Massive Drug Busts in California, Texas, Enough to Kill More than 32.7 Million People

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Massive Drug Busts in California, Texas, Enough to Kill More than 32.7 Million People

(Bethany Blankley, The Center Square)  Massive drug busts are continuing along the southwest border primarily in California and Texas. In roughly a dozen stops this month federal agents seized enough cocaine, fentanyl and methamphetamine to kill more than 32.7 million people.

California and Texas ports of entry are seeing increased volumes of drugs as illegal border entries drop due to stricter border enforcement policies. But cartel operations are also shifting, Texas law enforcement officers have explained to The Center Square. Statewide they say they are seeing increased volumes of drugs in rural, urban and port areas.

This month, nearly all of the drivers caught were Mexicans attempting to illegally import narcotics at ports of entry. In all cases, the drugs were hidden inside vehicle roofs and panels and inside cargo manifested as something else. With the help of canines and the use of advanced technology, officers were able to find hundreds of packages hidden inside multiple compartments.

In California, U.S. Customs and Border Protection San Diego Sector officers seized nearly $2.8 million worth of fentanyl and methamphetamine in two separate seizures in less than one week at the San Ysidro Port of Entry.

The first seizure was of 35 pounds of fentanyl powder and 80 pounds of methamphetamine with a combined estimated street value of more than $2 million. The driver was a woman and the drugs were found hidden inside the roof of her vehicle.

In another stop, they found 14 pounds of fentanyl powder equivalent to approximately 509,818 fentanyl pills concealed inside the vehicle’s rear quarter panels. In this case, the driver was enrolled in the Secure Electronic Network for Travelers Rapid Inspection program. The drugs had an estimated street value of $764,727, CBP said.

Also in the San Diego Sector, agents working at the Otay Mesa Commercial Facility seized more than 3,000 pounds of meth with an estimated street value of nearly $5 million. The meth was concealed inside a cargo trailer with a manifest listing corrugated cardboard boxes. In this case, the drugs were hidden inside the trailer’s front wall, found by a canine.

In other stops earlier this month, San Ysidro POE agents found and seized more than 60 pounds of cocaine worth more than $1 million and more than 430 pounds of cocaine and meth worth an estimated street value of $2.8 million.

In Texas, CBP Laredo Field Office agents at the Pharr International Bridge cargo facility intercepted $8.1 million worth of meth concealed in a shipment manifested as tile.

The Mexican national was driving a commercial tractor trailer with 200 packages of meth hidden inside pallets weighing more than 908 pounds, CBP said.

In another stop at the same facility, officers and a canine found 32 packages of cocaine weighing more than 83 pounds concealed inside a trailer floor. The cocaine had an estimated street value of $1.1 million, CBP said.

In another stop, they found and seized more than 45 pounds of cocaine with an estimated street value of nearly $606,000.

At the World Trade Bridge, Laredo Sector officers found nearly 113 pounds of meth worth more than $1 million hidden inside a tractor trailer hauling a shipment of leather bags. At the Juarez-Lincoln Bridge, they found 25 pounds of cocaine hidden inside the vehicle with an estimated street value of nearly $339,000, CBP said.

At the Camino Real International Bridge, officers found and seized 25 packages of 57 pounds of cocaine hidden inside the vehicle’s floorboard with an estimated street value of more than $763,000.

At the Eagle Pass International Bridge, officers found 107 packages containing more than 237 pounds of meth hidden inside the trailer’s floorboard with an estimated street value of more than $2.1 million.

In the CBP Rio Grande Valley Sector, agents at the Hidalgo International Bridge found 36 packages of cocaine weighing 78 pounds hidden in the seats of a bus. The drugs had an estimated street value of more than $1 million, CBP said.

In all cases, the narcotics and vehicles were seized and the drivers were arrested, taken into custody and face federal charges for importing narcotics, CBP said.

According to AddictionResources.net, a lethal dose of methamphetamine is an estimated 200 milligrams, a lethal dose of cocaine is over 30 milligrams. A lethal dose of fentanyl is considered two milligrams, the weight of a mosquito.

Based on these estimates, in this month alone, CBP agents in roughly a dozen stops in California and Texas seized enough cocaine (11.76 million), meth (9.8 million) and fentanyl (11.1 million) to kill 32.7 million people.

The combined estimated street value of the drugs totaled more than $27 million.

US May Deploy New Hypersonic Missile Against Iran

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US May Deploy New Hypersonic Missile Against Iran

(Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com) US Central Command has requested the deployment of the US’s hypersonic missile, known as the Dark Eagle, for potential use against Iran, as President Donald Trump is considering restarting the bombing campaign, Bloomberg has reported.

