol</a> consumption, and marijuana users are <a href="https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/news/marijuana-smokers-five-times-more-likely-develop-alcohol-problem">five times</a> more likely to become alcoholics. It has also been reported that up to 40% of marijuana users <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/daily-marijuana-use-is-now-more-common-than-daily-alcohol-use-in-the-u-s-new-study-finds">use daily</a>, and up to <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.yalemedicine.org/conditions/marijuana-use-disorder__;!!JA_k2roV-A!F0P_XFB6ND8ziqH2ovImdot2Tze_kgHA6TLYEc8Ifkn-grY-c9CqSJv-NPamf6v0PFrGk-6w--NkTAta8e51DO8$">30% meet criteria for addiction</a> — both far higher percentages than for drinkers. Using alcohol to excuse marijuana use or legalization is simply an exercise in lazy whataboutism.
Speaking of which, THC strongly induces suicidality even in patients who were not depressed to begin with, and state legalization has led to <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.pn.2025.01.1.15__;!!JA_k2roV-A!F0P_XFB6ND8ziqH2ovImdot2Tze_kgHA6TLYEc8Ifkn-grY-c9CqSJv-NPamf6v0PFrGk-6w--NkTAta6a4o0FY$">sharp increases</a> in youth suicides. Up to <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/heavy-cannabis-use-linked-to-schizophrenia-especially-among-young-men/__;!!JA_k2roV-A!F0P_XFB6ND8ziqH2ovImdot2Tze_kgHA6TLYEc8Ifkn-grY-c9CqSJv-NPamf6v0PFrGk-6w--NkTAtaHeiA8hc$">30% of schizophrenia</a> cases in young men are attributable to THC use now.
Marijuana smoke is also causing the same <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/08/health/marijuana-head-and-neck-cancer-wellness/">type of cancers</a> as tobacco smoke, while also <a href="https://www.tctmd.com/news/cannabis-use-again-tied-increased-cvd-risk-young-people">dramatically increasing</a> the risk of heart attacks and strokes in younger users. Further, as the American College of Cardiology <a href="https://www.acc.org/Latest-in-Cardiology/Journal-Scans/2025/06/04/14/21/Chronic-Marijuana-Smoking">reports</a>, THC has been shown to cause damage to major blood vessels regardless of the mechanism of ingestion.
Add to this the well-known adverse effects on <a href="https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/124806/long-term-cannabis-blunt-brains-motivation-system/">motivation</a> and <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4586361/">educational</a> achievement, and the costs of the cannabis culture to government budgets are simply staggering. One study on the costs of legalization in Colorado, for example, conservatively <a href="https://centennial.ccu.edu/briefs/marijuana-costs/">estimated</a>, “For every dollar gained in tax revenue, Coloradans spent approximately $4.50 to mitigate the effects of legalization.” And that’s even at a 15% sales tax rate.
While there is simply no conservative case for the legalization of marijuana, the libertarian case suffers from serious flaws. First of all, the utopian assumption that legalization would lead to a “safe and regulated” product that would eliminate the black market has now gone 0-for-24 in our marijuana legal states. Many legal THC products are <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://viiahemp.com/collections/high-thc__;!!JA_k2roV-A!F0P_XFB6ND8ziqH2ovImdot2Tze_kgHA6TLYEc8Ifkn-grY-c9CqSJv-NPamf6v0PFrGk-6w--NkTAtaX4gqjCQ$">more potent</a> than ever before, even more than the now highly potent plant itself. The industry has defied <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VkrWO8H08Q">regulation</a>, and the black markets are <a href="https://alcoholstudies.rutgers.edu/cannabis-black-market-thrives-despite-legalization/">thriving</a>. Legalizing marijuana to eliminate the black market is like giving your dog ticks to rid it of fleas. You just double the infestation.
More importantly, substances like THC are the exception that proves the libertarian rule. Libertarianism works when people are free to act in their own best interest and, by extension, their family, community, and country. Chemicals like THC are designed to promote the opposite type of citizen. Libertarians should be the most opposed to the drug culture because it undermines the very foundation of their ideology.
The <a href="https://learnaboutsam.org/2025/06/leading-experts-warn-marijuana-rescheduling-driven-by-politics-in-stunning-jama-psychiatry-report/">politically</a> driven potential rescheduling of marijuana will only fuel this destructive industry with tax breaks and marketing privileges. Republicans should note that young male voters <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-young-men-voters-election-latinos-democrats-ff30e38698a41132cf90345fffabe579">moved to the Right</a> last November while radical Democrats were still enticing them with more weed.
Much attention has been paid to the influence of transgender ideology on the radicalization of Charlie Kirk’s assassin. But as we saw with the transgender school shooter in Minneapolis, THC may have also played a role. As discussed in a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/live/Z1b3TYJli5A?si=vXQjsRYLTa6VQdWz&amp;t=1252">recent episode</a> of the Liz Wheeler show, a close friend of the suspected Utah assassin reported rampant drug use in his apartment and that “We’d have a mostly weekly magic night at the apartment where everyone would come drink, get high and play magic.”
Charlie Kirk gave his generation more credit than some in the GOP. Despite the criticism, he stood up to the lies of the THC industry. Republicans will never outbid Democrats in the race to the drug culture bottom. Nor should they, as <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/648821/americans-views-marijuana-effects-worsen.aspx">polls show</a> we may have already reached the bottom, with public sentiment now turning against marijuana.
Charlie knew that minds can be changed, but facts cannot. Truth and the future of this great country are worth standing for, regardless of the cost. 
Principled conservatives should do more than eulogize Charlie. They should emulate him.
* * *
Matt Poling is a physician, Medical Director of Citizens for a Safe and Healthy Texas, and Faculty Advisor for Texas A&amp;M Young Americans for Freedom. <a href="mailto:mpoling@sw.org">mpoling@sw.org</a>
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire. 
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Close-up of young adult man rolling a marijuana joint on blur background.

