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Category: Vehicles

  • MIL-OSI Security: U.S. Attorney’s Office Files More Than 250 New Immigration Cases This Week in the Western District of Texas

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    SAN ANTONIO – Acting United States Attorney Margaret Leachman for the Western District of Texas announced today, that federal prosecutors in the district filed 261 immigration and immigration-related criminal cases from March 21 through March 27.

    Among the new cases, Guatemalan national Noe Mardoquero Calel-Cabinal was pulled over March 24 on Highway 85 near Dilley by a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper. The area is known to be commonly used to smuggle undocumented aliens further into the U.S. from Mexico. A U.S. Border Patrol agent stopped to assist with the traffic stop. Calel-Cabinal allegedly presented a Guatemalan identification card, did not have proper immigration documentation to be in the U.S. legally, and could not provide a reason for being in the area that aligned with his travel route. A criminal complaint alleges that Calel-Cabinal later confessed to being in the area to pick up and transport four illegal aliens to San Antonio and would be paid $1,300 per illegal alien. A review of his cell phone allegedly confirmed Calel-Cabinal’s confession and he was charged with one count of conspiracy to transport illegal aliens.

    In El Paso, Mexican national Luis Francisco Alarcon-Sanchez allegedly stated at the Paso Del Norte Port of Entry on March 22 that he was a U.S. citizen born in Albuquerque, New Mexico and was returning to Albuquerque to visit his ex-wife and mother. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer received a system alert for prior deport and further procedures confirmed that Alarcon-Sanchez had been previously removed on May 16, 2024. A criminal complaint alleges that Alarcon-Sanchez admitted he is affiliated with the Paisas Gang. In addition to the 2024 removal, records show he was removed from Texas to Mexico in 2015, 2003, and in 1998 following an aggravated felony conviction.

    Mexican national Jesus Barraza-Frias was also arrested in El Paso. He was allegedly located less than a mile east of the Bridge of the Americas Port of Entry without immigration documents allowing him to be or remain in the U.S. legally. Barraza-Frias was just removed from the U.S. on Nov. 27, 2024, after being convicted for illegal re-entry in El Paso. He now has three total removals as well as a domestic violence/harassment conviction in Lamar, Colorado from 2007, a 2002 disorderly conduct conviction as a juvenile in Lamar, and a sexual assault conviction as a juvenile in Prowers County, Colorado from 2001.

    In Del Rio, Honduran national Carlos Alejandro Varela-Avila was arrested March 20 and charged with re-entry after deportation from the United States. A criminal complaint alleges that Varela-Avila was previously deported on April 16, 2024 through Alexandria, Louisiana and has five prior removals and a criminal record that includes aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

    Another Honduran national, Alba Jeannet Medina-Chavez, was arrested March 23 near Del Rio after being previously deported Dec. 29, 2014 through Phoenix, Arizona. A criminal complaint reflects five prior removals for Medina-Chavez as well as a criminal history that includes child cruelty, assault with a deadly weapon, false imprisonment, and assault against an elderly or disabled individual.

    Amir Hassan Riley was also arrested March 23 near Eagle Pass. According to a criminal complaint, U.S. Border Patrol agents inspected a vehicle drive by Riley at a Highway 57 checkpoint and allegedly located three illegal aliens from Honduras and Yemen concealed in the rear seat and trunk of the vehicle. Further investigation allegedly led to the discovery of two more illegal aliens at a motel. The complaint alleges that Riley said he responded to a job post on Facebook and coordinated to pick up people at pinned locations in Eagle Pass. Riley is charged with one count of conspiring with others to transport illegal aliens within the United States.

    A Mexican national is charged in Pecos with illegal re-entry. Ibrahim Villanueva was arrested by Presidio Border Patrol agents after being previously removed on June 6, 2024 through El Paso. Villanueva’s criminal and immigration history indicate four total deportations and a 2007 felony conviction for aggravated sexual assault of a child in Odessa.

    In Austin, Mexican national Cesario Bueno-Figueroa was arrested March 23 and charged with driving while intoxicated and leaving the scene of a crash. If convicted, criminal records show that this would be at least his third DWI. He previously served 18 months in jail after he was arrested for driving under the influence of liquor in 2010, and 65 days for the same charge in 2018. Bueno-Figueroa has also served 30 days in jail after being arrested in 2012 for illegal entry and 97 days in 2018 for illegal re-entry. Bueno-Figueroa is federally charged with illegal re-entry.

    These cases were referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE ERO), U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), with additional assistance from state and local law enforcement partners.

    The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas comprises 68 counties located in the central and western areas of Texas, encompasses nearly 93,000 square miles and an estimated population of 7.6 million people. The district includes three of the five largest cities in Texas—San Antonio, Austin and El Paso—and shares 660 miles of common border with the Republic of Mexico.