The US has already used a missile for the first time against Iran, a short-range ballistic missile called the Precision Strike Missile, or PrSM, which, according to an investigation from The New York Times, was used in a February 28 strike that hit a sports hall in the Iranian city of Lamerd, killing at least 21 people in the area, including boys and girls practicing sports.

The Bloomberg report said that CENTCOM wants to use the Dark Eagle, also known as the Long-Range Hypersonic Missile (LRHW), because Iran’s missile launchers are now out of range of the PrSM, which can hit targets more than 300 miles away. The Dark Eagle reportedly has a range of 1,725 miles, though its capabilities are not public.

Another reason the US wants to use the Dark Eagle in Iran is to demonstrate to Russia and China that it has hypersonic capabilities, as both Moscow and Beijing have already deployed hypersonic missiles, and the US’s LRHW project is very far behind schedule.

If the US does deploy the Dark Eagle to the Middle East, it won’t have many to use. A source told Bloomberg that each missile, developed by Lockheed Martin, costs about $15 million and that there are no more than eight. The batteries to fire the Dark Eagle also cost about $3.6 billion.

According to Axios, President Trump was scheduled to receive a briefing on Thursday on the possibility of launching strikes against Iran from CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper. The idea would be to launch a limited bombing campaign to break a deadlock in negotiations, though any US strikes would almost certainly plunge the region into a full-blown war.

The report also said another option being presented to Trump would be to use military force to open the Strait of Hormuz, which could involve ground forces.

This article originally appeared at Antiwar.com. 

Real Cost of Iran War Likely Double the $25 Billion Figure the Pentagon Gave to Congress

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Real Cost of Iran War Likely Double the $25 Billion Figure the Pentagon Gave to Congress

(Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com) The $25 billion estimate the Pentagon gave to Congress on Wednesday regarding the cost of the Iran war is a lowball figure that doesn’t include the cost of repairing the destruction at US bases across the Middle East, CNN has reported.

Sources told the outlet that factoring in repairs to bases and replacing military equipment destroyed would bring the cost to $40 billion to $50 billion, or likely double what the Pentagon told Congress.

However, the real cost will likely exceed even the figure reported by CNN, as Pentagon officials initially said the first six days cost $11.3 billion, and the bombing campaign intensified after those first days of the war.

According to a report from The New York Times in early March, the $11.3 billion estimate for the first six days was also low since it didn’t account for many of the costs regarding the operations, including the buildup of military equipment and personnel in the region before the US and Israel launched the war.

While putting forward the $25 billion figure during a congressional hearing on Wednesday, the Pentagon also acknowledged that the supplemental funding bill it will request for the war will be higher. According to media reports, the Trump administration may ask for somewhere between $80 billion and $200 billion for the supplemental, and the Pentagon has said that the cost of the war wasn’t factored into its record-shattering $1.5 trillion budget request for 2027.

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) questioned the $25 billion estimate and asked US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth what the Pentagon would request for the supplemental. “If and when a supplemental is submitted, the majority of it would not just be for Epic Fury, it would be for munitions related to the entirety of what we want to get done,” Hegseth said.

When pressed further to provide a number for the supplemental, Hegseth wouldn’t say, but added, “On Iran, it would be less than $25 billion, but there’s a lot more we would ask for beyond just Iran.”

Khanna also asked how much it “cost the American taxpayer” to bomb the elementary school in Minab, southern Iran, which massacred 156 people, including 120 boys and girls. Hegseth claimed the incident is still under investigation, though it’s clear from the evidence that the school was hit with US Tomahawk missiles.

This article originally appeared at Antiwar.com. 

Six Transgender Residents Sue Idaho Over Strict New Bathroom Ban

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Six Transgender Residents Sue Idaho Over Strict New Bathroom Ban

(Headline USA) Six transgender Idaho residents are suing the state in federal court, asking a federal judge to declare a strict new bathroom ban unconstitutional.

The law, which goes into effect in July, is the strictest bathroom ban in the nation, subjecting people to time behind bars if they knowingly enter a bathroom, locker room or changing area that does not correspond with their sex — even if the bathroom is in a privately owned business. Violators could be charged with a misdemeanor and sentenced to a year in jail for a first offense, or a felony with up to five years in prison for a second offense.

The plaintiffs, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal, say the law forces them to either stay at home or risk harassment, assault or arrest when using public restrooms.

Republican Sen. Ben Toews, one of the sponsors of the legislation behind the law, said in March that the law was needed to protect women and children. He suggested that transgender people could simply find and use a single-occupancy gender -neutral restroom if they wanted.

