Trafficking

Nov. 6 (UPI) — Opium production has dropped sharply in Afghanistan, but trafficking in the region is on the rise, according to a Thursday report by the United Nations.

The report, by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, said a little over 25,000 acres are being cultivated now, down from almost 31,000 acres in 2024.

The report said production has fallen by a third to 296 tons, and farmers’ income from opium production has dropped almost in half over the same period.

The report stressed the need to continue to eradicate efforts with support for alternative livelihoods and demand-reduction methods.

“While many growers have switched to cereals and other crops, worsening drought and low rainfall have left over 40% of farmland barren,” the report said.

Effects from the climate have been exacerbated by an influx of 4 million Afghans returning from other countries, which has created increased competition for jobs and put pressure on other sectors of the economy.

The report said these factors have made opium production an attractive alternative.

While cultivation has fallen, optimum trafficking is on the rise as the demand for synthetic drugs made from the plant continues to increase.

Seizures in and around Afghanistan are up 50% compared to 2024, driven largely by an uptick in methamphetamine use, the report said.

Synthetic opium-based drugs are relatively easy to produce and harder to detect than pure opium, which has also contributed to the increase in demand.

“The dynamics of supply and trafficking involve both Afghan and international actors,” said Georgette Gagnon, Deputy Special Representative in charge of the UN political mission in the country.

“Addressing this challenge requires collaboration among key stakeholders,” Gangnon added.

The report calls for counternarcotics strategies that extend beyond opium, including synthetic drug manufacturing and transportation, as well as prevention methods.

Oct. 24 (UPI) — The Treasury Department announced sanctions against Colombian President Gustavo Petro Urrego over cocaine production and smuggling into the United States.

The sanctions include Petro’s wife, first lady Veronica del Socorro Alcocer Garcia, his son Nicolas Petro and “close associate” Armando Benedettie, the Treasury Department announced Friday in a news release.

“Since President Gustavo Petro came to power, cocaine production in Colombia has exploded to the highest rate in decades, flooding the United States and poisoning Americans,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.

“President Petro has allowed drug cartels to flourish and refused to stop this activity,” Bessent said.

“Today, President [Donald] Trump is taking strong action to protect our nation and make clear that we will not tolerate the trafficking of drugs into our nation.”

The sanctions are imposed in accordance with the president’s Executive Order 14059, which targets foreigners who are involved in the global trade of illicit drugs.

The sanctions freeze all property or interests in property owned by the Petro, his wife, son and associate that are located in the United States or territories controlled by the United States.

All such properties must be reported to the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.

The Treasury Department said Colombia is the world’s leading producer and exporter of cocaine that often is bought by Mexican drug cartels and smuggled into the United States.

Petro on Oct. 8 said an alleged drug-smuggling vessel that was sunk by the U.S. military in the Caribbean was manned by Colombian citizens.

He has recalled the Colombian ambassador to the United States after the U.S. military sank a vessel that was near Colombian waters and Trump halted U.S. financial support for Colombia.

Petro also met with U.S. diplomat John McNamara on Monday to ease tensions between Colombia and the Trump administration.

Petro is a former guerrilla member who became Colombia’s president in 2022 and “has provided narco-terrorist organizations with benefits under the auspices of his ‘total peace’ plan,” according to the Treasury Department.

Such policies have led to record cultivation of coca and production of cocaine, which the Treasury Department said prompted Trump to declare Colombia a “major drug-transit or major drug-producing country” that has failed to uphold its responsibility to control such activities.

The Treasury also said Petro has allied with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro‘s “narco-terrorist regime” and the Cartel de Los Soles.

The Colombian president’s activities create a significant risk of the international proliferation of illicit drugs, according to the federal agency.

Sept. 27 (UPI) — Howard Rubin, a former prominent bond trader, and his ex-personal assistant are facing charges of sex trafficking and transporting women across state lines for commercial sex acts over course of a decade.

Rubin, 70, was arrested Friday at his home in Fairfield, Conn, the Department of Justice said.

At a hearing, he pleaded not guilty and federal Magistrate Judge Peggy Kuo in Brooklyn, N.Y., ordered him held without bond. His attorney Benjamin Rosenberg had hoped for a $25 billion bond.

Rubin worked for Salomon Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Bear Stearns and billionaire George Soros‘ investment company from 1982 to 2015.

If convicted of sex trafficking, Rubin and his assistant, Jennifer Powers, 45, each face a maximum possible sentence of life in prison and a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison, DOJ said. If convicted of transporting women to engage in commercial sex acts, they face a maximum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment on each count.

If Rubin is convicted of bank fraud, that charge carries a maximum of 30 years’ imprisonment.

Prosecutors said they feared Rubin was a flight risk and he was considering hiring a “hit man to target women who had filed a civil suit against him.”

Rubin had more than $74 million in a Cayman Islands account, prosecutors wrote in a letter to the judge, which is just a portion of his “extraordinary wealth,” including funds held in accounts overseas. The prosecutors also noted allegations of previous witness intimidation and victims that were “universally” afraid of him.

“Today’s arrests show that no one who engages in sex trafficking, in this case in luxury hotels and a penthouse apartment that featured a so-called sex ‘dungeon,’ is above the law, and that they will be brought to justice,” Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella said in a statement.

“Human beings are not chattel to be exploited for sex and sadistically abused, and anyone who thinks otherwise can expect to find themselves in handcuffs and facing federal prosecution like these defendants,” she said.

Rubin’s hearing was delayed by a medical incident and then he was evaluated at a hospital after he had a stroke in July, according to his attorney.

At least $1 million of Rubin’s money was spent on the alleged sex trafficking, prosecutors said. The incidents occurred from at least 2009 through 2019, according to the indictment, with the victims were listed as “Jane Does” in the filing.

In addition to Jane Does listed in the charges, federal prosecutor Tara McGrath said that there are dozens more unnamed victims and that there are 10 other people who helped Rubin carry out the scheme who have not been charged, the New York Times reported.

