Drugs

The order to restrict cannabis use for medical purposes only must pass another hurdle before becoming law.

The Thai government is moving to tighten rules around the sale of cannabis, just three years after the kingdom decriminalised recreational use of the popular substance.

Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health on Tuesday night ordered that cannabis use be restricted to medical use only, throwing the estimated $1bn industry into a state of uncertainty.

Government spokesperson Jirayu Houngsub said cannabis had created serious social problems for young people, and the industry, which has boomed in recent years, needed to be scaled back.

“The policy must return to its original goal of controlling cannabis for medical use only,” Jirayu said in a statement.

The order, however, is not law yet.

It will need to be published in the official Royal Gazette to come into force, and the government has not indicated when that will happen.

Thailand became the first country in Asia to fully decriminalise cannabis in 2022, in a move that has been wildly popular with tourists but less so among more conservative Thais.

Thousands of cannabis stores have opened across Thailand in the past three years, although it has remained relatively unregulated despite multiple attempts by the government.

The latest move to restrict cannabis use comes amid wider political turmoil in Thailand.

Last week the Bhumjaithai Party, previously a champion of decriminalising cannabis, withdrew from the government’s ruling coalition due to its mishandling of a border conflict with Cambodia.

The Thai Chamber of Commerce previously estimated that the cannabis trade could be worth $1.2bn by 2025, although experts say it has not reached its full potential due to the uncertainty that has plagued regulation around the industry since it was decriminalised.

Jose Adolfo Macias, alias ‘Fito’, is due to be extradited to the US on drug trafficking and weapons smuggling charges.

The fugitive leader of Ecuador’s Los Choneros gang has been recaptured after nearly 18 months on the run, according to President Daniel Noboa.

Jose Adolfo Macias, also known as “Fito”, escaped from Guayaquil prison in January 2024, where he was serving a 34-year sentence for drug trafficking and murder.

Following his capture, Macias will now be extradited to the US, where he was indicted by a federal court for charges related to drug trafficking and firearms smuggling, Noboa said on the X social media platform on Wednesday.

Noboa had previously offered $1m for assistance in Macias’s capture and dispatched thousands of police officers and members of the armed forces to find him.

“My recognition to our police and military who participated in this operation. More will fall, we will reclaim the country. No truce,” Noboa said on X.

Para los que se opusieron y dudaron de la necesidad de las leyes de Solidaridad e Inteligencia: gracias a esas leyes, Fito fue capturado hoy y está en manos del Bloque de Seguridad.

Mi reconocimiento a nuestros policías y militares que participaron en esta operación. Caerán más,…

— Daniel Noboa Azin (@DanielNoboaOk) June 25, 2025

Macias reportedly escaped ahead of his transfer to a maximum-security prison, but authorities have yet to explain how he succeeded.

The successful escape “triggered widespread riots, bombings, kidnappings, the assassination of a prominent prosecutor, and an armed attack on a TV network during a live broadcast”, according to the United States government, leading Noboa to declare a 60-day state of emergency across Ecuador.

The Ecuadorian president also designated 22 gangs, including Los Choneros, as “terrorist groups”.

The US Department of the Treasury separately sanctioned both Macias and Los Choneros in February 2024 for drug trafficking and instigating violence across Ecuador.

Ecuador was once one of Latin America’s most peaceful countries, but its proximity to Peru and Colombia – the world’s top producers of cocaine – has made it a prime target for criminal groups exporting drugs abroad.

Competition between rival local gangs, backed by foreign criminal syndicates from Mexico to as far as Albania, has led to an explosion in violence across the country.

Mexican Finance Ministry says it has not received evidence to support claims against CIBanco, Intercam and Vector banks.

The United States has imposed sanctions on three Mexican banks, alleging they had been used to launder money for drug cartels.

On Wednesday, the US Department of the Treasury tied the banks – CIBanco, Intercam Banco and Vector Casa de Bolsa – to the cross-border trafficking of the deadly synthetic drug fentanyl.

It accused them of playing “a longstanding and vital role in laundering millions of dollars on behalf of Mexico-based cartels and facilitating payments for the procurement of precursor chemicals needed to produce fentanyl”.

The sanctions are part of a wider pressure campaign by the administration of US President Donald Trump against Latin American gangs, criminal networks and drug traffickers.

That campaign has included designating several groups as “foreign terrorist organisations” and using tariffs to pressure Mexico’s government to increase enforcement of irregular traffic across the border.

In a statement, the Treasury Department said the banks were the first to be targeted under new pieces of legislation – the Fentanyl Sanctions Act and the FEND Off Fentanyl Act – passed to expand its ability to target money laundering related to opioid trafficking.

The sanctions would block transfers between the targeted Mexican banks and US banks, although it was not immediately clear how far-reaching the limits would be.

In a statement, Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent accused the banks of “enabling the poisoning of countless Americans by moving money on behalf of cartels, making them vital cogs in the fentanyl supply chain”.

But Mexico’s Secretariat of Finance and Public Credit responded to the sanctions by saying it had yet to receive conclusive evidence justifying them.

“We want to be clear: If we have conclusive information proving illicit activities by these three financial institutions, we will act to the fullest extent of the law,” the Finance Ministry said.

“However, to date, we have no information in this regard.”

CIBanco did not immediately respond to the allegations. The US Treasury Department accused it of being connected to money laundering by the Beltran-Leyva Cartel, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and the Gulf Cartel.

Intercam, which is also accused of having connections to the CJNG cartel, also did not respond.

Meanwhile, the brokerage firm Vector, which was linked to money laundering by the Sinaloa Cartel and Gulf Cartel, said the US claims tying its operations to drug traffickers were false.

“Vector categorically rejects any accusation that compromises its institutional integrity,” the company said in a statement, adding that it would cooperate to clarify the situation.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum decries shooting at Irapuato festival as ‘deplorable’ and promises investigation.

A gun attack during a religious celebration in central Mexico has left 11 people dead and at least 20 others injured in violence-plagued Guanajuato state, local officials have confirmed.

The shooting erupted Tuesday night in the city of Irapuato, authorities said on Wednesday, during festivities marking the Nativity of John the Baptist. Witnesses described terrible scenes of panic and chaos as partygoers fled the gunfire.

“It was chaos. People put the wounded into their cars and rushed to hospital to try to save them,” one witness told the news agency AFP, speaking anonymously due to safety concerns.

Footage shared online shows the moment gunfire rang out as people danced and celebrated. Screams can be heard as the crowd scattered in panic.

Bloodstains and bullet holes were still visible at the scene on Wednesday morning. Among the dead were a 17-year-old, eight men, and two women, according to the Guanajuato state prosecutor’s office.