At least 19 states, including Idaho, already have laws barring transgender people from using bathrooms and changing rooms in schools and, in some cases, other public places. The LGBTQ+ advocacy organization Movement Advancement Project’s tracking of the laws shows that three other states — Florida, Kansas and Utah — have made it a criminal offense in some circumstances to violate the bathroom laws.

But none of the others apply as broadly to private businesses as the Idaho law, which covers any “place of public accommodation,” meaning any business or facility that serves the public. The legislation includes nine exceptions for situations like performing janitorial work, responding to emergencies, helping children or cases when someone has “dire need” of a restroom.

The plaintiffs say the ban will cause emotional harm, exacerbate gender dysphoria and could lead to medical problems like kidney and urinary tract infections caused by being forced to avoid using restrooms. They contend the law is overly vague, that it discriminates based on sex and transgender status, and that it violates their constitutional right to privacy because it will force them to disclose their transgender status.

“This law is a dangerous and discriminatory effort to push transgender people out of public life,” said Barbara Schwabauer, senior staff attorney for the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Rights Project.

Schwabauer said they would try to have the law completely blocked. “If you cannot use the restroom at work, you cannot go to work. If you cannot use the restroom at school, you cannot go to school,” she said.

Attorney General Raúl Labrador is named as a defendant in the case along with multiple county prosecutors.

“We look forward to defending the law,” Labrador’s office said in an email to The Associated Press.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press. 

Florida Man Executed for the Killing of his Brother’s Teenage Stepdaughter Nearly 50 Years Ago

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Florida Man Executed for the Killing of his Brother’s Teenage Stepdaughter Nearly 50 Years Ago

(Headline USA) A Florida man convicted of beating and choking his brother’s 13-year-old stepdaughter to death nearly 50 years ago was executed Thursday evening.

James Ernest Hitchcock, 70, was pronounced dead at 6:12 p.m. following a lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke. He was convicted of the July 1976 killing of Cynthia Driggers.

The curtain to the death chamber opened promptly at the 6 p.m. execution time. Hitchcock’s entire body was covered in a sheet up to his head. He stared at the ceiling as the team warden made a call, then gave his final statement.

“Just to say goodbye to Joshua my friend. Thanks for all you’ve done,” Hitchcock said without elaborating.

As he spoke, a man in the witness room, raised his hand, and Hitchcock lifted his head to try to see.

Hitchcock blinked rapidly as the drugs began flowing and took several deep breaths. A minute later, his breathing became more shallow and quickly stopped. Minutes into the execution, the team warden briefly flicked Hitchcock‘s face and yelled his name twice and shook his shoulders. Hitchcock didn’t respond, his face slowly turning ashen.

There was no visible reaction from the 28 witnesses nearby. A doctor came in 11 minutes into the execution, checked Hitchcock with a stethoscope and shone a light into his eyes before nodding at the team warden, who declared him dead.

Several members of Driggers’ family addressed reporters afterward. The victim’s younger sister, Lynn Cobb, said she added life, fun and dreams for her family in the 13 years she was alive.

“I thank God for giving me the strength and courage all these years and shaping me even through this tragedy for the person I am today,” Cobb said. “We now close the door on this chapter of our lives. We will continue to remember Cindy by keeping her memory alive and always understanding that life is precious and time is valuable.”

One of Driggers’ cousins, Ginie Meadows, said Hitchcock never thought this day would come, but he was wrong.

“For those of you that do not understand why this process is justified, I am certain that you have not known the agony and emotional torture of having someone you love brutally murdered,” Meadows said. “You have not had to sit in a courtroom and have the murderer smirk at your family.”

Another cousin, Chip Meadows, expressed relief that the execution was finally carried out.

“I’ve lived with this for 50 years,” Meadows said. “I can breathe today. I am loving life. Free at last, free at last. Our monster is dead.”

Court records indicated Hitchcock, then 20 and unemployed, had moved into his brother’s suburban Orlando home weeks before the killing occurred. He told police following his arrest that after drinking beer and smoking marijuana with friends for several hours, he returned to the home, entered the girl’s room and raped her, investigators said.

When the girl told Hitchcock that she had been hurt and planned to tell her mother, he tried to stop her from leaving the room and began choking her, court records show. Authorities said Hitchcock then took the girl outside, where he beat and choked her until she stopped moving, leaving her in nearby bushes. Hitchcock then took a shower and went to bed.

Hitchcock recanted during his trial and blamed his brother instead. Convicted of first-degree murder, he was sentenced to death in 1977. Years of appeals followed and he was resentenced to death in 1988, 1993 and 1996.