In the 10-count indictment obtained by CNBC, Rubin is accused of participating in sex acts with women in luxury hotels in New York City. He later created a “sex dungeon” — which included equipment for bondage and a device to “shock or electrocute women” — in a leased penthouse apartment in Manhattan near Central Park, according to the indictment. The apartment, it said, was rented for $18,000 per month from 2011 to 2017.

“During many of these encounters, Rubin brutalized women’s bodies, causing them to fear for their safety and/or resulting in significant pain or injuries, which at times required women to seek medical attention,” the indictment read.

The women were allegedly given drugs and alcohol before their sex acts, and Rubin the required the women to sign nondisclosure agreements.

The agreements “purported to require the women to assume the risk of the hazards and injury of the BDSM encounters with Rubin, prohibit the disclosure of information about the BDSM sex with Rubin and require the payment of damages in the event of a breach,” the Brooklyn U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

“Rubin used the NDAs to threaten the women with legal consequences and public shaming if they sought legal recourse,” the office said.

Powers, who allegedly spent $1 million of Rubin’s money for “operating and maintaining the trafficking network, was arrested at her home in Southlake, Texas. She is scheduled to appear at a hearing in the Northern District of Texas next week and then will be arraigned in the Eastern District of New York.

In the indictment, Rubin and Powers discussed electrocuting a tied-up woman’s genitals.

“I don’t care if she screams,” he wrote, along with the laughing face emoji, according to the indictment.

“This was not a one-man show,” Harry T. Chavis, special agent in charge in New York, said in a statement. “While Rubin dehumanized these women with abhorrent sexual acts, Powers is alleged to have run the day-to-day operations of the enterprise and got paid generously for her efforts.”

The women would receive $5,000 per encounter, but if he was left unsatisfied, they would be paid several thousand dollars less, according to prosecutors. Powers arranged women’s flights to New York from LaGuardia or John F. Kennedy International airports.

This is not the first time Rubin has been in legal trouble over sex abuse or sex trafficking allegations.

In November 2017, three Playboy models sued him, claiming they were beaten, sexually abused and rape by him in New York City in 2016.

In April 2022, a civil jury in Brooklyn federal court found Rubin guilty of sex trafficking six women. He was ordered to pay $3.85 million in compensatory and punitive damages. Powers was not found liable in this case.

Rubin’s longtime wife, Mary J. Henry, accused him of sexual abuse in divorce papers filed in 2021. They were married in 1985.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office didn’t comment to CNBC on why it was eight years between the first lawsuit and a criminal indictment.

Michael Lewis‘ book, Liar’s Poker, examined the workings of Solomon Brothers in the 1980s.

“Of all the traders, Rubin displayed raw trading instinct,” Lewis wrote about Rubin, who joined the firm in 1982.

After working for Salomon Brothers, Rubin went to Merrill Lynch in 1985. He was fired from Merrill Lynch in 1987 after making unauthorized trades that contributed to $250 million loss from mortgage securities.

Rubin later became a fund manager at Bear Stearns and then Soros Fund Management.

Sept. 18 (UPI) — Ecuador President Daniel Noboa announced Thursday plans to call a voter referendum to ask whether they want a constituent assembly. He said the country must “free itself from institutional captivity” and establish a new legal framework to confront organized crime.

In an official statement, he said Ecuadorians will set the rules for a “new Ecuador” and accused traditional political structures of blocking reforms needed to strengthen his security policy.

According to the presidential message, earlier questions submitted by the executive branch for a public vote “were rejected” by the Constitutional Court, a decision Noboa attributed to “political activism” without naming a specific institution or giving dates.

Noboa’s decision follows other recent measures, including the Sept. 1 replacement of the entire military leadership, which the Defense Ministry described as a new phase in the war against criminal gangs.

The Security Bloc has seized 135 tons of drugs in maritime operations so far this year, a record that already surpasses all seizures made in 2024. Between January and August, authorities confiscated 68.1 tons of cocaine at the ports of Guayaquil, Machala and Posorja, including 27.3 tons at Posorja, which accounted for 40% of the total.

Posorja, a fishing town in the southwest that is home to Ecuador’s most modern port, has become a symbol of the international fight against drug trafficking. Built to boost legal exports, it is now at the center of battles over cocaine routes.

Ecuador has also strengthened cooperation with the United States. The Trump administration pledged $13.7 million in security aid and $6 million in drones to bolster maritime surveillance, along with updates to the extradition treaty and intelligence sharing to combat criminal groups.

The government says this year’s seizures have caused losses of more than $9.3 billion for criminal networks.

“Our goal is to financially strangle drug trafficking and cut off every supply route,” Defense Minister Gian Carlo Loffredo said.

Ross Ulbricht built an empire in the shadows—a sprawling digital bazaar called The Silk Road, hidden on the dark web. There, drugs, weapons, and stolen secrets flowed freely, all paid for in untraceable cryptocurrency. To his global clientele, he was a legend: the Dread Pirate Roberts.

But after a dramatic arrest and a staggering double life sentence, Ulbricht’s fate took another twist. Just days into his second term, President Trump pardoned him, sparking outrage and debate. So, did he deserve his punishment? Did justice prevail—or was power at play? And how did a digital outlaw become the ultimate wild card in America’s justice system?

In this episode:
– Nicholas Cristin, Online Crime Professor at Carnegie Mellon University
– David Yaffe-Bellany, Technology Reporter for the New York Times

The T visa, an underutilized lifeline for immigrant survivors of human trafficking, is experiencing a sharp rise in applications, despite increasing processing times and deportation risks.

Also known as T nonimmigrant status, the visa allows people who have experienced severe forms of human trafficking to remain in the country for up to four years if they are helpful to law enforcement in the investigation and prosecution of their trafficker. Approved applicants can work in the U.S., are eligible for certain state and federal benefits, and can apply for a green card after three years on the visa (or earlier if the criminal case is closed).