    These cases are part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

    Indictments and criminal complaints are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Turkey is an incredibly powerful broker in the current world crisis, and a masterful negotiator

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Natasha Lindstaedt, Professor in the Department of Government, University of Essex

    A Turkish military ship in the Bosphorus. Atakan Divitlioglu/Shutterstock

    While Turkey’s government is struggling to deal with mass protests at home (after Istanbul’s mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was imprisoned), in foreign affairs it is in an increasingly strong position as a key power broker in deals with Europe, the US and Russia. At the crossroads between Asia and Europe, Turkey is strategically important to just about everyone, and is emerging as a clever negotiator.

    Since the early 2000s, Turkey has relied on a foreign policy approach that emphasised cooperation instead of competition. Economic ties were a priority, which helped Turkey steadily improve its relationships with Russia, Iran and Syria.

    While remaining a part of Nato and a major trading partner with the European Union, Turkey views its ties with Russia, Ukraine, China and countries in the Middle East as equally important. Turkey has shown that it will work with whatever government benefits its interests, and has taken advantage of regional conflicts to be a convenient ally when needed.

    At the same time, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has no qualms about confronting both friends and rivals equally, giving it strategic flexibility.

    Rocky relationship with Russia

    Turkey is Russia’s second biggest trading partner. Ankara continues to rely on Russian gas and banking networks, doing over US$60 billion (£46.3 billion) in trade annually with Moscow. The Turkish relationship with Russia improved dramatically in 1995 when Russia stopped supporting the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) and Turkey stopped supporting Chechen rebels.

    Since then, Turkey has maintained a functional relationship with Russia, while never being pliant to Moscow.

    Turkey was critical of Russia setting up military bases in Syria, in Tartus and Khmeimim and as it controls the airspace in northern Syria it also has the ability to restrict Russian access. Ankara has also used its military presence in Idlib, in northern Syria, to check Russian influence in the past. Turkey’s drone offensive in Idlib in 2020 helped the Syrian opposition and pushed back Syrian government and Russian-backed activity in the north-west.

    The importance of the Black Sea

    The Black Sea is another area of competition where Turkey has emerged with the upper hand during the war in Ukraine. Russia aimed to exercise control over the Black Sea, even seizing several Ukrainian ports which affected global grain supply in 2022.

    But Turkey negotiated the release of millions of tonnes of grain and has ensured the safety of shipping routes through the Black Sea by enforcing the Montreux Convention. This 1936 agreement granted Turkish control over the shipping route between the Black Sea (through the Bosporus Strait, the Sea of Marmara and the Dardanelles, through which hundreds of millions of tons tonnes of cargo pass each year) and the Mediterranean.

    Citing the agreement, Turkey also restricted Russian reinforcements into the Black Sea, which has restricted Russian naval power considerably.


    Shutterstock

    Though Turkey has not levied sanctions on Russia and has kept its revenue streams open, Turkey also does not accept the Russian annexation of Crimea. With more than 5 million Turks claiming to have Crimean Tatar roots, Crimea has both strategic and historical importance to Turkey.

    Yet, Turkey maintains communication with Moscow (and Erdoğan and Vladimir Putin are “dear friends”). Complicating this “friendship” is the fact that Turkey also supports Ukraine, supplying it with Bayraktar TB2 drones, heavy machine guns, laser-guided missiles, electronic warfare systems, armoured vehicles and protective gear.

    Ultimately, Turkey wants Ukraine to remain independent in order to check Russian naval power in the Black Sea. As such, Turkey is likely to work with Nato to ensure that Ukraine is not defeated.

    To that end, Turkey is willing to contribute peacekeepers to a post-ceasefire settlement, under the right conditions.

    Meanwhile, Turkey has used the Ukraine conflict to diversify its supply routes for energy (relying more on suppliers from the Caucasus region and central Asia), to reduce its dependence on Russia. Turkey is in a strong position, especially with the discovery of gas reserves in the Black Sea and eastern Mediterranean. Ankara aims to become an energy hub facilitating the transit of gas from the Caucasus, central Asia and Russia to Europe through the Trans-Anatolian natural gas pipeline.

    Turkey and Syria

    Turkey’s relationship with its neighbour Syria has also been pragmatic and shrewd. Turkey was able to pursue rapprochement with Syria in 2005, when Bashar al-Assad became the first Syrian president to visit Turkey since Syria gained its independence in 1946.

    But while Erdoğan maintained a relationship (to prevent Syria from moving even closer to Iran), he ultimately chose to abandon this relationship when it no longer suited him. He hosted anti-Assad figures in Turkey from time to time, and created a safe zone on its border which housed displaced Syrians and armed fighters. He gave rebels the go-ahead to oust Assad in 2024.

    Just as the war in Syria provided Turkey with opportunities, so too has the conflict in Ukraine. Ankara has strengthened its bargaining position and pushed for greater diplomatic and economic concessions from western allies. Turkey is taking advantage of the US’s retreat from Nato to push for closer cooperation with Europe.