In a statement, Irapuato’s local government called the attack a “cowardly act” and said security forces are hunting those responsible. Psychological support is being offered to affected families.

President Claudia Sheinbaum condemned the attack as “deplorable” and said an investigation had been launched. At her daily news conference, Sheinbaum referred to the shooting as a “confrontation”, without elaborating on details.

Guanajuato Governor Libia Dennise also denounced the attack, offering condolences to the victims’ families and pledging justice.

While Guanajuato is known for its industrial growth and colonial-era tourism hubs, it has notoriously become renowned as Mexico’s most violent state in recent years.

Authorities blame much of the bloodshed on an ongoing turf war between the Santa Rosa de Lima gang and the powerful Jalisco New Generation cartel.

Government figures show Guanajuato recorded more than 3,000 homicides last year — the highest in the country.

Since Mexico launched its so-called war on drugs in 2006, more than 480,000 people have been killed in criminal violence, with more than 120,000 listed as missing.

The death sentence has been removed from eight criminal offences in Vietnamese law and replaced with life imprisonment for offenders.

Vietnam will end capital punishment for eight categories of serious crime – including embezzlement, attempts to overthrow the government and sabotaging state infrastructure, state media has reported.

The state-run Vietnam News Agency reported on Wednesday that the country’s National Assembly unanimously passed an amendment to the Criminal Code that abolished the death penalty for eight criminal offences.

Starting from next month, people will no longer face a death sentence for bribery, embezzlement, producing and trading counterfeit medicines, illegally transporting narcotics, espionage, “the crime of destroying peace and causing aggressive war”, as well as sabotage and trying to topple the government.

The maximum sentence for these crimes will now be life imprisonment, the news agency said.

Those who were sentenced to death for capital offences before July 1, but have not yet been executed, will have their sentences commuted to life imprisonment, the report said.

The death penalty will remain for 10 other criminal offences under Vietnamese law, including murder, treason, terrorism and the sexual abuse of children, according to the report.

During a National Assembly debate on the proposed criminal code amendment last month, the issue of dropping the death sentence for drug trafficking was the most contentious.

“Whether it’s a few grammes or a few tonnes, the harm caused by drug transport is immense,” one legislator said, while another said removing the death sentence for drugs would send the wrong signal at a time when drug cases were increasing in the country.

Capital punishment data is a state secret in Vietnam and it is not known how many people are currently on death row in the country.

Execution by firing squad in Vietnam was abolished in 2011 and replaced by the administration of a lethal injection.

A FLASHY crime lord was snared for a murder plot and major cocaine smuggling racket by his clothes and tattoos featured in selfies he posted from Dubai.

Drug baron James Harding, 34, masterminded a drug empire which made £5 million in profits during a 10-week period.

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But the vain villain took selfies of himself posing shirtless in front of the mirror flexing his muscles and sitting in supercars while living a life of luxury in the desert kingdom.

Harding sent the photos and messages about his opulent lifestyle to criminal cronies on the EncroChat encrypted mobile phone system believing it was totally secure.

But the swaggering poser’s boasts rebounded on him when the communication network was infiltrated by cyber cops in 2020.

Messages uncovered Harding’s cocaine empire – and his plan to rob and kill a rival drug courier.

Harding was yesterday convicted at the Old Bailey of conspiracy to supply class A drugs and of conspiracy to murder following a heavily-guarded eight-week trial.

His right hand man Jayes Kharouti, 39, earlier admitted the same drug offence and was also found guilty of the murder plot.

Jurors heard how Harding used the EncroChat handle ‘thetopsking,’ while Kharouti went under the tags ‘besttops’ and ‘topsybricks.’

They sent 9,136 messages to each other via EncroChat between March and June 2020, detailing their vast shipments of cocaine from the Netherlands into the UK, where it was distributed across the country.

The pair spelled out how they were laundering their money – as every message was read by Scotland Yard detectives following the penetration of the EncroChat platform by French law enforcement.

Harding, originally from Alton, Hampshire, and his lieutenant Kharouti were making £70,000 every day during the period their phones were being hacked by cops, jurors heard.

Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson, KC, said the pair were responsible for “approximately 50 importations of cocaine into the UK with a total weight of approximately 1,000 kilograms.”

He went on: “The messages also show that once the cocaine was in the UK, it was broken into smaller parcels, of between 5kg and 10kg, and distributed across the UK to wholesale purchasers, who would then sell to end users.

“An analysis of the messages that discuss money and financial gain suggests that the conspirators made £60-70,000 per importation, and about £5m in profit overall in just 10 weeks.”

The messages also revealed how Harding and Kharouti tried to hire a hitman for £100,000 to rob and kill a drug mule.

They arranged a gun and ammunition for a hitman to carry out the “full M” – murder, jurors heard.

Cops moved in and arrested the alleged hitman before the contract murder could be carried out.

Harding claimed in court he was not the EncroChat user known as ‘thetopsking’ – and claimed the handle belonged to a mystery gay lover he identified in court only as ‘TK.’

But cops were able to prove Harding was the ‘thetopsking’  because of his love for selfies and boasts about his luxury lifestyle.

A phone seized from an associate had a video showing Harding in the driver’s seat of a £2.5 million Bugatti Chiron car with a tattoo on his leg clearly visible.

There were pictures of him living it up in his lavish villa at The Nest development in Dubai, with floor-to-ceiling glass windows, a swimming pool and rooms for maids and drivers.

Harding lived there with Liverpudlian girlfriend Charli Wylde, 33, and her daughter Milly-Mai, 15, who he treated as his own.

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The court heard that on May 6, 2020, EncroChat user ‘thetopsking’ boasted to pals how he was taking his “Mrs” out that evening to Zuma, an award-winning Japanese restaurant in Dubai.

Investigations found that two days earlier Harding made the booking from a personal email account.

And eight days later ‘thetopsking’  boasted in messages how he was staying at the five-star Waldorf hotel in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE, and sent an image of the hotel pool area via EncroChat.

Mr Atkinson said: “Enquiries with the Hilton Hotel Group showed that Harding stayed at the Waldorf Astoria in the United Arab Emirates and gave (his) mobile telephone number and produced a UAE identification card.

“During the stay, thetopsking had sent an image of James Harding relaxing on a sun lounger at, of all places, the Waldorf.”

One March 26 2020, thetopsking also wrote a message about how he had got back a Lamborghini Urus and sent an image of the dashboard.

Mr Atkinson said: “The person who took the image caught their leg in the photograph, and on that leg is a tattoo which matches the tattoo on James Harding’s leg.”