Thursday’s execution was the sixth in Florida this year under death warrants signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. Four of the other five Florida inmates put to death this year received death sentences in the 1990s. DeSantis also oversaw a record 19 executions in 2025, far more than any other Florida governor since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.

On Thursday morning, the U.S. Supreme Court denied Hitchcock’s final appeal.

A total of 47 people were executed in the U.S. in 2025, with Florida leading the way. Alabama, South Carolina and Texas tied for second with five executions each that year.

Texas carried out another execution on Thursday evening, putting to death a man for a fatal robbery that killed two people nearly 18 years ago. The man claimed he wasn’t the shooter.

Florida has scheduled another execution on May 21. Richard Knight, 47, was convicted of the fatal stabbing of his cousin’s girlfriend and her 4-year-old daughter.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press. 

2 Killed in Kentucky Bank Robbery

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2 Killed in Kentucky Bank Robbery

(Headline USA) A person of interest has been taken into custody in connection with the fatal shootings of two bank employees during a robbery, a Kentucky state trooper said Friday.

The person is “believed to be involved” in the bank robbery in Berea on Thursday, Trooper Justin Kearney posted online.

A man wearing a gray-white hoodie, gloves and a mask entered a branch of U.S. Bank in Berea and shot a male and female employee on Thursday, state police said.

Law enforcement officials went door to door in search of information and surveillance video, as well as using helicopters, drones and dogs. The Lexington Police Department and county sheriff’s offices took part in the search, along with the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

“This was a team effort,” Kearney posted Friday morning.

He did not provide further details.

Area schools went into lockdown for a while Thursday until campuses were deemed safe. Students were not allowed to go home on buses and had to be picked up by their parents, state police said.

U.S. Bank said it was working closely with law enforcement and committed to supporting the victims’ families and bank colleagues.

“We’re deeply saddened by the tragic event that took the lives of two of our employees at our Berea, Kentucky branch earlier today,” the company said in a statement. “Our hearts go out to the families of the victims, our colleagues and the entire Berea community.”

Berea is about 36 miles south of Lexington.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Mass Stabbing at Washington High School Wounds 6

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Mass Stabbing at Washington High School Wounds 6

(Headline USA) A student at a Tacoma high school was booked on five counts of first-degree assault after four students and an adult security guard were wounded in a stabbing at the school Thursday, police said.

The Tacoma Fire Department took five people to hospitals from Foss High School, with four of the patients in critical condition and one with minor injuries, said Chelsea Shepherd, a spokesperson for the department.

A sixth person was in police custody and taken to a hospital with minor injuries, she said. All were in stable condition as of late afternoon.

All of those wounded were either stabbed or cut, said Shelbie Boyd, a spokesperson for the Tacoma Police Department. The suspect was among those cut in the altercation.

The school went into lockdown at 1:38 p.m. after the violence began and students were safely dismissed at 2:45 p.m., Tacoma Public Schools said in a statement.

“The school is secure, and we are currently investigating,” Boyd said, adding that a reunification area had been set up at the school for parents to pick up their students

School and after-school activities for Friday were canceled. The school will reopen Monday with counselors on site to support students and staff.

“We are grateful for the quick, calm action of our staff and our first responders,” the district said.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Immigration Arrests are Plummeting

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Immigration Arrests are Plummeting

(Headline USA) ICE arrests have fallen in recent months, and the number of people in immigration detention has dropped from a high of roughly 72,000 in January to 58,000 this week, according to The Associated Press.

But in a sign of its continued determination, ICE in budget documents says it plans to remove 1 million people this fiscal year and the next compared with roughly 442,000 people last year. The agency also has plenty of money to carry out its mission, with Congress granting the Department of Homeland Security more than $170 billion for Trump’s immigration agenda last year.

The administration aims to have enough space to detain roughly 100,000 people this fiscal year, which would more than double the average daily number held in ICE detention last year. The administration has already expanded its detention capacity with the purchase of 11 warehouses across the country.

“They are working really on building a juggernaut of a system,” said Doris Meissner, who headed the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, a predecessor to ICE, during President Bill Clinton’s Democratic administration and is now a senior fellow at the Migration Policy Institute.

White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said there had been no change to Trump’s strategy.

“President Trump’s highest priority has always been the deportation of illegal alien criminals who endanger American communities,” Jackson said.

ICE did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

DHS Shutdown Ends after 76 days

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DHS Shutdown Ends after 76 days

(, The Center Square) After weeks of delay, the U.S. House on Thursday approved the Senate’s legislation reopening the Department of Homeland Security.

President Donald Trump signed the legislation shortly after, ending the 76-day DHS shutdown. All agencies except Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol will receive full annual funds.