Julie Dahlstrom, founder and director of the Human Trafficking Clinic at Boston University, said increased awareness of the visa and the courts’ expanding definitions of trafficking may have contributed to the increase, along with mounting barriers to other pathways for immigrant relief.

Congress created the T visa in 2000 as part of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act, intending to bolster law enforcement agencies’ capabilities to prosecute human trafficking crimes while offering protections to survivors. The same law also established the U visa, which provides legal status for victims who have suffered substantial abuse as a result of serious crimes including trafficking, domestic violence and sexual assault. U visa applicants must also be willing to assist law enforcement in their investigation of these crimes.

“Many [applicants] are eligible for the U visa as well, but they’re taking now over 20 years for an individual to get access … so I think that has influenced lawyers and survivors, if they are eligible for the T visa … to go ahead and also file T visa applications,” Dahlstrom said. “Especially under the Trump administration, we’ve seen more barriers to asylum access, special immigrant juvenile status access, so I expect we’ll continue to see that move.”

USCIS updated the T visa rules in August 2024 with a process called called bona fide determination that gave survivors earlier access to benefits while their application is pending approval. It also granted them deferred action, which places individuals on a lower priority for removal proceedings.

Erika Gonzalez, training and technical assistance managing attorney from the Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking, explained that although early access to benefits had existed in the federal statute, it was never implemented because applications were processing fast enough to not need it.

“They have updated the [bona fide determination] process to now have a formal process to engage with, and it does parallel with the sharp increases in filing,” Gonzalez said.

As T visa applications rose, so too did approvals. Last year, the number of approvals broke 3,000 for the first time though it still fell short of the 5,000 cap.

Processing times for T visas have also increased, jumping from a median of 5.9 months in 2014 to 19.9 months this fiscal year.

Denial rates for T visas, meanwhile, have fluctuated.

“We were seeing increased denial rates under the prior Trump administration and then improved rates under Biden,” Dahlstrom said.

Denials can leave T visa applicants vulnerable to deportation. In 2018, USCIS began allowing removal proceedings if an application was rejected with a notice to appear (NTA).

According to a 2022 report co-written by Dahlstrom, which obtained USCIS data through Freedom of Information Act litigation, USCIS issued a total of 236 NTAs to denied T visa applicants from 2019 to 2021. President Biden rescinded this policy with a January 2021 executive order, but last February, USCIS published new guidance once more expanding the circumstances where the agency could issue NTAs.

These policies, alongside escalated coordination between law enforcement and other agencies, have heightened fear among survivors applying for the T visa, Dahlstrom explained.

“We are seeing in real time the results of including requirements around law enforcement engagement, especially when there’s greater cooperation with ICE and greater concerns about deportation,” Dahlstrom said. “These programs are being politicized and, in some ways, weaponized if you’re denied and you’re placed in proceedings.”

Since February’s policy update, at least one person has self-deported after Immigration and Customs Enforcement denied her stay despite her pending T visa application.

So far in the fiscal year 2025, USCIS has approved 1,035 T-visas and rejected 693, which surpasses the number rejected in each of the last four years.

“It’s too early to tell what we’re going to see, but if we continue to see these numbers, it’s both going to mean a rise in denials and very few cases adjudicated amidst more and more applications being filed, which is really troubling,” Dahlstrom said. “These are statutorily protected programs, but what they can do is really slow them down, make them ineffective just in the way that they’re processing applications.”

July 18 (UPI) — Colombia’s government this week introduced a new protocol to monitor firearms used by private security companies, aiming to prevent their diversion to illegal groups and improve traceability.

The initiative, led by the Ministry of Defense, targets loopholes in the oversight of private security firms following a spike in incidents involving the misuse of firearms by private security personnel.

Colombia remains a key hub for illegal arms trafficking in Latin America — a persistent threat that fuels internal conflict and threatens President Gustavo Petro’s “Total Peace” strategy.

Weapons enter the country from multiple global and regional sources. An estimated one in three firearms in Colombia is illegally obtained. So far in 2024, more than 10,000 of the country’s 13,341 reported homicides were committed with firearms.

“The illegal firearms market is behind 78% of homicides in Colombia,” said Carolina Ortega, a political scientist at the National University of Colombia (UNAL), an expert in territorial security management and a researcher on security issues. She warns that “it has shifted toward technological upgrades, including drones, which now pose new threats to public safety.”

Taking advantage of Colombia’s complex geography, weapons arrive from multiple regions via land, sea and air routes — many of which overlap with established drug trafficking corridors.

The United States is a major source of handguns and lightweight firearms. Each year, between 250,000 and 600,000 guns cross the southern border in what is called the “iron river,” according to a report by Fundación Carolina. The steady flow supplies civilians, criminals and organized crime groups across Latin America through direct smuggling or diverted legal sales.

Colombian authorities have warned that weapons linked to cocaine trafficking also enter the country through the land border with Bolivia, while surplus military weapons and ammunition from Venezuela are being diverted into Colombia.

In Mexico, drug cartels maintain direct ties with Colombian criminal groups.

Another source of weapons comes from those used in past conflicts in Central America — including the civil wars in El Salvador and Nicaragua — and in Eastern Europe. Many of these weapons continue to be reused and sold on the black market, eventually finding their way into Colombia.

Theft of legal weapons from military stockpiles, police forces or private security firms also contributes to the problem. These weapons are primarily destined for terrorist groups operating in Colombia, including FARC dissidents, the National Liberation Army (ELN) and the Gulf Clan, among others.

Since taking office, President Gustavo Petro has advanced his “Total Peace” strategy, which includes efforts to disarm illegal armed groups. The government has stepped up weapons seizures — destroying 23,500 firearms so far in 2024 — and the Ministry of Defense and National Police, through their intelligence and criminal investigation units, are working to dismantle trafficking networks.

Colombia’s Congress is considering legislation to regulate gun ownership and bolster the capabilities of security forces. One recurring proposal calls for lifting bank secrecy protections for public officials and members of the armed forces to combat the corruption that enables arms trafficking.