Kharouti’s home in Epsom, Surrey, was searched in 2020 after he was linked to the messages.

Police found a handset with the same number he gave to Harding.

He fled the country before being found in Turkey and extradited back to the UK.

Harding was arrested on 27 December 2021 at Geneva Airport, Switzerland, and from there Switzerland to the UK the following May.

The pair will be sentenced on Thursday.

Met Detective Chief Inspector Jim Casey,  said: “This conviction sends a clear message – no matter how sophisticated the methods, criminals cannot hide behind encrypted software.

“This operation dismantled a major supply chain and is a testament to the relentless work of our officers.

“We monitored their drug-dealing activity but then we saw the group discussing the contract killing of a rival.

“We moved fast to protect those in danger.”

“Harding and Kharouti planned to kill, we stopped that and put them before the courts.”

Harding was previously jailed for nine years when he was aged 21 for running a drug racket.

Previously, Calvin Crump, 29, of Redhill, Surrey, was jailed for 13 years and six months while Khuram Ahmed, 38, of Slough, Berkshire, got 15-and-half-years after admitting conspiracy to smuggle cocaine.

Peter Thompson, 61, of South-West London, received 21 years after he  pleaded guilty to the  same drug charge and  possessing a pistol.

A man alleged to have been the gang’s proposed hitman was cleared.

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Coronation Street will air a devastating series of events next week on the ITV soap, as three characters’ decision to take LSD leads to huge scenes and danger for some

A huge and devastating storyline begins on Coronation Street next week, as the ITV soap tackles drug use and LSD.

It’s been teased there are huge repercussions for all those involved and the wider community. With one character set to be in a bad way after seemingly accidentally taking the drugs in a drink, two others are left facing turmoil as the effects of the LSD take hold.

So much about the episodes is being kept under wraps, but fans can expect danger, twists and turmoil ahead. New details about the plot and the episodes have been revealed in a preview clip.

In a clip that follows on from Summer Spellman and Nina Lucas drinking the LSD, Aadi Alahan wonders where his cup has gone. The girls panic as they realise they took their eyes off it, and now a room full of people are partying while holding similar or the same cups.

As the trio try to figure out who has taken and possibly drunk from the cup with the drugs in, Aadi panics when he learns his twin sister Asha has left the house for work just after drinking lemonade. Aadi tells the girls it was a cup of lemonade that the LSD was in, and he frantically calls his sister – but is paramedic Asha in danger?

READ MORE: Coronation Street’s Maria left asking ‘where’s Gary’ as character sparks concern

In the preview, Nina and Summer are starting to feel the effects of the LSD ahead of what turns out to be a dramatic night for the duo. As Aadi asks where the cup is, they all head to the kitchen searching high and low for it.

As they scan the room and watch every party goer, Summer says: “Everyone seems normal.” It’s then that they all fear Asha has drunk the LSD before heading to work.

The clip ends as Aadi calls his sibling with it not shown if she answers and whether she is the mystery person who has taken the drink. With spoilers confirming that someone has accidentally taken it and drunk from the cup, we know that there could be a tragic victim caught up in the drugs plot.

Cryptic spoilers for the end of the week confirm that the person in question ends up taking a bad turn, as their condition deteriorates. It’s not revealed what specifically happens and who it is, and what their fate will be.

So will poor Asha pay the price for her brother’s decision to take drugs? Viewers will have to tune in next week to find out who it is and what happens next, but it promises to be an unmissable week of the show.

Spoilers confirmed that Aadi faces questions over rumours of drugs when the police come knocking, while Nina and Summer end up witnessing something.

As they try to retrace their steps to uncover what really happened the night before, what will they find out?

Coronation Street airs Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV1 and ITV X. * Follow Mirror Celebs and TV on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .

Coronation Street fans can expect dramatic scenes on the ITV soap next week, with a character sparking concern, a possible arrest, romance, DNA news and a drugs storyline

Viewers tuning into Coronation Street next week will see plenty of drama on the ITV soap, according to spoilers.

The latest teasers reveal huge moments ahead, from some DNA news to a possible mystery arrest and a new romance rumbled by residents. There’s also Gary Windass going AWOL only to leave wife Maria Connor a weird message after leaving her panicked.

The big story of the week though is a drug plot that has horrifying and disastrous consequences. Aadi Alahan decides to throw a house party, only for troublemaker Brody Michaelis to bring a bottle of LSD.

As Aadi faces romantic tension with pal Amy Barlow, a misunderstanding leaves him hurt. Soon after he spots the drugs and kicks Brody out of the party, leading to chaos as he refuses to go before finally fleeing.

But Aadi makes a decision he could live to regret when he, Nina and Summer decide to drink the LSD. Aadi leaves his unattended only for someone else to accidentally drink it.

What follows is a dramatic turn of events with Nina and Summer high only to be left terrified when they hear sirens, with it hinted something bad has happened. As the week goes on, Nina and Summer retrace their steps looking for answers.

READ MORE: Soap stars reveal huge storylines ahead: Epic returns, unexpected twists and sad goodbyes

As for another resident, the person who took the third cup of LSD is left in a bad way and their condition deteriorates. When the police come knocking to ask Aadi about reports of drugs at the party, will he reveal all?

At the end of the week Nina is left making a confession to Roy, who urges her to speak to the police. But what has happened and wil she face trouble?

Another mystery next week sees Gary going AWOL amid him being blackmailed by Lou Michaelis. On Monday night fans saw Lou set up Gary to make it seem something was going on between them in exchange for Gary doing as she said.

Spoilers for next week reveal Gary goes AWOL, leaving stepson Liam Connor and Gary’s wife Maria worried. He won’t answer his calls after a visit to see his mother Anna, with them unsure where he is.

Gary does eventually make contact though, messaging Maria to say he’s staying with a mate and he’ll be home soon. But what’s going on with Gary, and is he hiding from Lou?

There’s the truth about a big DNA bombshell next week too with a secret son twist revisited. Kit Green finds out that teen Brody is in fact his biological son after a DNA test, but will he tell Brody the truth?

Romance is in the air next week for secret couple Steve McDonald and Cassie Plummer, amid his divorce from Tracy Barlow. Tracy continues to refuse to sign the papers though or at least talk it through, but soon Tracy is in for a shock when she rumbles his romance with Cassie.

There could be an arrest for Debbie Webster next week, as she continues to deteriorate following her dementia diagnosis. Debbie calls sister-in-law Abi, and soon we realise she’s at a police station and needing to be picked up – but has she been arrested and why?