    Turkey also is taking advantage of Donald Trump’s more lenient policies towards Russia to improve its relationship with the US. This is primarily based on wanting to improve defence cooperation. During the cold war, Turkey relied on the US for arms, funding and equipment, but was not able to use these weapons without US authorisation.

    After 1989, Turkey carved out different markets for its weapons imports and faced US sanctions for buying S-400 surface-to-air missiles from Russia in 2020. Turkey would like to purchase F-35 supersonic fighter jets from the US, and is hoping that the US will move away from sanctioning third countries that have engaged with Russia.

    Whose critical ally?

    Turkey has made sure that it is not seen by the US as a junior partner in the Middle East region. For example, when Turkey launched operations in north-east Syria in 2019, where it repeatedly fired close to US forces, the US offered no military response.

    The US sees Turkey as a key ally in spite of some different strategic goals. In addition to its geopolitical importance, Turkey also hosts US and Nato military forces at several of its bases and US nuclear weapons (20 B61 nuclear bombs) at its Incirlik Air Force Base.

    Turkey now wants to expand its diplomatic and military footprint. As a member of the G20, with one of the 20 biggest economies in the world and the second largest and second most powerful military force in Nato after the US, it has a lot of power. And in geopolitical juggling, currently Turkey is in the luxurious position of everyone wanting Ankara to be on their side.

    Natasha Lindstaedt does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Turkey is an incredibly powerful broker in the current world crisis, and a masterful negotiator – https://theconversation.com/turkey-is-an-incredibly-powerful-broker-in-the-current-world-crisis-and-a-masterful-negotiator-253084

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Welch Joins Warren, Pressley, Markey, Congressional Democrats Demanding Explanation for “Disturbing Arrest and Detention” of Tufts University Student

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont)

    Student seemingly arrested for her political views, lawmakers demand due process and answers
    WASHINGTON D.C. – U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) joined Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Representative Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), and Senator Ed Markey (D-Mass.) in writing to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Acting Director for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Todd Lyons, demanding information about the arrest and detention of Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk and similar incidents across the country.
    “The Administration should not summarily detain and deport legal residents of this country merely for expressing their political views. Absent compelling evidence justifying her detention and the revocation of her status, we call for Ozturk’s release and the restoration of her visa,” wrote the lawmakers. 
    A total of 34 lawmakers signed the letter. In addition to Sens. Welch, Warren and Markey and Rep. Pressley, the following members joined in signing: Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), and Tim Kaine (D-Va.), along with Representatives Lori Trahan (D-Mass.), Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.), Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Summer Lee (D-Pa.), Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.), Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.), Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), Don Beyer (D-Va.), André Carson (D-Ind.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.), Greg Casar (D-Texas), and Jill Tokuda (D-Hawaii).
    On March 25, 2025, Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk was arrested on her way to a Ramadan dinner event by masked, plainclothes officers. Surveillance video shows officers loading Ozturk into an SUV and departing in three unmarked vehicles. Bystanders observed that the incident “looked like a kidnapping.”
    For almost 24 hours, Ozturk’s location was unknown and her lawyer could not locate her. On the afternoon of March 26, more than twelve hours after a district court judge ordered the federal government not to remove Ozturk from Massachusetts without at least 48 hours’ notice, ICE’s locator system was updated to show that she was being held at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center.
    This arrest appears to be one of the latest examples in a string of ICE arrests of university students with valid green cards and visas, seemingly on the basis of their political views. Ozturk was one of four authors of a 2024 op-ed in the Tufts student paper, which called for the university to “engage with and actualize” Israel- and Palestine-related resolutions passed by the university’s Student Senate.
    Secretary of State Marco Rubio has stated that the Administration will deny visas to those who “participate in that sort of activity,” referring to protest movements on campuses. Following Ozturk’s arrest, Tufts was informed that her “visa ha[d] been terminated” — similar to other recent cases in which ICE agents have declared, without a judicial or administrative hearing, that they were “terminating” or “revoking” students’ green cards and visas.
    The lawmakers asked the Departments of Homeland Security and State, along with ICE, to provide explanations for Ozturk’s arrest and visa revocation; her transportation to Louisiana despite a court order; officials’ use of unmarked vehicles, face coverings, and plain clothing; the federal government’s policies for terminating a student’s visa without a request from a university; and more. 
    Read the full text of the letter.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Kaine, Klobuchar, and Warner Announce Expected Vote Timing on their Bill to Undo Canada Tariffs that will Raise Costs

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Virginia Tim Kaine

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – Next Tuesday, April 1, the U.S. Senate is expected to vote on legislation led by U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Mark R. Warner (D-VA) to undo President Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods, which amount to a 25 percent tax on goods imported from one of America’s top trading partners and closest allies. Since President Trump announced tariffs on Canada, there has been strong pushback from Americans, businesses, trade groups, and industry leaders.

