Smuggling
Border Patrol Unit Has Played High-Profile Role Before Uvalde
WASHINGTON — In the sprawling distances of South Texas, sheriff’s deputies, local and county police officers, Texas Rangers and Highway Patrol troopers, U.S. Border Patrol agents, immigration officers and other members of law enforcement work together on a daily basis. Along the more than 1,200 miles of border between Mexico and Texas, federal, state and […]
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An Indian State Banned Alcohol. The Drinking Moved to Nearby Nepal.
AT THE NEPAL-INDIA BORDER — As the afternoon heat gives way to a pleasant evening breeze, a palpable shift starts to happen in the makeup of the crowd flowing from India into Nepal across an open border. At first, there are Nepalis, a large number of them women, returning home after a quick shopping trip […]
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The Smugglers’ Paradise of Afghanistan
ZARANJ, Afghanistan — The smuggler barreled down the narrow dirt road, bouncing into craters and over rocks that jutted out from the scrubland. His headlights were off and as the car picked up speed, he tightened his grip on the steering wheel trying to wrestle it under his control. It was just after 1 a.m. […]
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More Than a Million Afghans Flee as Economy Collapses
ZARANJ, Afghanistan — From their hide-out in the desert ravine, the migrants could just make out the white lights of the Iranian border glaring over the horizon. The air was cold and their breath heavy. Many had spent the last of their savings on food weeks before and cobbled together cash from relatives, hoping to […]
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A Rise in Deadly Border Patrol Chases Renews Accountability Concerns
WASHINGTON — Angie Simms had been searching for her 25-year-old son for a week, filing a missing persons report and calling anyone who might have seen him, when the call came last August. Her son, Erik A. Molix, was in a hospital in El Paso, Texas, where he was strapped to his bed, on a […]
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Migrant Truck Crash in Mexico Kills More Than 50
TUXTLA GUTIÉRREZ, Mexico — The Guatemalan teenager had been packed with more than 150 fellow migrants for hours, he said, jammed in rows of six, some sitting, some standing, some choking on the southern Mexico heat. Then the speeding tractor-trailer started to fishtail uncontrollably, said the teenager, Esvin Chipel Tzoy. Within seconds the vehicle flipped […]
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On Syria’s Ruins, a Drug Empire Flourishes
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Built on the ashes of 10 years of war in Syria, an illegal drug industry run by powerful associates and relatives of President Bashar al-Assad has grown into a multibillion-dollar operation, eclipsing Syria’s legal exports and turning the country into the world’s newest narcostate. Its flagship product is captagon, an illegal, addictive […]
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Undeterred by Channel’s Perils, Desperate Migrants Still Plan to Cross
CALAIS, France — The lights on the opposite side of the English Channel were visible on Thursday, emboldening Emanuel Malbah, an asylum seeker who has been living in a makeshift camp on France’s northern coastline for the past week, dreaming of making a crossing. “I don’t believe that I’ll die,” he said. “I believe I’ll […]
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Looking for a Stolen Idol? Visit the Museum of the Manhattan D.A.
The evidence lockers at the Manhattan district attorney’s office often hold an array of items that figured in the crimes it prosecutes. Blunt instruments. Sacks of heroin. Wads of cash. The kinds of things that shouldn’t be dropped, but no one would have a heart attack if you did. And then there are the 2,281 […]
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