Organizations such as the Conflict Analysis Resource Center (CERAC) monitor and analyze the issue, warning of a correlation between the increase in firearms and rising homicide rates. According to the group, 32 people have been killed by stray bullets so far this year.

“Arms trafficking in Colombia is a persistent challenge that requires a multidimensional approach. Without effectively curbing this flow, the path toward peace and public safety will remain steep and marred by violence,” said Israel Vilchez, a journalist and international analyst for Cosmovisión.

Police say the suspects have sent more than a dozen babies to Singapore for adoption.

Police in Indonesia have arrested 12 people after uncovering a human trafficking ring that has sent more than a dozen babies to Singapore for adoption.

The West Java police told reporters on Tuesday that the case was discovered after a parent reported an alleged baby kidnapping, which led them to a suspect who admitted to trading 24 infants.

Surawan, the police’s director of general criminal investigation, who goes by one name, said the perpetrators took most of the infants from their biological parents in West Java province.

They are accused of moving the babies to Pontianak city on Borneo island and then sending more than a dozen of them onwards to Singapore.

“Based on documents, 14 [babies] were sent to Singapore,” he said.

“The age range is clearly under one year old, with some three months old, five months old, and six months old.”

Authorities managed to rescue five babies in Pontianak and one in Tangerang, a city near the Indonesian capital, Jakarta. They also arrested a dozen suspects across Jakarta, Pontianak and the Javan city of Bandung.

“They are a syndicate, a baby trafficking syndicate. They each have their own roles,” said Surawan.

Some of the suspects were allegedly tasked with finding the babies, he said, while others cared for them, sheltered them or prepared civil registration documents, such as family cards and passports.

The police officer added that the infants were to be sold for 11 million Indonesian Rupiah ($676) to 16 million Indonesian Rupiah ($983) to buyers for adoption in Singapore.

The syndicate had been in operation since 2023, he said, based on suspect statements.

Police said they sought out “parents or mothers who refuse to care for their children” in return for money.

Surawan said the parent who reported a kidnapping “actually had an agreement” with the smugglers before their child’s birth, but reported them when they did not receive payment afterwards.

He added that police in Indonesia intend to coordinate with Interpol to “locate possible trafficked infants in Singapore”.

Human trafficking is also a domestic problem across Southeast Asia’s biggest economy, a sprawling nation of more than 17,000 islands.

In one of the worst cases in recent years, at least 57 people were found caged on a palm oil plantation in North Sumatra in 2022.

Ovidio Guzman Lopez plans to change his not guilty plea during a hearing after arrest in 2023.

A son of the infamous Mexican drug cartel boss Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman is expected to plead guilty in a wide-ranging United States drug trafficking case at a court hearing in Chicago.

Court records for Ovidio Guzman Lopez indicate he intends to change his not-guilty plea as part of a deal with federal prosecutors at the hearing on Friday.

If confirmed, it would be the first time one of El Chapo’s sons has struck such an agreement.

Federal prosecutors allege that Ovidio and his brother, Joaquin Guzman Lopez, who became known locally as Los Chapitos, led a powerful faction of the notorious Mexican Sinaloa cartel.

They are accused of masterminding a major fentanyl trafficking operation that funnelled what prosecutors described as a “staggering” amount of the synthetic opioid into the US. The US has suffered a major opioid crisis in the last few decades, which has resulted in large numbers of deaths, addiction, and lawsuits.

Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman is currently serving a life sentence in a US federal prison following a 2019 conviction. After his capture, Ovidio Guzman Lopez and his siblings reportedly took on key leadership roles within the cartel.

Ovidio Guzman Lopez was arrested by Mexican authorities in early 2023 and extradited to the US months later. He originally pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking, money laundering and firearms charges.

His brother, Joaquin Guzman Lopez, and longtime cartel leader Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada were arrested in Texas in 2024 after arriving on a private plane. Both men have pleaded not guilty to multiple charges.

Their high-profile capture set off a wave of violence across Sinaloa as rival factions scrambled for control, vying for control of routes used to produce and transport narcotics, including fentanyl, that are often destined for the US.

The groups are split between members loyal to the Sinaloa Cartel cofounders, “El Chapo” Guzman and Zambada.

Ye, the vitriolic rapper formerly known as Kanye West, is facing a new round of controversy involving fresh allegations from an ex-assistant including sex trafficking, sexual harassment, stalking and sexual battery.

Ye’s accuser, former Yeezy employee Lauren Pisciotta, has taken more legal action against the Grammy-winning “All of the Lights” musician a year after she sued him for sexual harassment and breach of contract, among other counts, in June 2024. In an amended complaint filed Tuesday in Los Angeles, Pisciotta claims the rapper forced her to perform oral sex on him, sexually assaulted her numerous times during her Yeezy employment and engaged in sexual activity with employees at his Yeezy offices. Pisciotta also accuses the rapper of stalking her after she filed her initial lawsuit.

Legal representatives for Ye and his Yeezy brands did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment Thursday.

Pisciotta’s 37-page complaint, reviewed by The Times, doubles down on claims from her June 2024 suit but also details sexual assaults that allegedly occurred at a San Francisco hotel shortly after Ye hired Pisciotta in 2021 to help with the creation of his album “Donda.”

“For almost two years Ms. Pisciotta dedicated her life to Ye under the pretense that he would present her with pivotal opportunities in the music and fashion industries at an even larger scale than any of her previous work,” the lawsuit said. “Despite Ms. Pisciotta’s unwavering dedication to her job, Ye continued to sexually harass her at every opportunity.”

Pisciotta alleges that during her time working with Ye in San Francisco, he forcefully kissed her on the mouth, forcibly touched her genitals with one hand while stroking himself with the other, exposed himself and “forced his penis into her mouth,” according to legal documents.