Ronnie Bailey continues to try and win back Debbie, but she’s reluctant knowing what’s ahead. Finally next week, Theo Silverton’s teen daughter continues to cause him and partner Todd Grimshaw trouble amid her pregnancy news – with her trying to set the latter up once more to tear the couple apart.

Coronation Street airs Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV1 and ITV X. * Follow Mirror Celebs and TV on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .

The suit, brought by 55 attorneys general, will help compensate victims and fund addiction treatment programmes.

The attorneys general of all 50 US states, Washington, DC, and four US territories have agreed to a $7.4bn settlement with drugmaker Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin – the pain medication that allegedly fuelled a nationwide opioid addiction crisis in the United States.

The group, led by New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin, announced the deal on Monday.

“While we know that no amount of money can erase the pain for those who lost loved ones to this crisis, this settlement will help prevent future tragedies through education, prevention, and other resources,” Platkin said in a news release.

“The Sacklers put greed and profit over human lives, and with this settlement, they will never be allowed to sell these drugs again in the United States,” Platkin added, referring to the family who owns Purdue Pharma.

The company’s payment is intended to resolve thousands of lawsuits against the drugmaker. The group of attorneys general said most of the settlement funds will be distributed to recipients within the first three years.

Payouts would begin after the drugmaker wins sufficient creditor support for its Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan. Money would go to individuals, state and local governments, and Native American tribes and the Sackler family would cede control of Purdue.

According to several attorneys general, Monday’s agreements do not include Oklahoma, which in 2019 reached a $270m settlement with Purdue Pharma and the Sacklers to resolve opioid-related claims.

Platkin said members of the Sackler family have confirmed their plan to proceed with the settlement.

The settlement will also help fund addiction treatment, prevention and recovery programmes over the next 15 years, according to the attorney general.

“This settlement in principle is the nation’s largest settlement to date with individuals responsible for the opioid crisis,” his office said.

Purdue has been the subject of a backlash for years over accusations that it fuelled the US opioid epidemic. The bankrupt Stamford, Connecticut-based pharmaceutical company was known for aggressively marketing its drug to doctors and patients and calling it nonaddictive although it is highly addictive.

Purdue responded to the settlement by calling it a “milestone”.

“Today’s announcement of unanimous support among the states and territories is a critical milestone towards confirming a Plan of Reorganization that will provide billions of dollars to compensate victims, abate the opioid crisis, and deliver opioid use disorder and overdose rescue medicines that will save American lives,” a Purdue spokesperson told Al Jazeera.

In June last year, the US Supreme Court rejected an earlier settlement that would have given the Sacklers broad immunity from opioid-related civil lawsuits. The Sacklers would have paid about $6bn under that settlement.

More than 850,000 people have died from opioid-related overdoses since 1999, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, although deaths have recently declined.

Police believe the 15-year-old arrested for the attempted murder of Senator Miguel Uribe was a hitman working for money.

A 15-year-old boy accused of trying to assassinate Colombian Senator and presidential candidate Miguel Uribe has pleaded “not guilty”, the prosecutor’s office said.

The teen was formally charged on Tuesday with the attempted murder of 39-year-old conservative presidential candidate Uribe, who was shot in the head on Saturday and is fighting for his life in critical condition in hospital.

The teenager – who police believe was a “sicario” or hitman working for money – was also charged with carrying a firearm.

“No family in Colombia should be going through this,” Uribe’s wife, Maria Claudia Tarazona, told reporters outside the hospital where her husband is being treated.

“There is no name for this – it’s not pain, it’s not horror, it’s not sadness,” she said.

The senator’s father, Miguel Uribe Londono, thanked the “millions of Colombians and people around the world for their prayers”.

“Miguel, amidst the pain and dismay that overwhelms us, has managed to unite this country in a single voice that rejects violence,” his father added.

It is not known why Senator Uribe, who was vying for the candidacy of his party, was attacked. He was polling well behind other party candidates at the time of the shooting.

Footage from the scene of the shooting showed Uribe addressing supporters in the west of the capital Bogota when a youth rushed towards him firing at least eight shots. Uribe was hit twice in the head and once in the leg.

The alleged attacker was apprehended by security guards and a Glock 9mm pistol was recovered.

In a video of the teen’s capture, independently verified by the Reuters news agency, the suspect can be heard shouting that he had been hired by a local drug dealer.

An earlier video showed that as the suspect, who was wounded, attempted to escape the scene, a voice could be heard shouting, “I did it for the money, for my family.”

But in court, the teenager rejected charges of attempted murder and illegal possession of a firearm, the attorney general’s office said. If convicted, he faces up to eight years in a rehabilitation centre, not prison, as he is a minor.

Also on Tuesday, Colombia was rocked by bomb and gun attacks in the country’s southwest where at least seven people were killed in a wave of violence that echoed earlier decades when attacks by armed fighters, paramilitary groups and drug traffickers were common.

The bomb and gun attacks were likely caused by an armed group that splintered from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels, according to the army and police.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro, meanwhile, has broadly pointed the finger at an international crime ring as being behind the attack on Uribe, without providing details or evidence.

Colombian Interior Minister Armando Benedetti suggested there may be a link with the assassination attempt as rebels have increasingly turned to drug trafficking to finance their activities, though he did not provide evidence.

President Petro has ordered beefed-up security for government officials and opposition leaders in response to the attacks.

Uribe had been a staunch critic of Petro’s security strategy, aimed at ending six decades of armed conflict, arguing that Petro’s approach of pausing offensives on armed groups despite the failure of peace talks only backfired.

The senator had two government-provided bodyguards protecting him at the time of the shooting, the head of the National Protection Unit said.

Uribe’s lawyer, Víctor Mosquera, said his client had repeatedly asked for more bodyguards.

DONALD Trump called Elon Musk a “big-time drug addict” as his spat with the world’s richest man intensified.

The US President is said to have blasted his billionaire ex-backer as reliant on ketamine in phone calls.

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It came after the Tesla billionaire linked Mr Trump to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Their feud went public on Thursday night as both men used their own social media platforms — X and Truth Social — to insult each other.

Mr Musk, 53, turned on the US leader, calling his Congressional spending bill a “disgusting abomination” on Wednesday.

The President, 78, has called it his “big, beautiful bill”, but Mr Musk believes it will increase national debt by an unsustainable amount.

It triggered the ugly public bust-up, with Musk calling for Trump to be impeached and accusing him of being a close associate of Epstein.

Yesterday, Mr Musk deleted the post, which was seen hundreds of millions of times.

The Washington Post reported Mr Trump used private calls to urge his allies not to pour fuel on the fire and told Vice President JD Vance to be cautious.

But the President, whose campaign took £250million from Mr Musk, is also said to have become weary with the tycoon’s alleged drug use.