    “President Trump’s taxes on Canadian goods have sent our economy into chaos, and Americans aren’t buying what he’s selling. They know they will pay the price with higher costs for everyday items, and their confidence in the economy is the lowest it has been in recent years,” said Kaine. “Many of my Republican colleagues in Congress have already expressed concerns about these tariffs, so the Senate’s upcoming vote on our legislation provides senators with the perfect opportunity to show Americans that they will stand up for their constituents and reverse the President’s disastrous economic policies.”

    “This Administration is igniting a reckless trade war and regular Americans are paying the price,” said Klobuchar. “Costs for everyone will go up and our farmers and businesses will suffer. Canada is Minnesota’s top trading partner and is a key U.S. ally. We must reverse these damaging tariffs before it’s too late.”

    “Trump’s tariffs on Canada are a self-inflicted wound—raising prices for American consumers, hurting workers, and straining one of our closest trade partnerships,” said Warner. “Now my Republican colleagues have an opportunity to weigh in—will they stand up for the American people or continue us down this damaging path?”

    In total, the tariffs President Trump announced on February 1 would cost the average American household up to $2,000 a year, with the Canada tariffs making up a significant portion of that. These tariffs represent the largest tax increase on American families in recent history. Polls have overwhelmingly demonstrated that the American people do not support Trump’s trade wars. According to a survey by Public First, just 28 percent of American adults supported specifically applying tariffs to Canada, while 43 percent opposed.

    In Virginia in 2024, Canada was the largest export market and accounted for 15 percent of Virginia exports. In Virginia in 2022, top goods exports to Canada included motor vehicles and transportation equipment, such as medium- and heavy-duty trucks. 56.1 percent of Southwest Virginia’s economic output is dependent on trade.

    Below is what Americans are saying about Trump’s tariffs on Canada:

    AFL-CIO Director of Government Affairs Jody Calemine: “On behalf of the AFL-CIO, I urge you to support S.J. Res. 37, a resolution introduced by Senator Tim Kaine to terminate the national emergency that was declared to justify tariffs on imports from Canada under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA)… However, imposing large, across the board tariffs on Canada aimed at non-trade objectives will only cause unnecessary economic pain for workers and businesses on both sides of the border.”

    International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) International President Brian Bryant: “On behalf of the 600,000 active and retired members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), I write today in strong support of S.J. Res. 37… These new tariffs on Canada, one of our closest allies and largest trading partners, are unjust and will have lasting negative impacts on American and Canadian workers… The Trump administration’s erratic approach to tariffs is wreaking havoc on workers and businesses in the United States and Canada. Punishing one of our nation’s closest trading partners based on a false pretense is wrong and the action needs to be reversed.”

    International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE) President Matthew S. Biggs and Secretary-Treasurer Gay Henson: “As the Executive Officers of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE), representing 90,000 workers in the private, public, and federal sectors across North America, we are writing in support of S.J. Res. 37… Canada is America’s closest ally and number one trading partner. Our trading relationship uplifts American and Canadian working families alike. Imposing reckless tariffs on Canadian imports will harm both the U.S. and Canadian economies and do even greater harm to working families on both sides of the border. Congress must step in now to block this reckless and destructive policy.”

    National Taxpayers Union: “Canada is an important supplier of goods that strengthen U.S. security, including crude oil, natural gas, steel, and aluminum. Tariffs that restrict our access to these supplies and increase their cost will weaken our industrial base and undermine our ability to sustain our defense in the event of a national emergency.”

    Taxpayers Protection Alliance President David Williams: “TPA enthusiastically supports Sens. Tim Kaine and Rand Paul’s CRA to overturn President Trump’s February 1, 2025, national emergency declaration. This use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) is fraught with issues. The ensuing trade war will inevitably raise costs for consumers. Placing a 25 percent tariff on goods from Canada and Mexico will harm consumers and the vast majority of American businesses.”

    United Steelworkers (USW) International President David McCall: “On behalf of the 850,000 active members of the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union (USW), I urge you to support S.J. Res. 37, a resolution introduced by Senator Tim Kaine to terminate the national emergency that was declared to impose duties on imports from Canada, under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA)… These new tariffs are misdirected, unsubstantiated by facts, and harmful to the very workers we represent.”

    The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board: “None of this is supposed to happen under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement that Mr. Trump negotiated and signed in his first term. The U.S. willingness to ignore its treaty obligations, even with friends, won’t make other countries eager to do deals. Maybe Mr. Trump will claim victory and pull back if he wins some token concessions. But if a North American trade war persists, it will qualify as one of the dumbest in history.”

    The Washington Post Editorial Board: “Markets have plummeted since Trump announced new levies on Canada, Mexico and China, erasing nearly all gains since his election… The tariffs are still likely to be economically destructive: They will snarl global supply chains, raise costs to consumers and cause layoffs in industries that depend on imported inputs like steel… This means more than just additional pain for consumers whipsawed by inflation, higher prices on imports and, now, the possibility of a recession.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Fentanyl Dealer Sentenced To Over 11 Years In Federal Prison

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    Baltimore,Maryland – Today, U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow sentenced Querida Moran, age 53, of Owings Mills, to 135 months’ imprisonment in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons for Possession with Intent to Distribute Fentanyl.  Moran pled guilty to possessing with the intent to distribute two kilograms of fentanyl and over 50 kilograms of cocaine recovered from a storage unit and from her purse in August 2023.  Moran was on federal supervised release at the time.

    Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, made the announcement with Special Agent in Charge Ibrar A. Mian, of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (“DEA”) Washington Division.

    According to the guilty plea, in 2023, the DEA identified Moran as a source of supply for numerous drug traffickers in the Baltimore region.  During the investigation, agents watched Moran conduct numerous drug transactions.  For example, on July 26, 2023, Moran drove her SUV to a restaurant parking lot in Arundel Mills, Maryland.  While in the parking lot, a Subaru arrived and parked.  Moran walked over to the Subaru, gave the driver a bag, and returned to her SUV.  Both vehicles drove away in different directions.  Agents followed the Subaru and initiated a traffic stop.  A probable cause search followed, and they recovered 100 grams of fentanyl from the driver.

    A week later, on August 1, 2023, agents were monitoring the GPS tracking device on Moran’s SUV as she drove to a Travel Plaza and parked near the area where tractor trailers park.  From there, Moran drove directly to a storage center.  Agents watched the video footage from the storage center and saw Moran transport two large duffle bags and a cardboard box to her storage unit.     

    The next day, Moran returned to her storage unit and left with a black suitcase.  After leaving the storage unit, agents watched Moran conduct multiple drug transactions.  In response, they obtained search warrants, which included Moran’s storage unit and her residence.

    On August 3, 2023, agents searched Moran’s storage unit and recovered fifty kilograms of cocaine and two kilograms of fentanyl.  After the search, Moran was arrested at a separate location from the storage unit.  Agents searched Moran’s purse and recovered two additional kilograms of cocaine.  A forensic analysis of the drugs recovered confirmed two kilograms of fentanyl and fifty kilograms of cocaine was in Moran’s storage unit and two kilograms of cocaine was in her purse.  On the same date, agents searched Moran’s residence, located in Owings Mills, Maryland.  Agents seized approximately $56,000 in U.S. currency from the apartment. The seized currency constituted proceeds of Moran’s drug trafficking activity or was used, or intended to be used, to facilitate Moran’s drug offense.   

    U.S. Attorney Hayes commended the DEA, the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services and the Baltimore County Police Department for their work in the investigation.  Ms. Hayes also thanked Assistant United States Attorney Calvin C. Miner, who is prosecuting the case.

    For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

    # # #

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Markey, Warren, Pressley, Congressional Democrats Demand Explanation for “Disturbing Arrest and Detention” of Tufts University Student

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Massachusetts Ed Markey

    Student seemingly arrested for her political views, Sen. Markey demands her release 

    Letter Text (PDF) 

    Washington (March 28, 2025) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Representative Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), today led over 30 lawmakers in writing to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Acting Director for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Todd Lyons, demanding information about the arrest and detention of Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk and similar incidents across the country.

    “The Administration should not summarily detain and deport legal residents of this country merely for expressing their political views. Absent compelling evidence justifying her detention and the revocation of her status, we call for Ozturk’s release and the restoration of her visa,” wrote the lawmakers. 

    A total of 34 lawmakers signed the letter. In addition to Sens. Markey and Warren and Rep. Pressley, the following members joined in signing: Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), and Tim Kaine (D-Va.), along with Representatives Lori Trahan (D-Mass.), Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.), Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Summer Lee (D-Pa.), Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.), Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.), Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), Don Beyer (D-Va.), André Carson (D-Ind.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.), Greg Casar (D-Texas), and Jill Tokuda (D-Hawaii).

    On March 25, 2025, Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk was arrested on her way to a Ramadan dinner event by masked, plainclothes officers. Surveillance video shows officers loading Ozturk into an SUV and departing in three unmarked vehicles. Bystanders observed that the incident “looked like a kidnapping.”

    For almost 24 hours, Ozturk’s location was unknown and her lawyer could not locate her. On the afternoon of March 26, more than twelve hours after a district court judge ordered the federal government not to remove Ozturk from Massachusetts without at least 48 hours’ notice, ICE’s locator system was updated to show that she was being held at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center.

    This arrest appears to be one of the latest examples in a string of ICE arrests of university students with valid green cards and visas, seemingly on the basis of their political views. Ozturk was one of four authors of a 2024 op-ed in the Tufts student paper, which called for the university to “engage with and actualize” Israel- and Palestine-related resolutions passed by the university’s Student Senate.

    Secretary of State Marco Rubio has stated that the Administration will deny visas to those who “participate in that sort of activity,” referring to protest movements on campuses. Following Ozturk’s arrest, Tufts was informed that her “visa ha(d) been terminated” — similar to other recent cases in which ICE agents have declared, without a judicial or administrative hearing, that they were “terminating” or “revoking” students’ green cards and visas.