The High Cost Of Getting High: How Legal Weed Is Destroying A Generation

Cannabis: A Cultural Suicide Weapon

Alcohol

Cancer

China

Marijuana

Mental Health

Opinion

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) — The deadliest police operation in Brazil&#8217;s history killed at least 132 people, public defenders said on Wednesday, as Rio de Janeiro residents lined a street with dozens of corpses found overnight, a week ahead of global climate events in the city.
State police said the raids targeting a major drug gang the day before had been planned exhaustively for more than two months, designed to drive suspects into a forested hillside where a special operations unit was waiting in ambush.
&#8220;The elevated lethality of the operation was expected but not desired,&#8221; Victor Santos, head of security for Rio state, told a news conference. Rio police officials confirmed 119 deaths so far, including four police officers. Police said they had arrested 113 suspects in the operation and seized 118 firearms.
Santos said there was no connection to global events Rio will host next week related to the United Nations COP30 climate summit, including the C40 global summit of mayors tackling climate change and British Prince William&#8217;s Earthshot Prize.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was surprised to learn Rio police had launched an &#8220;extremely bloody, violent&#8221; operation without notifying or involving the federal government, Justice Minister Ricardo Lewandowski told journalists.
The minister said he planned to meet with Rio&#8217;s governor and could increase the number of federal security officials there.
Lula, who returned to Brasilia late on Tuesday from a trip to Malaysia, met with Vice President Geraldo Alckmin and cabinet members on Wednesday to discuss the matter, his office said.
Rio has hosted several global events over the past decade, including the 2016 Olympics, the 2024 G20 summit and the BRICS summit in July, without violence on the scale seen on Tuesday.
The city&#8217;s most deadly police raid before Tuesday was a 2021 raid that left 28 people dead in the Jacarezinho neighborhood. In 1992, 111 were killed when Sao Paulo police stormed the Carandiru Penitentiary to put down a prison rebellion.
Residents of the Penha neighborhood in Rio gathered dozens of corpses from the surrounding forest overnight and lined up more than 70 of the bodies in the middle of a main street.
Several civil society groups and public security experts criticized the heavy casualties of the military-style raid. The United Nations Human Rights office said it adds to a trend of extremely lethal police raids in Brazil&#8217;s marginalized communities.
&#8220;We remind authorities of their obligations under international human rights law, and urge prompt and effective investigations,&#8221; the agency said in a statement.
Rio Governor Claudio Castro said he was certain those killed in the operation were criminals firing guns from the forest.
&#8220;I don&#8217;t think anyone would be walking in the forest on the day of the conflict,&#8221; he told reporters, calling the raids an effort to combat &#8220;narcoterrorism.&#8221;
&#8220;The only real victims were the police officers,&#8221; he said.
The Rio state government said the operation was its largest ever to target the Comando Vermelho gang, which controls the drug trade in several favelas &#8211; poor and densely populated settlements woven through the city&#8217;s hilly oceanside terrain.
(Reporting by Janaina Quinet and Rodrigo Viga Gaier; Additional reporting by Oliver Griffin, Isabel Teles, Luciana Magalhaes, Eduardo Simoes and Gabriel Araujo in Sao Paulo, and Lisandra Paraguassu in Brasilia; Editing by Brad Haynes and Rosalba O&#8217;Brien)