Ye allegedly sexually assaulted Pisciotta another time, in October 2023, according to legal documents, when they were en route to Paris from Los Angeles. The 48-year-old rapper requested Pisciotta come to his private room on his plane and demanded she give him a hug. She refused, but Ye said he needed to speak with her and locked her in the room, where he allegedly “retreated to his bed and began to masturbate.” Pisciotta claims she was “forced” to remain in the room until someone opened the door from the outside.

The complaint also paints a disturbing picture of the inner workings and culture of the Yeezy offices, alleging Ye verbally abused Pisciotta, often used “derogatory, antisemitic slurs” and “demanded assistants and other employees draw swastikas in the workplace.” Earlier this year, Ye came under fire for placing a TV ad during the Super Bowl for a website selling a T-shirt emblazoned with the hate symbol.

Additionally, “Ye openly performed sexual acts with women at the Yeezy office,” the complaint said, adding that one of the women was his current wife, Bianca Censori. Pisciotta’s complaint also repeated previous allegations that Ye constantly messaged her about his sexual fantasies involving her, sending sexually explicit videos, photos and memes.

Ye, who in recent years has used his social media pages to spew hate including antisemitic rants, posted on X earlier this year about his inappropriate workplace practices in numerous lewd posts mentioned in the complaint.

“Life is about using your position to f— the baddest b— possible,” he said in one post.

Other since-deleted posts from Ye include “I’m a walking me too,” referring to the watershed #MeToo movement, and “I’m a big time perv.” The complaint also includes posts where Ye uses misogynistic language and homophobic slurs, and claims there is a difference between “me too rapes” and “real rape.”

Though the complaint mainly concerns incidents that allegedly occurred during Pisciotta’s Yeezy tenure, she said the rapper admitted to assaulting her in 2015 during a studio recording session in Santa Monica.

Pisciotta alleged that West’s disturbing behavior did not end after she was terminated at Yeezy. She claims the rapper grabbed her by the throat and stuck his tongue in her ear when they saw each other at a concert in November 2022. He also allegedly moved into the same apartment complex as Pisciotta, prompting her to move out of state.

After moving to Florida, Pisciotta claims Ye arranged a “swatting” event at her home days after she filed her initial lawsuit. Swatting is a hoax 911 report made in the hope of generating a large law enforcement response. Pisciotta said officers arrived at her home to investigate reports of child abuse and murder. Pisciotta said she had “also experienced a barrage of service workers such as plumbers and food delivery workers showing up to her door unannounced.”

She further alleges she has received calls from people warning her not to pursue further legal action against Ye.

Pisciotta is also suing for counts of assault, battery, false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress and other charges. She demands an unspecified amount in damages and wants a jury trial.

An unnamed woman this week sued prominent British soccer agent Jonathan Barnett, accusing him of raping her and keeping her as a “sex slave.”

The woman alleged in a lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles that Barnett coerced her into becoming his “sex slave” and used his company’s resources to aid in his control over her.

The woman, who was referred to in the lawsuit as “Jane Doe,” also sued Hollywood talent firm Creative Artists Agency and sports agency CAA Stellar, where Barnett served as executive chairman.

Barnett denied the allegations.

“The claims made in today’s complaint against me have no basis in reality and are untrue,” Barnett said in a statement. “We will vigorously defend this lawsuit through the appropriate legal process. I am looking forward to being entirely vindicated and exonerated.”

CAA said it first learned of the woman’s allegations through a press inquiry in 2024 and settlement demands from the woman’s attorney.

“While the complaint attempts to connect these allegations to CAA’s business, Ms. Doe has never been an employee, consultant, or contractor of CAA, ICM, or Stellar, nor has she ever had any business connection to CAA, ICM, or Stellar,” CAA said in its statement. “CAA takes any allegations of this nature seriously.”

Barnett exited Stellar in February 2024.

The woman, who currently resides in Australia, said Barnett had initially promised her employment at CAA Stellar and paid for her to move her children from Australia to the United Kingdom as part of the employment package, according to the lawsuit. But after she moved to the U.K., she alleged she was “trafficked, threatened, tortured, and held” in bondage in different locations throughout the world, including L.A., from 2017 to 2023, the lawsuit said.

The woman was introduced to Barnett by a friend in the mid-1990s and then reconnected with Barnett in 2017 after he sent her a message on LinkedIn, the lawsuit said. After the two met for lunch in London in 2017, Barnett offered her an employment package that included payment for moving expenses, sponsorship of her and her two children’s visas, school tuition for her children, housing and a starting salary of 4,000 pounds and a summer bonus, the lawsuit said.

After she moved to London, Barnett asked to meet the woman at a hotel room, where Barnett allegedly told her that he “owned” her and to call him “my Master,” the lawsuit said. Then he ordered her to remove her clothes and later struck her down and raped her, according to the lawsuit.

“Realizing she was powerless against a dangerous predator, Ms. Doe submitted to Barnett in order to avoid being severely beaten or even killed,” the lawsuit said.

The complaint alleged that Barnett referred to the woman as “slave” as well as other demeaning words like “dog” or “whore,” and demanded she send videos of herself doing degrading acts, including drinking her own urine, licking the toilet with her mouth, eating her own feces and whipping herself as “punishment.” The woman said Barnett punched, kicked, stomped on her fingers and whipped her, insisting she send him videos and photos of the wounds he inflicted to his company phone, the lawsuit said.

“To this day, Ms. Doe still has urinary tract infections, skin rashes, mouth ulcers, and bleeds from her vagina in an abnormal way as a result of Barnett’s horrific and barbaric torture and abuse,” the lawsuit said.

Barnett has been a leading figure in the sports representation business. In 2019, he ranked as No. 1 on Forbes’ most powerful sports agent list. A year later, the magazine named him the world’s top soccer agent, negotiating $1.42 billion in active contracts and transfer fees.

He negotiated deals for boxers — clients have included the former heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis — before launching Stellar Sports with co-founder David Manasseh in 1992. The two men represented cricket players and later signed prominent soccer athletes such as Glen Johnson and Peter Crouch.