He called Mr Musk an “addict” in the calls and claimed he “lost his mind” after leaving the administration.

The businessman previously admitted using ketamine, but it is alleged he became so hooked last year it affected his kidneys.

Mr Musk officially left the government last week but said he would remain as a “friend and adviser” to Mr Trump.

The President last night said he had “no intention” of speaking to Mr Musk, adding: “I think it’s a very bad thing because he’s very disrespectful”.

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Southern Shan State, Myanmar – Tian Win Nang squats on the hard-packed earth, balancing a kilogramme (2.2 pounds) of chocolate-coloured raw opium in each hand like a human weighing scales.

“Each kilogramme is worth around $250,” said Tian Win Nang, wearing worn white flip-flops and a black T-shirt.

The son of poppy farmers, Tian Win Nang appears to be barely out of his teens.

“Chinese traders pay us in advance for the harvest,” he said, showing Al Jazeera three dinner-plate-sized mounds of opium.

“We don’t know what happens after,” he says of the journey that will see the opium go “north to the labs” where it will be processed into morphine and eventually refined into heroin.

“We do this to survive,” he adds.

The sun is high and the air is still in the poppy fields blanketing the hills in this part of southern Shan State in eastern Myanmar.

Men and women, young and old, their faces shielded with scarves and straw hats, move with quick, practised motions as hands use sharp tools to score green poppy pods before silently progressing on to another plant.

A milky fluid slowly oozes from the wound inflicted on the pod. When it has dried to the consistency of gum, the same hands will scrape off the sticky substance, gather it together and leave it to dry in the sun until it reaches the toffee-like consistency of raw opium.

This is a daily ritual for many farmers in this part of Shan State near where drug shipments have flowed along these mountain roads near the town of Pekon for decades. The routes wind towards the borders with neighbouring Thailand, Laos and China.

Armed conflict between Myanmar’s military and ethnic armed organisations in these regions has fuelled opium farming and drug production for generations, but the trade has surged in step with the country’s intensifying civil war.

Alliances have long existed, experts say, between high-ranking Myanmar military officers, ethnic armed groups, local criminal networks and transnational syndicates that handle the drug trade’s logistics, refining and distribution.

“Drug trafficking in Myanmar has been facilitated by the military since the 1990s,” said Mark Farmaner, director of the London-based Advance Myanmar charity and an expert on Southeast Asia. “Many officers profit personally, and the institution as a whole reaps political advantages,” he said.

One of the most powerful regional syndicates is Sam Gor, a sprawling network made up of an alliance of rival Chinese triad gangs that operates across China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and beyond.

Despite the 2021 arrest and extradition to Australia of Tse Chi Lop – a Canadian national of Chinese origin widely believed to be the leader of Sam Gor – the network remains largely intact.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimates that the Sam Gor syndicate generated at least $8bn – and possibly as much as $17.7bn – in 2018 from controlling between 40 and 70 percent of the wholesale methamphetamine market in the Asia Pacific region.

Despite the high-profile arrest of Tse Chi Lop, the regional drug trade is flourishing with more than 1.1 billion methamphetamine pills seized across Southeast Asia in 2023 – a historic record, according to UNODC.

‘We oppose the production, trafficking and use of narcotics’

Most of the methamphetamine originates from laboratories hidden in the mountains of northern Shan State and other areas on Myanmar’s eastern borders, which have become the region’s epicentre of synthetic drug production and are part of the “Golden Triangle” – the lawless territory encompassing the shared borders of Myanmar, Thailand and Laos.

But before the explosion in methamphetamine production, the Golden Triangle was infamous for its opium crops and the heroin it produced while under the rule of the self-styled drug lord Khun Sa – the undisputed drug kingpin of the 1980s and 1990s regional drug trade.

Khun Sa is believed to have commanded a personal army of some 15,000 men and under his direction much of Shan State became the global centre of heroin production. He surrendered to the military government in Myanmar in 1996 and died in Yangon in 2007, under the protection of the same generals who had shielded him for years.

“In the early 1980s, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration estimated that 70 percent of the heroin consumed in the US came from his organization ,” Kelvin Rowley, a lecturer at Swinburne University of Technology in Australia, wrote after Khun Sa’s death.

“The US government placed a $2 million bounty on [Khun Sa’s] head – an amount reportedly less than what he earned in a single month,” Rowley said.

Opium has now made a comeback in the Golden Triangle.

After the Taliban banned poppy cultivation in Afghanistan in 2022, Myanmar returned to being the world’s top producer of opium.

In 2023, according to UNODC estimates, Myanmar’s poppy fields stretched over more than 47,000 hectares (more than 116,000 acres), and by 2024, some 995 tonnes of raw opium was produced – an increase of 135 percent since the military takeover in 2021. The gross value of the opium and heroin trade in Myanmar last year was estimated to be between $589m and $1.57bn, according to UNODC.

The scale of drug production, the UN reports, is also tied to the civil war in Myanmar, which is now in its fourth year.

Myanmar’s economy has collapsed since the military coup in 2021, and with options narrowing, people have traditionally turned to poppy cultivation as a means to survive.

The UN notes that opium poppy cultivation in Southeast Asia has long been linked to poverty, lack of government services, economic challenges and insecurity.

“Households and villages in Myanmar that engage in poppy cultivation and the broader opium economy do so to supplement income or because they lack other legitimate opportunities,” the UN said.

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But now parts of Pekon, long a military stronghold and a key drug trafficking corridor, are under the control of the Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF) and other Karenni armed groups fighting the ruling military.

They say they want to change things.

“We oppose the production, trafficking, and use of narcotics,” said Maui, a deputy commander of the KNDF.

“When we capture Burmese soldiers, they’re full of meth,” Maui said.

“We ask where it comes from and they tell us, without hesitation, it’s distributed by their superiors to push them to the front lines,” he said.

“Once the war is over, we’ll go after the opium too. We want it to be used only for medical purposes,” he added.

As part of those antidrug efforts, Karenni police forces stop and search motorcycles and vehicles on roads in the areas of Shan State they now control.

“We are stopping cars and motorbikes we don’t recognise to search for drugs,” said Karenni police commander Win Ning Thun, standing at a checkpoint just outside a village in Pekon district.

“We’re looking for yaba pills,” said Win Ning Thun, using the local name for methamphetamine pills.

“Until recently, this area was under military and pro-junta militia control,” Win Ning Thun said.

“Meth was moving freely under their supervision. They took a percentage of the profits from every shipment passing through,” he said.