Police operation against drug trafficking at the favela do Penha in Rio de Janeiro

Over 130 People Killed In Massive Rio Drug Raid, Corpses Line Street

Brazil

Police

The United States carried out its eighth strike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat on Tuesday, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth revealed.
Dramatic video shows the long vessel buzzing through the Eastern Pacific before being hit by a &#8220;lethal, kinetic strike&#8221; and bursting into flames. Two smugglers were killed in the strike.
&#8220;The vessel was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was transiting along a known narco-trafficking transit route, and carrying narcotics. There were two narco-terrorists aboard the vessel during the strike, which was conducted in international waters. Both terrorists were killed and no U.S. forces were harmed in this strike,&#8221; Hegseth wrote on X.
&#8220;Narco-terrorists intending to bring poison to our shores, will find no safe harbor anywhere in our hemisphere. Just as Al Qaeda waged war on our homeland, these cartels are waging war on our border and our people. There will be no refuge or forgiveness—only justice,&#8221; he added.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Yesterday, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel being operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization and conducting narco-trafficking in the Eastern Pacific.
The vessel was known by our intelligence to be… <a href="https://t.co/BayDhUZ4Ac">pic.twitter.com/BayDhUZ4Ac</a>
— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) <a href="https://twitter.com/SecWar/status/1981049943306752361?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 22, 2025</a></blockquote>
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The Trump administration&#8217;s strikes have mainly taken place in international waters near <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-administration-authorizes-covert-cia-action-in-venezuela?author=Jennie+Taer&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=13&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Administration+Authorizes+Covert+CIA+Action+In+Venezuela">Venezuela</a>. The U.S. has also authorized a covert CIA operation in Venezuela against the country&#8217;s socialist dictator, Nicolás Maduro, while issuing an arrest warrant over his alleged role in drug trafficking in the region.
“We have a lot of drugs coming in from Venezuela, and a lot of the Venezuelan drugs come through the sea, so you get to see that, but we’re gonna stop them by land also,&#8221; President Donald Trump told reporters on Thursday.
“I think Venezuela’s feeling heat, but I think a lot of other countries are feeling heat too. We’re not going to let this country, our country, be ruined because other people want to drop their worst. They have given us their worst, they’ve loaded up our country with prisoners,&#8221; the president added.
Maduro has called the strikes “a military attack on civilians who were not at war and were not militarily threatening any country,” while accusing the Trump administration of “seeking a regime change” in Venezuela.
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‘A Lethal, Kinetic Strike’: Hegseth Says U.S. Has Taken Out Another Drug Boat