Stellar eventually became the world’s largest soccer agency, with a roster of more than 800 athletes when it sold to talent agency ICM Partners in 2020. Now owned by CAA, the firm helped make CAA the most valuable sports agency on Forbes’ 2022 list.

Barnett had served as CAA Stellar’s executive chairman until last year.

The lawsuit alleged that CAA, which acquired ICM in June 2022 and other defendants “turned a blind eye” to emails and other communications on company-owned devices and company-monitored accounts where he referred to her as “slave” and told her to “get back to work.”

CAA Stellar’s accounting firm BSG Valentine had guaranteed the apartment leases where he kept the woman and a Stellar assistant assisted Barnett in dropping off payments to the woman, the lawsuit said. During the workday, Stellar drivers would bring Barnett to where the woman was staying and wait for him while he beat and raped her, the lawsuit alleged.

In 2020, Stellar was negotiating its sale to ICM Partners. In January, July and September of that year, Stellar wired payments to the woman worth 20,400 pounds, the lawsuit said.

After Stellar was acquired, the company posted on its website a modern slavery statement that said ICM Stellar Sports is committed “to ensure that modern slavery and human trafficking are not taking place anywhere within either our business,” the lawsuit said.

Jurors have reached a verdict on four of five counts against music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, who is on trial in a New York federal courtroom, accused of racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation for prostitution.

The jury sent a note to the trial judge Tuesday afternoon stating they’d reached a verdict on several counts but were unable to reach a consensus on count one — racketeering. They will continue deliberating on that count in Manhattan starting Wednesday at 9 a.m.

Combs, 55, is charged under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, commonly referred to as RICO, which requires a defendant to be part of an enterprise involved in at least two overt criminal acts out of 35 offenses listed by the government.

He is also charged on two counts each of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion and transportation to engage in prostitution in connection with two women — his former girlfriend Casandra “Cassie” Ventura and a woman identified in court only as Jane, also a former girlfriend.

The jury has reached a unanimous verdict on the four counts tied to Ventura and Jane but not on the racketeering count. Their verdict is not yet known. As Tuesday’s deliberations concluded, Combs was seen praying in the courtroom and looking morose, according to the Associated Press.

The impending verdicts are the culmination of a celebrity legal drama that has generated global attention and offered a graphic and often violent glimpse into the life of one of the nation’s most powerful music figures and his near billion-dollar enterprise. Jurors heard from three women, two former girlfriends and a personal assistant, who described mob-family-style racketeering with coercion, kidnapping, threats and beatings done to cover up a pattern of sexual assaults, sex trafficking and prostitution over decades.

During the seven-week trial, prosecutors portrayed Combs and his associates as luring female victims, often under the pretense of a romantic relationship. Once he had gained their interest, Combs allegedly used force, threats of force, coercion and controlled substances to get them to engage in sex acts with male prostitutes while he occasionally watched in gatherings that Combs referred to as “freak-offs.”

On the stand, witnesses testified that Combs gave the women ketamine, ecstasy and GHB to “keep them obedient and compliant” during the performances.

Jurors deliberated for more than 12 hours before reaching verdicts on several of the counts against Combs.

The racketeering charge alleged Combs’ Bad Boy Entertainment was like a mob family and criminal enterprise that threatened and abused women and utilized members of his enterprise to engage in a litany of crimes over the years including kidnapping, sex trafficking, bribery, arson, forced labor and obstruction of justice.

Though RICO cases are more typically associated with the mafia, street gangs or drug cartels, any loose association of two or more people is enough, like Combs’ entourage, said former federal prosecutor Neama Rahami. Prosecutors during the trial aimed to demonstrate a pattern of racketeering or two or more RICO predicate acts that occurred over 10 years. That’s why the evidence of bribery, kidnapping, obstruction, witness tampering and prostitution became key to the case.

Key to the government’s case was the testimony of three women: Combs’ onetime lover Ventura, whose 2023 lawsuit set off the unraveling of Combs’ enterprise and reputation; his most recent ex-girfriend, Jane; and his former assistant, only identified in court as Mia.

In the trial, Ventura testified she felt “trapped” in a cycle of physical and sexual abuse by Combs, and that the relationship involved years of beatings, sexual blackmail and a rape.

She claimed Combs threatened to leak videos of her sexual encounters with numerous male sex workers while drug-intoxicated and covered with baby oil as he watched and orchestrated the freak-offs.

One of those freak-offs led to an infamous hotel beating that was captured on hotel security cameras. Video footage from that March 2016 night shows Combs punching and kicking Ventura as she cowers and tries to protect herself in front of an L.A. hotel elevator bank. He then drags her down the hall by her hooded sweatshirt toward their hotel room.

A second angle from another camera captures Combs throwing a vase toward her. She suffered bruising to her eye, a fat lip and a bruise that prosecutors showed was still visible during a movie premiere two days later, where she wore sunglasses and heavy makeup on the red carpet.

In closing arguments, Assistant U.S. Atty. Christy Slavik told jurors Combs “counted on silence and shame” to enable and prolong his abuse and used a “small army” of employees to harm women and cover it up, according to the Associated Press.

Combs, he said, “doesn’t take no for an answer.”

When it came time for Combs’ defense team to present their case, they opted to move straight to closing arguments without presenting a witness. Rahami, the former federal prosecutor, said the defense expected jurors would question why those on the stand did not report the behavior to authorities at the time it was occurring and, in some cases, chose to stay in Combs’ orbit.

Marc Agnifilo, one of Combs’ lawyers, told jurors in closing that federal prosecutors “exaggerated” their case and sought to turn the hip-hop mogul’s swinger lifestyle into the most serious of federal offenses — racketeering and sex trafficking, without the evidence to back it up. In reality, Combs has a drug problem and his relationship with Ventura was a “modern love story” where the mogul “owns the domestic violence” that was revealed in the trial, Agnifilo said.