‘I was supposed to make a lot of money’

Deep in the forests surrounding Pekon, a small prison holds rows of detainees arrested by Karenni police.

“Everyone here has been arrested for drug trafficking. Some were carrying yaba pills to the Thai border. Others were internal couriers,” a Karenni police official told Al Jazeera.

“These are the pills we confiscated just this past month,” he said, holding up a plastic bag stuffed with small red yaba pills that are easy to conceal, sold cheaply, but represent a trade that is worth millions of dollars.

Among the detainees in the prison was Anton Lee, who wore glasses and a calm, unassuming look.

“They stopped me at a checkpoint with 10,000 pills,” Lee said.

“I was taking them to the Thai border. I was supposed to make a lot of money,” he said, offering no further details, only to say that the profit he hoped to earn would have fed his family for a year.

Now, he faces a long time in prison.

Not too far from the prison, the civil war grinds on in Myanmar as the military regime buys more advanced weaponry, and the rebel forces try to hold out and extend their advances.

The military’s air raids, drone strikes and artillery fire hammer schools, hospitals, homes and religious sites, turning entire villages into targets.

Yet, even under fire, here in southern Shan State, some appear to be trying to staunch the flow of drugs.

With limited resources, they tell of doing what they can in another battle inside a much larger war.

Peruvian police showcased 5.5 tonnes of seized drugs, including cocaine and marijuana, following an anti-narcotics operation across multiple regions. Authorities say the haul from recent raids is part of a larger 13-tonne seizure, primarily bound for Europe and North America. Fifteen suspects were arrested.

EVERYONE’S talking about fat jabs – the ‘miracle’ injections trimming inches off waistlines, and helping turn the tide on the obesity epidemic.

But what if there was an even easier – and cheaper – way than Ozempic-like injections, Wegovy and Mounjaro?

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Science sits still for no slimmer and already, the next big thing is looming large on the horizon – and it could be as simple as popping a pill.

Slimming tablets have been around for decades, but now scientists want to harness the new momentum in obesity medicine – and use the billions being made from the jabs – to bring pills back with a bang.

Professor Jason Halford, of the European Association for the Study of Obesity, tells Sun Health: “I think pills will eventually replace injections.

“People don’t particularly like them and they’re a bit afraid of injecting themselves.

“You’ve got to have the device, the needle, the sharps bin, it’s got to be refrigerated, there are all sorts of challenges.

“If you can move it all to a tablet you can increase acceptance and hopefully it will be cheaper and become more widely available.”

Professor Richard Donnelly, editor of the medical journal Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, and clinical adviser at online weight loss clinic Juniper, agrees.

“Thirty years ago weight loss tablets had a terrible reputation and nobody really wanted to prescribe them,” he adds.

“They had rare but severe side effects and weren’t particularly effective.

“Now there is a whole flood of development and a lot to be optimistic about.

“There is a big hope that developing pills will improve accessibility and cost less.”

There are several pills in development – some stimulate the same hormones as jabs to make us feel full, while others mimic bariatric surgery.

The end goal is the same – to do what willpower alone fails to achieve and stop us eating so much.

While some are yet to even be trialled in humans, one has already been submitted for approval in the US, meaning they could be available before the end of the year.

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The most advanced pills being made are by the same companies behind the fat jabs.

Novo Nordisk, creator of Wegovy and Ozempic, has developed a tablet version of semaglutide, the active drug in those injections.

It applied for approval from the US Food and Drugs Administration last month.

Trials showed patients lost an average of 15 per cent of their bodyweight over 17 months on a 50mg daily dose, compared with eight per cent over 12 months on Wegovy.

Participants were three times more likely to achieve “meaningful” weight loss when they were taking the pill, compared to those not taking the tablet.

Rival company Eli Lilly, which makes Mounjaro (tirzepatide) announced the results of its pill orforglipron in April.

The two drugs both work by stimulating GLP-1 hormones that make you feel full.

Patients taking 36mg of orforglipron lost eight per cent of their bodyweight in 10 months, equating to 1st 2lbs from an average starting weight of 14st 3lbs – while participants taking a placebo lost just 3lbs.

It compares with 15 per cent weight loss in a year on Mounjaro.

Lilly said their pill “could be readily manufactured and launched at scale for use around the world”.

But injections and pills have not been compared head-to-head yet.
Studies are ongoing and taking the science behind these game-changing jabs and applying it to tablets, does not guarantee success.

Pfizer abandoned the development of its drug lotiglipron in 2023 when a trial indicated potential liver damage as a side effect.

Drugs tend to be more easily absorbed by the body when they are injected directly into the bloodstream, compared to being digested through the gut.

And that’s another key consideration – what the potential side effects of these new pills could be.

Unpleasant side effects were the downfall of the old generation of slimming pills.

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The NHS has prescribed a pill called orlistat for years, dishing out £12million worth of it in England last year.

It works by preventing the gut from absorbing fat from food – but it means fat must be passed out in poo instead of digested.

This can lead to flatulence, more regular bowel movements and diarrhoea.

It can also cause bladder pains and breathing troubles – and weight loss doesn’t match up to the jabs.

About eight in 10 patients suffer at least one side effect when using injections, most commonly tummy upset, according to trials.

Early data suggests pills might have similar rates.

Around six per cent of people taking any of Lilly or Novo Nordisk’s pills or injections quit the medicines because of side effects.

Dr Leyla Hannbeck, of the Independent Pharmacies Association, says: “The old generation drugs tended to be uncomfortable for a lot of people whereas these new ones are much more effective.

“All medicines will have side effects but the fact that the results are much better now means people are more willing to endure them.”
Prof Donnelly said he still does not expect new tablets to be as strong as jabs, adding: “I don’t think anybody believes these will cause the same level of weight loss that you might be reporting with Mounjaro.

“The flipside of that is that major weight loss might not all be good.

“Some of that might be muscle and if you lose 30 per cent of your body weight that is a fairly major transformation.

“Having an oral agent that reduces your weight by, say, 10 or 15 per cent, might actually be more sustainable, better tolerated and medically safer in some respects.”

While the GLP-1 tablets are likely to be first to market, inventors are also working on a daily pill that mimics the effects of gastric bypass surgery.

‘GASTRIC BYPASS’ PILL

US company Syntis Bio’s offering, named Synt-101 creates a 24-hour lining in the gut that means food cannot be absorbed in the top six inches of the small intestine.

Rather, digestion is redirected to the lower areas of the gut, where hormones that tell the brain we are full, are triggered faster.

Working in a similar vein to surgery, it means patients feel fuller faster – and the lining is passed when the patient goes to the loo the next day.

Synt-101 has passed its first human safety tests and is expected to enter a full-scale clinical trial next year.