    The lawmakers asked the Departments of Homeland Security and State, along with ICE, to provide explanations for Ozturk’s arrest and visa revocation; her transportation to Louisiana despite a court order; officials’ use of unmarked vehicles, face coverings, and plain clothing; the federal government’s policies for terminating a student’s visa without a request from a university; and more. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: ICE Arizona, multiagency case results in Nogales man sentenced to 10 years in prison for methamphetamine possession, intent to distribute

    Source: US Immigration and Customs Enforcement

    TUCSON, Ariz. – A Nogales man was sentenced last week to 120 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine. This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Drug Enforcement Agency, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, and the Arizona Department of Public Safety.

    “Storing to distribute deadly drugs requires a person lacking a moral compass,” said ICE Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge for Arizona, Francisco B. Burrola. “HSI and our federal partners are committed to weeding out people that look to plague our communities with drugs, we will not stand for it. The defendant in this case will have a decade in prison to think of his actions that cost him his freedom.”

    Sergio Humberto Ramos, 73, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, admitting that he was paid to store the drugs at a trucking yard near Nogales until they could be transported.

    This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces Strike Force Initiative, which provides for the establishment of permanent multi-agency task force teams that work side-by-side in the same location. This co-located model enables agents from different agencies to collaborate on intelligence-driven, multi-jurisdictional operations to disrupt and dismantle the most significant drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney, David Petermann, District of Arizona, Tucson, handled the prosecution.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Convicted Felon Sentenced To 20 Years For Illegally Possessing A Pistol And Ammunition Used In Two Murders

    Source: United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)

    Savannah, Georgia – Acting United States Attorney Sara C. Sweeney for the Middle District of Florida and Acting United States Attorney Tara M. Lyons for the Southern District of Georgia announce that Chief U.S. District Judge R. Stan Baker has sentenced Victor McMillar (33, Savannah) to 20 years in prison for possessing a firearm and ammunition as a convicted felon. Judge Baker also recommended that McMillar serve his prison sentence at a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility as far from Savannah as possible. A federal jury found McMillar guilty on October 24, 2024. 

    According to court documents and trial testimony, on November 3, 2018, McMillar fired eleven .40 caliber rounds from a Smith & Wesson pistol into the vehicle driven by a husband and wife down a residential street in Savannah. The couple was shot multiple times, and both were both transported to a hospital. The husband died from his gunshot wounds. His wife survived but suffered permanent injury. Two days later, McMillar shot and killed an acquaintance who had witnessed the first murder. This time McMillar used a Glock .40 caliber pistol and fired eleven times. The acquaintance was found dead in the street, struck by at least three bullets to his head. McMillar planted the Smith & Wesson pistol on the body of the second victim. DNA swabs taken from the Smith & Wesson pistol would later match to McMillar. 

    Following the murders, McMillar was arrested by the Savannah Police Department and later indicted for the murders. McMillar was acquitted in Chatham County Superior Court on October 17, 2023. Following the acquittal, McMillar was indicted by a federal grand jury for two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. 

    Prosecutors from the Middle District of Florida were assigned as Special Assistant United States Attorneys to prosecute McMillar. During preparation for trial, special agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) discovered that McMillar had attempted to erase a cellphone left at the first murder scene. The ATF agents obtained a search warrant for McMillar’s iCloud account, which McMillar failed to delete. McMillar’s iCloud account had several pictures of firearms taken on October 22, 2018, including a photograph of a Smith & Wesson .40 caliber pistol, identical to the murder weapon. Additional cellphone forensic evidence placed McMillar at the scene of both murders.

    This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and the Savannah Police Department. It was prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorneys Rachel Lasry and Frank Talbot.

    This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Global: The spring clock change may affect your mind and body longer than you realise

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Stefano Arlaud, PhD candidate in Time Processing and Metacognition of Time Processing, SBBS, Queen Mary University of London, Queen Mary University of London

    ViDI Studio/Shutterstock

    Twice a year, around a quarter of the world’s population dutifully reset their clocks. It may seem like a minor adjustment, but some people struggle with fatigue, irritability, and brain fog in the days following the transition. For others — especially night owls — the adjustment period can last for weeks.

    Circadian rhythms govern many physiological processes in plants, animals and even bacteria, highlighting life’s remarkable sensitivity to changes in environmental conditions.

    Your biological internal clock is controlled in a small region of the brain called the hypothalamus. It regulates hormone release, body temperature and metabolism. So if your circadian rhythm is out of kilter, those things will be disrupted too.

    Most people take three to seven days to adjust to daylight saving time (DST). However, night owls can take two to three weeks to realign their sleep-wake cycles.

    Research suggests diet also plays a role. People who eat high-fat diets seem to experience prolonged circadian misalignment after the spring clock change. A 2008 study on rodents found that those on high-fat diets adapted 20% more slowly to a six-hour light shift compared to those on low-fat diets. Scientists don’t fully understand why diet and circadian rhythms are linked.