June 13 (UPI) — Kilmar Abrego Garcia on Friday formally pleaded not-guilty to federal human trafficking and conspiracy charges.

Abrego Garcia’s wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, also said a court appearance this week was the first time she was able to see her husband since he was arrested and detained in March.

The Salvadorian migrant was returned to the United States earlier this month after being deported to a prison in El Salvador.

“Even though it was through a video screen, I was finally able to see Kilmar,” Vasquez Sura, who is a U.S. citizen, told supporters at a rally in Nashville.

“I’m grateful for everyone who has been fighting for this milestone, in this fight to bring my husband back home with our children.”

The couple were living in Maryland with their young children at the time Abrego Garcia was arrested.

Lawyers will now argue in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes whether the 29-year-old should be granted bail before trial.

Prosecutors have argued he “would have enormous reason to flee” if released.

Abrego Garcia was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in March and eventually deported to El Salvador.

Supporters argued Abrego Garcia was denied due process in the deportation proceedings

A U.S. District Court judge later ordered the federal government to “facilitate” his return, after the Justice Department later acknowledged Abrego Garcia’s deportation was made in error.

President Donald Trump‘s administration pushed back against efforts to bring Abrego Garcia back to the United States.

In 2019, a federal judge ruled in 2019 that Abrego Garcia could be deported, but not back to his home country of El Salvador.

He was indicted on two federal charges last month before his return to the United States. Abrego Garcia is accused of playing a “significant role in an alien smuggling ring,” dating back as far as 2016, Attorney General Pam Bondi said at the time of the indictment.

Bondi said if Abrego Garcia is found guilty, he will be returned to El Salvador.

Police stopped the vehicle he was driving in Tennessee in 2002 and found several Hispanic men with no identification.

After he was returned to the United States, Abrego Garcia was immediately sent to Tennessee to face the federal charges.

Federal officials also contend Abrego Garcia was a member of the El Salvadoran MS-13 gang, accusations he and his family deny. They argue Abrego Garcia fled El Salvador because of the threat of gang violence.

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.

NEW YORK — R&B singer Cassie was forced under cross-examination Thursday to read aloud explicit messages with her former boyfriend Sean “Diddy” Combs, some of which expressed enthusiasm for sex with other men at Combs’ behest that she previously testified she “hated doing.”

Lawyers for Combs are seeking to show the jury that Cassie was a willing participant in his sexual lifestyle and say that, while he could be violent, nothing he did amounted to a criminal enterprise. Combs has pleaded not guilty to federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges.

Prosecutors say he exploited his status as a powerful music executive to violently force Cassie and other women to take part in these drug-fueled encounters with sex workers, called “freak-offs,” which sometimes lasted days. He’s also accused of using his entourage and employees to facilitate illegal activities, including prostitution-related transportation and coercion, which is a key element of the federal charges.

Messages between Combs and Cassie — both romantic and lurid — were the focus of the fourth day of testimony in a Manhattan courtroom. Defense attorney Anna Estevao read what Combs wrote, while Cassie recited her own messages.

Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, read messages to Combs containing graphic details about what she wanted to do during the freak-offs. At one point, she asked for a short break from the readings, which Judge Arun Subramanian granted.

In August 2009, Combs asked when she wanted the next encounter to be, and she replied “I’m always ready to freak off.” Two days later, Cassie sent an explicit message and he replied in eager anticipation. She responded: “Me Too, I just want it to be uncontrollable.” Combs’ lawyers have insisted that all the sex at the freak-offs was consensual.

Later that year, however, she also sent Combs messages that she was frustrated with the state of their relationship and needed something more from him than sex.

While reading their more affectionate conversations, Cassie testified that Combs was charismatic, a larger-than-life personality.

“I had fallen in love with him and cared about him very much,” Cassie said. Estevao spoke gently during the cross-examination, which had such a friendly tone at times that the lawyer and witness seemed like two friends chatting.

Cassie, however, did complain once that jurors weren’t hearing the full context of the messages the defense was highlighting, saying, “There’s a lot we skipped over.”

A packed courtroom watches Cassie’s testimony

As the messages were read, Combs appeared relaxed at the defense table, sitting back with his hands folded and his legs crossed. The courtroom was packed with family and friends of Combs, journalists, and a row of spectator seats occupied by Cassie’s supporters including her husband.

The 38-year-old Cassie — who is in the third trimester of pregnancy with her third child — has been composed on the witness stand. She cried several times during the previous two days of questions by the prosecution, but for the most part has remained matter-of-fact as she spoke about the most sensitive subjects.

The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly, as Cassie has.

During a break, Combs stood at the defense table, huddling with his lawyers, holding a pack of Post-It notes in one hand and a pen in the other. At one point, he turned to the gallery and acknowledged a few reporters who were studying his demeanor. “How you doing?” he asked.

Combs’ daughters were not in the courtroom Thursday as the explicit messages were read and shown to the jury.

Jurors leaned forward in their seats to follow along as the messages were displayed on monitors in front of them in the jury box. One woman shook her head as a particularly explicit message was shown. A man stared intently at the screen, pressing his thumb to his chin. Other jurors appeared curious and quizzical, some looking at Cassie or jotting notes.

Cassie rejects ‘swingers’ label

Cassie’s testimony on cross-examination was in contrast to Wednesday, when she described the violence and shame that accompanied her “hundreds” of encounters with male sex workers during her relationship with Combs, which lasted from 2007 to 2018.

While prosecutors have focused on Combs’ desire to see Cassie having sex with other men, she testified that she sometimes watched Combs have sex with other women. She said Combs described it as part of a “swingers lifestyle.”

Estevao asked Cassie directly whether she thought freak-offs were related to that lifestyle.

“In a sexual way,” Cassie responded, before adding: “They’re very different.”

Cassie said Tuesday that Combs was obsessed with a form of voyeurism where “he was controlling the whole situation.” The freak-offs took place in private, often in dark hotel rooms, unlike Combs’ very public parties that attracted A-list celebrities.

