Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Illegal drug smuggling ring busted in Atlanta

Georgia has been identified as the new drug smuggling center for illegal drugs coming from Mexico through Texas. Interestingly Bush has done nothing to stop this nor has Michael Chertoff. Putting the DEA under his control is like asking the Mafia to police the Longshoreman. The recent bust is massive with 67 suspects apprehended. And yes they are all illegal aliens with connection to both Drug Cartels and Mexican gangs. Just another price Americans have to pay so the elite can have an open border policy that makes them richer.

Feds bust drug ring that used Atlanta area as operations hub

By The Associated Press

ATLANTA - Federal agents this week charged 67 people, put a dent in two Mexican drug cartels that used the Atlanta area as a hub of operations and seized large quantities of cash, cocaine and assault rifles.

Details of the multistate investigation were announced Friday as criminal complaints and indictments against the suspects were unsealed.

Investigators said the arrests and seizures reinforce that the Atlanta area has become a hub for drug trafficking because of its transportation and telecommunications systems and its proximity to large U.S. population areas.

"We'll make them pay by taking away their money, and we'll try to make them pay by taking away their freedom," U.S. Attorney David Nahmias said at a news conference where millions of dollars in seized cash and drugs were displayed.

The charges were a product of investigations targeting two Mexican drug trafficking organizations that allegedly smuggled cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana into the U.S. for distribution in Georgia, California, North Carolina, New York and elsewhere.

The drug cartels cooperated with each other, authorities said.

Authorities said the drugs would mostly be brought across the border into Texas and trucked to the Atlanta area for distribution to other parts of the country.

Criminal complaints and indictments against the suspects were issued over the course of several days starting Tuesday, and authorities have since arrested many of the defendants, though some remained at large Friday.

Charges against them include conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute a controlled substance. Nahmias said more charges were expected, and he added that the suspects would face significant prison time if convicted. Lawyers would be appointed to them if they didn't have their own, he said.

Nahmias said investigators had not yet determined how many, if any, of the suspects were illegal immigrants. While most of their full names were provided Friday, in many cases their hometowns and addresses were not.

A statement from prosecutors said 67 people were charged in federal court in Atlanta and that over the past several days 111 kilograms of cocaine, 17 pounds of crystal meth, roughly $8 million to $10 million in cash and at least 32 firearms were seized. Dozens of other people were arrested in California in an earlier but related investigation.

An agent suffered an injured ankle while chasing one of the suspects arrested in Georgia this week, and during another arrest shots were fired and a suspect was injured, Nahmias said, without elaborating. The injuries to the agent and the suspect were not life-threatening, he said.

Link to WSB video on this drug bust:

"Feds: Most Significant Drug Seizure Operation In Metro History Made - Video - WSB Atlanta"

Thanks to Todd Walker of the Georgia Chapter of the Minutemen for this link!

Jeanne Assam - The Lioness of Judah

In the aftermath of the two recent church shootings in Colorado, a real American hero has emerged. Anyone would be a hero in this situation but Jeanne Assam seems to be an unlikely heroine in the right place at the right time doing and saying all the right things. I couldn't help but be impressed by her poise, confidence and humility. We are grateful that she was able to end what surely what would have been a much more tragic situation. Though recent reports indicate the gunman took his own life, there is no doubt that she played the conclusive role in stopping his murderous rampage. She is my hero!

This is a remarkable story of individual heroism. Her actions saved the lives of perhaps hundreds of people that morning. It was by her own recommendation that they increase security that fateful morning. That is being both attentive and obedient to God's will.

Here is her testimony in her own words:

There was applause as Assam spoke to reporters and TV cameras saying, "God guided me and protected me."

When asked by a reporter if she felt like a hero, Assam said, "I wasn't just going to wait for him to do further damage."

"I give credit to God," she said.

Assam described how the gunman, Matthew Murray, entered the east entrance of the church firing his rifle.

"There was chaos," Assam said, as parishioners ran away, "I will never forget the gunshots. They were so loud."

"I saw him coming through the doors" and took cover, Assam said. "I came out of cover and identified myself and engaged him and took him down."

"God was with me," Assam said. "I didn't think for a minute to run away."

Assam said she believes God gave her the strength to confront Murray, keeping her calm and focused even though he appeared to be twice her size and was more heavily armed.

Murray was carrying two handguns, an assault rifle and over 1,000 rounds of ammunition, said Sgt. Jeff Johnson of the Colorado Springs Police Department.

"It seemed like it was me, the gunman and God," she said.

Assam worked as a police officer in downtown Minneapolis during the 1990s and is licensed to carry a weapon. She attends one of the morning services and then volunteers as a guard during another service.

Boyd said Assam was the one who suggested the church beef up its security Sunday following the Arvada shooting, which it did. The pastor credited the security plan and the extra security for preventing further bloodshed.

Assam said she was ending three days of fasting on Sunday when fate put her in the path of the gunman.

"I was praying to God that he direct me" in what to do in life, Assam said. "God made me strong."

Amid deafening cracks of gunfire, smoke-spewing canisters and the flight of thousands of New Life Church members, Jeanne Assam said she suddenly saw the hallways clear and a gunman come through the door.

"I took cover. I identified myself. I engaged him. I took him down," the 42-year-old former law officer and volunteer church security guard said Monday at a news conference in the Colorado Springs police station.

"I just said, 'Holy Spirit, be with me.' I wasn't even shaking," Assam said. "I give the credit to God. I say this very humbly. God was with me."
Assam, a member of New Life for only a few months, admitted she had been without sleep since Sunday's midday shootings at Colorado's largest church.

Assam said she had just ended a three-day fast Sunday. During the fasting she prayed and asked God to help her decide what to do with her future and whether she should work again in law enforcement.

"I was weak," she said. "God made me strong. What was going through my mind is how awesome God is."


Quotes are taken from the following two articles:

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_7684728
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/14817480/detail.html