Another pill in development, Sirona, is made by UK-based Oxford Medical Products, and contains a “dual polymer hydrogel” that expands in the stomach when it comes into contact with water.

It works like a gastric balloon, filling the patient’s tummy making them feel full for hours, but is passed in their stools “several days” later.

Early data from an NHS trial found patients lost 10 to 12 per cent in a year of treatment and there were no serious side effects.

Experts believe weight loss pills will serve a variety of purposes – as a follow-on treatment after stopping fat jabs, as an option for those who can’t or don’t want to use jabs and for people with less severe obesity, and less weight to lose.

There are hopes they will be less toxic than injections, which often cause side effects like stomach aches, vomiting or diarrhoea.

Weight regain after treatment is also an emerging issue with the jabs, which can currently only be prescribed for up to two years in the UK.

Rahul Dhanda, chief executive of Syntis Bio, said: “Patients don’t want to be stuck on a revolving door of injections and their side effects; they want to be on a manageable and sustainable weight loss path.

“Oral drugs that are simple, tolerable and safe will be the rational choice for maintenance therapy.”

A TEENAGER is fighting for his life in hospital after falling from a balcony while allegedly fleeing police.

The 19-year-old man suffered critical injuries after falling off an “upper balcony from height” in Tameside, Manchester, said cops.

A 14-year-old boy was also seriously injured in the same fall on Saturday night, according to Greater Manchester Police.

It came after police received reports of a “group of males with machetes making threats towards individuals” at the location.

Upon arrival, at around 7.20pm, officers gave chase to three males who “tried to leave” the property, with one of the three escaping through a lower balcony.

The 19-year-old who fell from the balcony then sustained serious injuries.

Footage from the scene showed emergency services at the foot of Bentinck House, a 12 storey tower block on the outskirts of Ashton town centre.

Three people have been arrested and drugs and a weapon have also been seized, said police.

Witnesses reported seeing armed police and an air ambulance at the scene.

Det Supt Gareth Jenkins from the Tameside District said: “The two injured parties, aged 14 and 19, have been taken to hospital for treatment of serious injuries, with the older male in a critical condition.

“These males are under the detention of officers pending their medical treatment, and another male has been arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the supply of drugs.

“Enquiries are ongoing to determine all of those involved and the full circumstances of what has happened in the lead up to the incident. Suspected drugs and a weapon have been recovered.

“A small scene remains in place at the property and residents in the area should expect to see further police activity.

“Anyone with any information which has not yet been provided to us, or with any concerns, should speak to officers on the ground.

“I’d like to reassure the community that this incident is believed to be between individuals known to one another, with no wider risk to the community.”

Police are looking for any witnesses to come forward with any information that could aid their inquiries.

Anyone with information is being urged to call 101 quoting incident number 2849 of May 31 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

AN immune boosting drug can stave off throat cancer for years longer than current treatments, a trial found.

Recovering head and neck cancer patients treated with pembrolizumab, also known as Keytruda, remained cancer-free for an average of five years.

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That was twice as long as the 2.5 years for patients given regular chemotherapy.

The risk of tumour cells spreading elsewhere in the body was also 10 per cent lower, the Institute for Cancer Research in London found.

Pembrolizumab is an immunotherapy that is given before and after surgery.

It works by boosting the body’s own ability to seek and destroy cancer cells.

Professor Kevin Harrington, trial leader author from the ICR and consultant oncologist at the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, said: “For patients with newly-diagnosed, locally-advanced head and neck cancer, treatments haven’t changed in over two decades.

“Immunotherapy has been amazingly beneficial for patients with cancer that has come back or spread around the body but, until now, it hasn’t been as successful for those presenting for the first time with disease which has spread to nearby areas.

“This research shows that immunotherapy could change the world for these patients.

“It significantly decreases the chance of cancer spreading around the body, at which point it’s incredibly difficult to treat.

“The results of this trial show that pembrolizumab dramatically increases the duration of disease remission – for years longer than the current standard treatments.”

Head and neck cancer refers to a group of cancers that can develop anywhere in the head or neck, including the mouth, the oesophagus, the space behind the nose, the salivary gland, and the voice box.

Standard care, which includes surgery to remove tumours followed by radiotherapy with or without chemotherapy, has not changed for these patients in more than 20 years, according to researchers.

The global Keynote-689 trial was carried out at 192 sites in 24 countries, and involved 714 patients.

Some 363 people received pembrolizumab followed by standard care, with the remainder receiving standard care only.

Pembrolizumab works by targeting a protein known as PD-L1, which is found on T cells and helps the immune system recognise and fight cancer.

By blocking this protein, the treatment helps the immune system fight cancer more effectively.

The treatment is already approved for use on its own or in combination with chemotherapy for patients with a certain type of head and neck cancer that has come back or spread around the body.

The trial, which is being presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (Asco) annual meeting, found cancer returned in half the patients given pembrolizumab after five years, compared with two-and-a-half years in those receiving standard care.

After three years, the risk of cancer returning somewhere else in the body was also 10 per cent lower among those on pembrolizumab.

‘It could change the world’

“It works particularly well for those with high levels of immune markers,” Prof Harrington said

“But it’s really exciting to see that the treatment improves outcomes for all head and neck cancer patients, regardless of these levels.”

Around 13,000 Brits develop head and neck cancers each year and 4,200 die from them.

Many tumours are linked to smoking.

Symptoms vary depending on the type of cancer but include: persistent ulcers, white or red patches, lumps, sores and pain.

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Relatives of five members of the band Fugitivo, aged between 20 and 40, received ransom demands after their abduction.

Drug cartel members are suspected of murdering five Mexican band members, who went missing after being hired to perform a concert in a crime-ridden city in the northeast of the country.

The Diario de Mexico newspaper said on Thursday that the bodies of the five musicians had been discovered after they went missing on Sunday, and nine suspects were arrested in connection with their abduction and killing.

According to authorities, the nine suspects are part of the “Los Metros” faction of the Gulf Cartel, which operates in the city of Reynosa, in Tamaulipas state, near the United States border.

“Law enforcement arrested nine individuals considered likely responsible for the events. They are known to be members of a criminal cell of the Gulf Cartel,” Tamaulipas Attorney General Irving Barrios told a news conference.

Tamaulipas is considered one of Mexico’s most dangerous states due to the presence of cartel members involved in drug and migrant trafficking, as well as other crimes, including extortion.

The announcement of the arrests came hours after officials said five bodies had been found in the search for the men, who were members of a local band called Fugitivo.