She testified she sometimes took IV fluids to recover from the encounters, and eventually developed an opioid addiction because it made her “feel numb” afterward.

When questioned by Estevao, Cassie agreed that Combs once communicated to drug dealers in Los Angeles to stop delivering drugs to her, and he suggested she get treatment. Cassie said Combs wanted her to do drugs with him only, not friends.

Cassie’s lawsuit sparked case against Combs

Cassie testified Wednesday that Combs raped her when she broke up with him in 2018, and had locked in a life of abuse by threatening to release videos of her during the freak-offs.

She sued Combs in 2023, accusing him of years of physical and sexual abuse. Within hours, the suit was settled for $20 million — a figure Cassie disclosed for the first time Wednesday — but dozens of similar legal claims followed from other women. It also touched off a law enforcement investigation into Combs that has culminated in this trial.

Combs, 55, has been jailed since September. He faces at least 15 years in prison if convicted.

Sisak and Neumeister write for the Associated Press. The AP’s Julie Walker in New York and Dave Collins in Hartford, Conn., contributed to this report.

JUSTIN Bieber has broken his silence on explosive rumours that he was abused by Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs.

Hip-hop star Diddy, 55, whose sex trafficking trial kicked off this week, infamously hosted a teenage Justin at his home in 2009.

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And since the rap mogul’s arrest last year, unfounded gossip online has linked the Canadian singer reported mental health problems with his former mentor’s alleged crimes.

Sean Combs – who is charged with sex trafficking and prostitution – strongly denies all allegations of misconduct.

Now, Justin, 31, has released a statement refuting claims he was targeted by the rapper.

A spokesperson told TMZ: “Although Justin is not among Sean Combs’ victims, there are individuals who were genuinely harmed by him.

“Shifting focus away from this reality detracts from the justice these victims rightfully deserve.”

Last year, video emerged of Diddy and Justin spending “48 hours” together.

Fans online branded the clip “disturbing” considering the 24-year age gap between the pair.

Justin also sang on Combs’ 2023 record The Love Album: Off The Grid which sources now say the pop superstar deeply regrets.

A source told the Mail Online: “He was featured on Diddy’s most recent album, and had he known any of this, there is no way he would have done it.”

This comes as Combs’s ex Cassie Ventura claims she had sex for up to four days with male escorts while living in fear that he would beat her.

The pregnant 38-year-old told a court: “You make the wrong face . . . then I was getting hit in the face.”’

Singer Cassie said she was a sexual novice when she fell in love with Diddy having been won over by his huge wealth and charm.

Within a year, she said she agreed to marathon “freak off” sex sessions with strangers to prove her love and keep him happy.

But Cassie told the court in New York how she began to experience a different side of Diddy — what she called “his abusive side”.

She added: “Very controlling over my life, the things I wanted to do . . . but there’s still love there.

“Control was everything from the way I looked, what I was working on that day, who I was speaking to.

“You make the wrong face and the next thing I knew I was getting hit in the face.”

Cassie testified despite being eight-and-a-half months pregnant with her third child with husband, Alex Fine, a personal trainer hired by Combs to work with her.

She said she was 19 when the rapper signed her on a ten-record deal to his Bad Boy Records label in 2006.

P Diddy, who denies all the charges, faces life imprisonment if convicted.

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May 15 (UPI) — Former longtime girlfriend Cassie Ventura faced cross-examination from Sean “Diddy” Combs’ attorneys during court proceedings on Thursday.

Defense attorneys asked Ventura if she heard “after the fact” about an alleged incident in which Combs, 55, is accused of throwing one of Ventura’s friends into patio furniture while on a balcony.

Ventura said she witnessed it and did not hear about it later.

Combs’ attorneys also asked how taking too much ketamine affected her.

She said it caused her to “disassociate” and made her feel like “you’re not there.”

‘Get-high’ partners

Ventura confirmed she and Combs referred to each other as “get-high partners” and that she was addicted to opiates that a friend supplied to her while she was Combs’ girlfriend.

She said Combs was unhappy about her opiate addiction and called it hypocritical of him.

Ventura also confirmed she tried cocaine and many other drugs with a friend.

Combs told her to stop doing drugs with her friends, but her drug use only was a problem when she wasn’t doing them with Combs.

She said he only wanted her to do drugs with him and would get “explosive” if she did drugs when he did not know about it.

Combs’ attorneys also asked if Combs in 2016 told Los Angeles drug dealers to stop selling drugs to Ventura while he was trying to get her to stop using drugs.

She said he made the request at some time but did not know during which year.

Injured friend’s payout

An attorney also asked if Ventura witnessed Combs allegedly throwing a wooden clothes hanger at one of her friends.

She said she was in the bathroom at the time, heard the commotion and saw her friend was injured when she emerged from the bathroom.

The incident occurred while she was dating the man with whom she now is married, but Combs was unaware of the relationship at the time, Ventura testified.

The friend who was injured later demanded payment for the incident, which Ventura said she paid because she felt responsible.

Documented expressions of love

Combs’ attorneys also showed text messages and emails in which Combs and Ventura expressed their love for one another and she wanted him to give her more attention.

The defense attorneys have accused Ventura of trying to get revenge on Combs and said she wants money.

They say the sex acts were consensual acts among adults.

Ventura was Combs’ girlfriend for about 11 years and during the first two days of his trial testified about ongoing physical abuse and medical problems she experienced due to what she called forced participation in sex “freak offs” that she says Combs organized.

She said Combs, 55, recorded the sex acts on video, used the tapes to blackmail her and others, and provided drugs during orgies and atother times.

Combs is charged with one count of racketeering conspiracy; two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution; and two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion.

He has pleaded not guilty to the five felony charges that could put him in prison for life if he is found guilty on all of them.

The trial is being held in the U.S. District Court for Southern New York in the Manhattan federal courthouse in New York City.