Pete Hegseth

President Donald Trump put Colombian President Gustavo Petro on notice in an early Sunday morning announcement, calling on him to rein in drug production in his country and threatening to do it for him if he chose not do so on his own.
Trump lashed out at Petro via his Truth Social platform, saying that he planned to put a stop to all payments and subsidies that the United States gave to Colombia would be stopped if Petro — &#8220;a low-rated and unpopular leader&#8221; — didn&#8217;t comply with his wishes.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<a href="https://t.co/RkULBLNrzI">pic.twitter.com/RkULBLNrzI</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1979892335690629356?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 19, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;President Gustavo Petro, of Colombia, is an illegal drug leader strongly encouraging the massive production of drugs, in big and small fields, all over Colombia,&#8221; Trump posted. &#8220;It has become the biggest business in Colombia, by far, and Petro does nothing to stop it, despite large scale payments and subsidies from the USA that are nothing more than a long term rip off of America. AS OF TODAY, THESE PAYMENTS, OR ANY OTHER FORM OF PAYMENT, OR SUBSIDIES, WILL NO LONGER BE MADE TO COLOMBIA.&#8221;
&#8220;The purpose of this drug production is the sale of massive amounts of product into the United States, causing death, destruction, and havoc,&#8221; he added. &#8220;Petro, a low rated and very unpopular leader, with a fresh mouth toward America, better close up these killing fields immediately, or the United States will close them up for him, and it won’t be done nicely. Thank you for your attention to this matter!&#8221;
Just one day prior, Trump posted about another strike on narco-terrorists in a submarine headed toward the United States, saying that the two terrorists who&#8217;d survived the attack were being returned to their home countries — Ecuador and Colombia.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<a href="https://t.co/3oRyqbFY0X">pic.twitter.com/3oRyqbFY0X</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1979621169629155743?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 18, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;It was my great honor to destroy a very large DRUG-CARRYING SUBMARINE that was navigating towards the United States on a well known narcotrafficking transit route. U.S. Intelligence confirmed this vessel was loaded up with mostly Fentanyl, and other illegal narcotics. There were four known narcoterrorists on board the vessel. Two of the terrorists were killed,&#8221; he posted. &#8220;At least 25,000 Americans would die if I allowed this submarine to come ashore. The two surviving terrorists are being returned to their Countries of origin, Ecuador and Colombia, for detention and prosecution. No U.S. Forces were harmed in this strike. Under my watch, the United States of America will not tolerate narcoterrorists trafficking illegal drugs, by land or by sea. Thank you for your attention to this matter!&#8221;

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Meets With Donald Trump At The White House

Trump Puts Colombian President On Notice Over Drug Production: ‘Close Up These Killing Fields’

Trump Puts Colombian President On Notice Over Drug Production: 'Close Up These Killing Fields'