    We do know light exposure is also important for adapting to time change. One hypothesis suggests that a high-fat diet reduces circadian sensitivity to light. Researchers have wondered whether the connection between high-fat diet and circadian sensitivity may be since late evening eating is associated with weight gain. But a 2024 study found no significant differences in meal timing between diet groups, suggesting that it’s the food itself, rather than the time it is eaten, that’s the key factor.

    It’s not just you – the spring transition can make you sleepy for a while.
    Prostock-studio/Shutterstock

    Exposure to natural light is one of the most important factors in helping the body adjust to a new time. The more morning sunlight a person gets, the faster their circadian rhythm realigns. Research suggests that adaptation is harder in spring than in autumn, with increased wakefulness during sleep (10–30 minutes more), greater sleep fragmentation (between 5–20%), and poorer sleep quality after the spring transition.

    The link between natural light and cognitive function was highlighted by a 2020 study which demonstrated the benefits of increased daylight exposure. Thirty participants spent one week working in each of two office environments with identical layouts, furnishings and orientations. But one was fitted with smart glass (that can change its tint) and was set to optimise daylight. And the other had traditional blinds, that were closed. Participants in the optimised daylight condition slept 37 minutes longer and scored 42% higher on decision-making tasks.

    The human circadian rhythm runs slightly longer than 24 hours (typically 24.2–24.5 hours). This makes clock delays (autumn transition) easier to adjust to than clock advances (spring transition) because our body naturally drifts forward each day. Delaying sleep aligns with this tendency, whereas advancing sleep disrupts melatonin release, which regulates your energy levels and the natural urge to go to bed.

    In 2007, German researchers monitored 50 healthy adults for four weeks before and after each transition and found that spring adaptation took five to seven days longer than fall adaptation.

    Our core body temperature increases throughout the day, peaking in the late afternoon. A 2008 Finnish study studied nine adults before and after both transitions and found that during the spring transition, people’s gradual increase in body temperature was delayed by 30–60 minutes. It also found sleep quality dropped by 5–15%, and nighttime movement increased by 10–25% — all indicators of circadian misalignment. Total time in bed increased after the spring transition but participants’ sleep was fragmented and of lower quality.

    The spring clock change seems to create a slightly increased risk for those with life-threatening health conditions. Research has linked daylight saving time (DST) transitions to changes in mortality rates, during the first eight weeks after the transition, particularly in relation to cardiovascular complications. A 2024 study analysing 14 million deaths in the US from 2015 to 2019 found a slight increase in all deaths after the spring transition but a decrease in mortality after the autumn transition.

    The study also found a rising trend in dementia-related mortality, with a 5% increase in deaths peaking in the fifth week after the spring transition. Additionally, a slight increase in cancer-related mortality was noted in the first week after DST begins.

    Research also shows it’s a good idea to pay extra attention when you’re on the roads after the clocks go forward. A 2023 study investigating the effects of DST on driving fatigue found drivers showed signs of greater fatigue after the clock change. Their cars swayed in their lanes about 13% more often and their eyelids closed slightly more often. Participants still showed impairment one month later.

    However, in a follow-on trial after the autumn return to standard time, drivers reported feeling less sleepy.

    These findings suggest the spring transition can have a ripple effect that lasts for weeks. It also suggests we are more finely tuned to the natural world than we might think.

    Spring DST may seem like a simple one-hour shift, but for many, it’s much more than that.

    Stefano Arlaud does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. The spring clock change may affect your mind and body longer than you realise – https://theconversation.com/the-spring-clock-change-may-affect-your-mind-and-body-longer-than-you-realise-252987

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: America’s clean air rules boost health and economy − charts show what EPA’s deregulation plans ignore

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Richard E. Peltier, Professor of Environmental Health Sciences, UMass Amherst

    Regulations have cleaned up cars, power plants and factories, leaving cleaner air while economies have grown. Cavan Images/Josh Campbell via Getty Images

    The Trump administration is “reconsidering” more than 30 air pollution regulations, and it offered industries a brief window to apply for exemptions that would allow them to stop following many air quality regulations immediately if approved. All of the exemptions involve rules finalized in 2024 and include regulations for hazardous air pollutants that cause asthma, heart disease and cancer.

    The results – if regulations are ultimately rolled back and if those rollbacks and any exemptions stand up to court challenges – could impact air quality across the United States.

    “Reconsideration” is a term used to review or modify a government regulation. While Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin provided few details, the breadth of the regulations being reconsidered affects all Americans. They include rules that set limits for pollutants that can harm human health, such as ozone, particulate matter and volatile organic carbon.

    Zeldin wrote on March 12, 2025, that his deregulation moves would “roll back trillions in regulatory costs and hidden “taxes” on U.S. families.“

    What Zeldin didn’t say is that the economic and health benefits from decades of federal clean air regulations have far outweighed their costs. Some estimates suggest every $1 spent meeting clean air rules has returned $10 in health and economic benefits.