“The House passing the Department of Homeland Secruity [sic] (DHS) funding bill is an important step toward protecting our nation and keeping critical agencies operational,” U.S. Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., posted on X after the vote.

“But there’s still work ahead. ICE and CBP were left out, and that must be fixed. Securing our homeland requires a fully funded DHS across the board, and House Republicans will continue working to get the job done.”

The Thursday adoption of the hybrid FY 2026 Homeland Security appropriations bill comes a day after the House adopted the Senate’s blueprint for a budget reconciliation bill to provide annual ICE and CBP funding for the next three years.

House Republicans had been waiting for actionable progress on budget reconciliation before agreeing to the Senate’s plan of funding ICE and CBP separately from the rest of DHS

Using a filibuster-proof budget reconciliation bill to provide advance annual funds for federal agencies is highly unorthodox.

But it allows Republicans to secure immigration enforcement funding without having to comply with Democrats’ list of policy ultimatums.

“Democrats got absolutely nothing for their political charade and shenanigans,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters. “In spite of our razor-thin, historically small majority, House Republicans continue to deliver for the American people.”

Congress Divided on Pardoning Convicted Child Sex Trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell

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Congress Divided on Pardoning Convicted Child Sex Trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell

(José Niño, Headline USA) A faction within the House Oversight Committee is reportedly entertaining the possibility of a presidential pardon for Ghislaine Maxwell, the convicted child sex trafficker currently serving 20 years in federal prison. 

Committee chairman James Comer disclosed last week that Republican members remain “divided” on whether to recommend clemency in exchange for Maxwell’s assistance with the Epstein investigation. The idea of liberating a woman found guilty of sexually exploiting minors has sparked fury among survivor advocates while raising troubling questions about what secrets Maxwell might be holding over influential men.

Investigative journalist Julie K. Brown laid out the gravity of Maxwell’s offenses in a recent report on Substack. Annie Farmer was just 16 when Maxwell molested her. Carolyn Andriano was only 14 when Maxwell began grooming and sexually exploiting her. Virginia Roberts Giuffre was 16 when Maxwell brought her into Epstein’s world, where both Maxwell and Epstein subjected her to sexual abuse.

Prosecutors built their case against Maxwell on testimony from women who described being sexually victimized by Jeffrey Epstein before they turned 18 and who said Maxwell enabled and sometimes joined in the abuse, according to CNN. A federal jury in New York convicted her on five of six counts in 2021, as CNN reported.

During the trial, Andriano recounted how Maxwell examined her unclothed body, groped her breasts, and declared that she “had a great body for Mr. Epstein and his friends.” Andriano succumbed to an accidental drug overdose two years after delivering that testimony. Giuffre, one of the earliest survivors to publicly expose the crimes of Epstein and Maxwell, took her own life a year ago.

Brown’s reporting uncovers prison communications hinting that Maxwell possesses compromising material on prominent individuals. In an Oct. 19, 2025 letter to her sister Isabel sent from her Texas detention facility, Maxwell instructed, “Send Leon’s emails etc stuff to Leah. Of course it is in the papers from Congress too. One day the spigot will dry up.”

The “Leon” mentioned appears to be Apollo co-founder Leon Black, whom a Southern District of New York prosecution memorandum identifies as a potential co-conspirator in the Epstein matter. Just one day prior to Maxwell penning that note, the New York Times published an extensive investigation indicating Epstein may have held compromising information over Black. Black maintains he knew nothing of Epstein’s criminal conduct, though he paid $62.5 million to the U.S. Virgin Islands in 2023 without admitting guilt, per the NYT.

Maxwell’s attorney David Oscar Markus informed Politico last week that “There’s a good chance and for good reason that she would get a pardon.”

Records from the Epstein files also reveal 2002 email exchanges between Maxwell and First Lady Melania Trump. One message bears Melania’s signature “Love, Melania,” while another shows Maxwell addressing the future First Lady as “Sweet Pea.” Melania recently released an unusual public statement through the White House maintaining that her acquaintance with Epstein and Maxwell was purely superficial.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche sat down with Maxwell behind bars last year under a grant of limited immunity. Maxwell used the occasion to assert she never witnessed Trump behaving improperly and praised his “extraordinary achievement in becoming President now.” Not long afterward, the Wall Street Journal reported that authorities relocated Maxwell to a minimum security camp in Bryan, Texas offering more comfortable conditions.

Maxwell has already sworn under oath that she possesses no knowledge of Epstein’s predatory behavior toward girls and young women. 

José Niño is the deputy editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/JoseAlNino 

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