President Donald Trump closed out a Friday afternoon roundtable and gaggle with reporters by dropping the F-Bomb in response to a question about his administration&#8217;s position on Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro.
While hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House, Trump was asked about Maduro recently offering the Trump administration a massive stake in Venezuela&#8217;s oil and mineral wealth.
&#8220;He has offered everything, you&#8217;re right,&#8221; Trump said to the reporter. &#8220;You know why? Because he doesn&#8217;t want to f*** around with the United States.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> on Maduro: &#8220;He has offered everything, you&#8217;re right. You know why? Because he doesn&#8217;t want to fuck around with the United States.&#8221; 🔥🔥🔥 <a href="https://t.co/EhG7Eeaq7P">pic.twitter.com/EhG7Eeaq7P</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1979249952845934716?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 17, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Trump then dismissed the media after answering the question.
After Trump&#8217;s recent actions targeting drug trafficking from Venezuela, the Maduro regime offered to give American companies preferential treatment in existing and future oil and gold projects, The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/world/americas/maduro-venezuela-us-oil.html">reported</a>. The Trump administration rejected the offer and ended efforts to reach a diplomatic solution with the Maduro regime.
The president has focused on Venezuela in his effort to crack down on illegal drug trafficking. In August, the United States <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-deploys-warships-near-venezuela-to-combat-drug-threats-sources-say?author=Reuters&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=U.S.+Deploys+Warships+Near+Venezuela+To+Combat+Drug+Threats%2C+Sources+Say">sent</a> three guided-missile destroyers to patrol off the coast of Venezuela as the administration addressed threats from drug cartels. Just weeks later, Trump began ordering military strikes on suspected drug runners in the Caribbean Sea. The U.S. military has taken out at least five boats that were suspected of transporting drugs to the United States. In those strikes, at least 27 suspected drug traffickers have been killed, U.S. officials said.
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After the most recent strike, a U.S. official told Fox News that two or three suspected drug runners <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-strike-targeting-suspected-drug-traffickers-leaves-survivors-report?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=undefined&amp;elementPosition=8&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=U.S.+Strike+Targeting+Suspected+Drug+Traffickers+Leaves+Survivors%3A+Report">survived</a>, and a search and rescue helicopter was sent out.
Trump has also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-administration-authorizes-covert-cia-action-in-venezuela">authorized</a> lethal covert CIA operations in Venezuela. The administration has accused Venezuela of helping migrants cross into the United States illegally.
“Many, many countries have done it, but not like Venezuela, they were down and dirty,” Trump said.
The United States currently has a $50 million reward for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Maduro. The State Department has accused the dictator of participating &#8220;in a corrupt and violent narco-terrorism conspiracy&#8221; and coordinating &#8220;with narcotics traffickers in Honduras and other countries to facilitate large-scale drug trafficking.&#8221;
Maduro was declared the winner of the 2024 presidential election, despite evidence showing that Edmundo González defeated the dictator at the polls. Maduro has moved to crack down on any opposition, forcing González into exile in Spain.

Trump Drops The Mic — And The F-Bomb — Answering Question About Venezuelan Dictator

Trump Drops The Mic — And The F-Bomb — Answering Question On Venezuelan Dictator

Illegal Immigation

Nicolas Maduro

In a fiery show of force echoing the new Trump Doctrine on narco-terror, the U.S. Coast Guard over the weekend captured, burned, and sank a suspected drug boat in the Eastern Pacific — just days after the U.S. military obliterated an alleged cartel-run vessel from Venezuela.
As part of Operation Pacific Viper, the USCG Cutter Stone conducted three separate drug interdictions in one night, seizing nearly 13,000 pounds of cocaine and capturing seven suspected traffickers, the Department of Homeland Security announced on Tuesday.
DHS added a viral flair to its announcement, posting on X, “ASMR: @USCG  captures, burns, and sinks a drug boat.&#8221;
“ASMR” stands for autonomous sensory meridian response, which is a pleasurable, tingling sensation on the scalp and back of the neck that can spread through the body.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
ASMR: <a href="https://twitter.com/USCG?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@USCG</a> captures, burns, and sinks a drug boat.
Over the weekend, as part of Operation Pacific Viper, the <a href="https://twitter.com/USCG?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@USCG</a> Cutter Stone conducted three interdictions in a single night—seizing nearly 13,000 pounds of cocaine and apprehending seven suspected drug smugglers. <a href="https://t.co/wHRGUGYtTw">pic.twitter.com/wHRGUGYtTw</a>
&mdash; Homeland Security (@DHSgov) <a href="https://twitter.com/DHSgov/status/1965514384803061765?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 9, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The video, which quickly gained traction online, showed the dramatic takedown of the vessel, engulfed in flames and repeatedly shot at. It’s the most visually striking moment yet in Operation Pacific Viper, a rapidly escalating Coast Guard effort that has already seized more than 40,000 pounds of cocaine since its launch last month.
The Coast Guard said the operation involves a &#8220;surge&#8221; of cutters, aircraft, and tactical teams working with international partners to interdict drug routes from South America. The weekend strike came just seven days after a separate, unprecedented move: a U.S. Marine Corps strike team sank another suspected drug boat in the southern Caribbean Sea, which officials say was operated by Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan narco-gang.
That September 2 military strike — personally confirmed by President Donald Trump — marked the first direct lethal action against an alleged cartel vessel under Trump’s renewed war on narco-terrorism.
Speaking from the White House, Trump declared: “We just, over the last few minutes, shot out a drug-carrying boat … These came out of Venezuela. And there’s more where that came from.”
He added that the action followed a top-level briefing with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and warned of more strikes to come. Secretary of State Marco Rubio echoed the statement, confirming the strike and noting the vessel was operated by a “designated narco-terrorist organization.”
With tensions rising between Washington and Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, the Trump administration has deployed at least eight U.S. Navy warships to the region, ramped up military authority via cartel terror designations, and increased the bounty on Maduro to $50 million, citing his government’s alleged ties to drug cartels.
This double blow — military precision by sea and tactical interdictions by the Coast Guard — signals a new era in U.S. drug enforcement policy.
One thing is clear: the Trump administration isn’t just interdicting drugs — it’s sinking the whole ship.