The musicians were hired to put on a concert on Sunday but arrived to find that the location of their proposed performance was a vacant lot, according to family members who had held a protest urging the authorities to act.

Relatives had reported receiving ransom demands for the musicians, who were aged between 20 and 40 years old.

Mexican musicians have been targeted previously by cartel members amid rivalry, as some receive payment to compose and perform songs that glorify the exploits of gang leaders.

Investigators used video surveillance footage and mobile phone tracking to establish the musicians’ last movements, Barrios said.

Nine firearms and two vehicles were seized, he said.

More than 480,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence and organised crime, and about 120,000 people have gone missing, in Mexico.

UN Office on Drugs and Crime says ‘explosive growth’ in synthetic drug trade led to record seizures of methamphetamine in East and Southeast Asia in 2024.

Drug production and trafficking has surged in the infamous “Golden Triangle“, where the borders of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand meet, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has warned in a new report on the scale of the regional trade in synthetic drugs.

The UNODC said a record 236 tonnes of methamphetamine were seized last year in the East and Southeast Asia regions, marking a 24 percent increase in the amount of the narcotic seized compared with the previous year.

While Thailand became the first country in the region to seize more than 100 tonnes of methamphetamine in a single year last year – interdicting a total of 130 tonnes – trafficking of the drug from Myanmar’s lawless Shan State is rapidly expanding in Laos and Cambodia, the UNODC said.

“The 236 tons represent only the amount seized; much more methamphetamine is actually reaching the market,” the UNODC’s acting regional representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, Benedikt Hofmann, said in a statement.

“While these seizures reflect, in part, successful law enforcement efforts, we are clearly seeing unprecedented levels of methamphetamine production and trafficking from the Golden Triangle, in particular Shan State,” Hofmann said.

Transnational drug gangs operating in East and Southeast Asia are also showing “remarkable agility” in countering attempts by regional law enforcement to crack down on the booming trade in synthetic drugs.

Myanmar’s grinding civil war, which erupted in mid-2021, has also provided favourable conditions for an expansion of the drug trade.

“Since the military takeover in Myanmar in February 2021, flows of drugs from the country have surged across not only East and Southeast Asia, but also increasingly into South Asia, in particular Northeast India,” the report states.

The UNODC’s Inshik Sim, the lead analyst for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, said countries neighbouring Myanmar are becoming key trafficking routes for drugs produced in the Golden Triangle.

“The trafficking route connecting Cambodia with Myanmar, primarily through Laos PDR, has been rapidly expanding,” Sim said, using the acronym that is part of Laos’s official name, the People’s Democratic Republic.

“Another increasingly significant corridor involves maritime trafficking routes linking Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines, with Sabah in Malaysia serving as a key transit hub,” he said.

Evolving, cell-based transnational organized crime groups based in East and #SoutheastAsia are increasingly adopting technologies across the entire drug supply chain while converging with other organized crime activities.

Read more in our latest report: https://t.co/oL416cuZJ3 pic.twitter.com/pqUfX5FmnF

— UNODC Southeast Asia-Pacific (@UNODC_SEAP) May 28, 2025

The UNODC report also notes that while most countries in the region have reported an overall increase in the use of methamphetamine and ketamine – a powerful sedative – the number of drug users in the older age group has grown in some nations.

“Some countries in the region, such as Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand, have reported consecutive increases in the number of older drug users, while the number of younger users has declined,” the UNODC report states, adding that the age trend needed to be studied further.

The UNODC’s Hofmann said the decline in the number of younger drug users admitted for treatment may be due to targeted drug use prevention campaigns.

“It will be key for the region to increase investment in both prevention and supply reduction strategies,” he added.

Federal prosecutors in the US will not seek the death sentence for Joaquin Guzman Lopez if he is found guilty at trial, court documents show.

Federal prosecutors in the United States said they will not seek the death penalty for the son of Mexican drug lord “El Chapo” if he is found guilty of multiple drug trafficking charges when he goes on trial.

According to media reports, federal prosecutors in Chicago filed a one-sentence notice on May 23, saying they would not seek the death penalty for Joaquin Guzman Lopez, the son of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman – the former leader of Mexico’s feared Sinaloa Cartel who is serving a life sentence in a US prison.

The notice did not offer any explanation for the decision by the federal prosecutors, or further details.

Joaquin Guzman Lopez, 38, was indicted in 2023 along with three of his brothers – known as the “Chapitos”, or little Chapos – on US drug trafficking and money laundering charges after assuming leadership of their father’s drug cartel when “El Chapo” was extradited to the US in 2017.

Joaquin Guzman Lopez’s lawyer said in an email to The Associated Press news agency on Tuesday that he was pleased with the federal prosecutors’ decision, “as it’s the correct one”.

“Joaquin and I are looking forward to resolving the charges against him,” Lichtman said.

Joaquin Guzman Lopez has pleaded not guilty to the five charges of drug trafficking, conspiracy and money laundering against him, one of which carries the maximum sentence of death as it was allegedly carried out on US territory.

He was taken into US custody in a dramatic July 2024 arrest alongside alleged Sinaloa Cartel cofounder Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada on a New Mexico airfield.

Zambada has also pleaded not guilty. But his lawyer told the Reuters news agency that he would be willing to plead guilty if prosecutors agreed to spare him the death penalty.

Another of the brothers, Ovidio Guzman, is expected to plead guilty to drug trafficking charges against him at a court hearing in Chicago on July 9, according to court records.

“El Chapo” Guzman is serving a life sentence at a maximum security prison in Colorado.

SIR Sadiq Khan has backed calls to decriminalise possessing small amounts of cannabis.

London’s mayor said a report published today gave “a compelling case”.

The London Drugs Commission says current cannabis laws are “disproportionate” and policing continues to focus on ethnic communities, hurting relations with cops.

The LDC, set up by Mr Khan in 2022, is calling for small quantities of natural cannabis to be decriminalised.

Importing, manufacturing or distributing the drug would still be illegal.

Labour’s Mr Khan said: “The report makes a compelling case for the decriminalisation of small quantities of natural cannabis which the Government should consider.”

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “Cannabis is illegal for a reason. I oppose these plans.”

Responding to the report, Sir Sadiq said: “I’ve long been clear that we need fresh thinking on how to reduce the substantial harms associated with drug-related crime in our communities.

“The London Drugs Commission report makes a compelling, evidenced-based case for the decriminalisation of possession of small quantities of natural cannabis which the Government should consider.

“It says that the current sentencing for those caught in possession of natural cannabis cannot be justified given its relative harm and people’s experience of the justice system.

“We must recognise that better education, improved healthcare and more effective, equitable policing of cannabis use are long overdue.”

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