Sir Keir Starmer visit to Washington DC

WATCH: Drug Boat Obliterated In Fiery Blaze As Trump Expands War On Narco-Terror

Coast Guard

narco-terrorism

The Justice Department announced Wednesday a “first-of-its-kind” indictment against 22 Chinese nationals and three Americans for allegedly engaging in an international drug trafficking scheme targeting the United States. 
An indictment handed down Wednesday from a federal grand jury in Ohio takes aim at dozens of defendants and four Chinese companies for a plot to ship drug-cutting agents, used to dilute the product and increase its volume to boost profits, from China into America. All the defendants are charged with conspiring with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of a fentanyl mixture and conspiring to launder money internationally.
“Today’s announcement marks a first-of-its-kind international operation for the FBI targeting the fentanyl plague that has killed tens of thousands of Americans and indicting the companies and individuals in mainland China that manufacture the precursor chemicals fueling the destruction of our communities,” FBI Director Kash Patel said. 
Prosecutors say that the companies used a number of Chinese nationals “located overseas” to negotiate for payments for illegal cutting agents to drug traffickers in Ohio. Cutting agents are often added to illicit drugs like cocaine, heroin, and meth. 
The Chinese companies targeted include Guangzhou Tengyue Chemical Company, Guangzhou Wanjiang Biotechnology Company, Hebei Hongjun New Material Technology Company, and Hebei Feilaimi Technology Company. 
The Americans charged in the operation include 39-year-old Eric Michael Payne of Ohio and his 24-year-old girlfriend, Auriyon Tresan Rayford. Ciandrea Bryne Davis of Atlanta was also charged for her alleged role in using cryptocurrency to pay Chinese nationals associated with companies for the drug-cutting agents. 
Payne is accused of purchasing several kilogram shipments of cutting agents from Chinese companies posing as legitimate pharmacies. He and the other Americans allegedly purchased at least 10 kilograms of fentanyl agents since 2022 that could be used in up to 150 kilograms of fentanyl mixture sold on the streets. 
“Our indictment alleges that Chinese companies and affiliated foreign nationals intentionally and openly marketed, delivered, and exported to the United States controlled substances and other compounds that they knew would be used by domestic drug dealers to increase the yield and potency of fentanyl distributed in this country,” said U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio Dominick Gerace II. “As explained in court documents, these deadly drug mixtures were then sold directly into our communities here in southern Ohio.”
The Chinese defendants were listed as Lihui Zhao, [name unknown], Shanhong Jiang, Yan Yang, Fengdi Zhang, Dehui Xia, Xing Wu Chen, Qing Lin Wang, Xiaojun Huang, Meixiang Yao, Zhanpeng Huang, Yuqing Feng, Dongjing Sun, Chengqi Nong, Tiduo Wei, Zhisong Nie, Jichao Zhu, Zhengzhe Yin, Changgen Du, Hongfei Wang, Huatao Yao, and Xuening Gao.

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