    How far America has come, because of regulations

    In the early 1970s, thick smog blanketed American cities and acid rain stripped forests bare from the Northeast to the Midwest.

    Air pollution wasn’t just a nuisance – it was a public health emergency. But in the decades since, the United States has engineered one of the most successful environmental turnarounds in history.

    Thanks to stronger air quality regulations, pollution levels have plummeted, preventing hundreds of thousands of deaths annually. And despite early predictions that these regulations would cripple the economy, the opposite has proven true: The U.S. economy more than doubled in size while pollution fell, showing that clean air and economic growth can – and do – go hand in hand.

    The numbers are eye-popping.

    An Environmental Protection Agency analysis of the first 20 years of the Clean Air Act, from 1970 to 1990, found the economic benefits of the regulations were about 42 times greater than the costs.

    The EPA later estimated that the cost of air quality regulations in the U.S. would be about US$65 billion in 2020, and the benefits, primarily in improved health and increased worker productivity, would be around $2 trillion. Other studies have found similar benefits.

    That’s a return of more than 30 to 1, making clean air one of the best investments the country has ever made.

    Science-based regulations even the playing field

    The turning point came with the passage of the Clean Air Act of 1970, which put in place strict rules on pollutants from industry, vehicles and power plants.

    These rules targeted key culprits: lead, ozone, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter – substances that contribute to asthma, heart disease and premature deaths. An example was the removal of lead, which can harm the brain and other organs, from gasoline. That single change resulted in far lower levels of lead in people’s blood, including a 70% drop in U.S. children’s blood-lead levels.

    Air Quality regulations lowered the amount of lead being used in gasoline, which also resulted in rapidly declining lead concentrations in the average American between 1976-1980. This shows us how effective regulations can be at reducing public health risks to people.
    USEPA/Environmental Criteria and Assessment Office (1986)

    The results have been extraordinary. Since 1980, emissions of six major air pollutants have dropped by 78%, even as the U.S. economy has more than doubled in size. Cities that were once notorious for their thick, choking smog – such as Los Angeles, Houston and Pittsburgh – now see far cleaner air, while lakes and forests devastated by acid rain in the Northeast have rebounded.

    Comparison of growth areas and declining emissions, 1970-2023.
    EPA

    And most importantly, lives have been saved. The Clean Air Act requires the EPA to periodically estimate the costs and benefits of air quality regulations. In the most recent estimate, released in 2011, the EPA projected that air quality improvements would prevent over 230,000 premature deaths in 2020. That means fewer heart attacks, fewer emergency room visits for asthma, and more years of healthy life for millions of Americans.

    The economic payoff

    Critics of air quality regulations have long argued that the regulations are too expensive for businesses and consumers. But the data tells a very different story.

    EPA studies have confirmed that clean air regulations improve air quality over time. Other studies have shown that the health benefits greatly outweigh the costs. That pays off for the economy. Fewer illnesses mean lower health care costs, and healthier workers mean higher productivity and fewer missed workdays.

    The EPA estimated that for every $1 spent on meeting air quality regulations, the United States received $9 in benefits. A separate study by the non-partisan National Bureau of Economic Research in 2024 estimated that each $1 spent on air pollution regulation brought the U.S. economy at least $10 in benefits. And when considering the long-term impact on human health and climate stability, the return is even greater.

    Hollywood and downtown Los Angeles in 1984: Smog was a common problem in the 1970s and 1980s.
    Ian Dryden/Los Angeles Times/UCLA Archive/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY

    The next chapter in clean air

    The air Americans breathe today is cleaner, much healthier and safer than it was just a few decades ago.

    Yet, despite this remarkable progress, air pollution remains a challenge in some parts of the country. Some urban neighborhoods remain stubbornly polluted because of vehicle emissions and industrial pollution. While urban pollution has declined, wildfire smoke has become a larger influence on poor air quality across the nation.

    That means the EPA still has work to do.

    If the agency works with environmental scientists, public health experts and industry, and fosters honest scientific consensus, it can continue to protect public health while supporting economic growth. At the same time, it can ensure that future generations enjoy the same clean air and prosperity that regulations have made possible.

    By instead considering retracting clean air rules, the EPA is calling into question the expertise of countless scientists who have provided their objective advice over decades to set standards designed to protect human lives. In many cases, industries won’t want to go back to past polluting ways, but lifting clean air rules means future investment might not be as protective. And it increases future regulatory uncertainty for industries.

    The past offers a clear lesson: Investing in clean air is not just good for public health – it’s good for the economy. With a track record of saving lives and delivering trillion-dollar benefits, air quality regulations remain one of the greatest policy success stories in American history.

    This article, originally published March 12, 2025, has been updated with the administration’s offer of exemptions for industries.

    Richard E. Peltier receives funding from the US Department of Agriculture and the Rio Grande International Science Center.

    – ref. America’s clean air rules boost health and economy − charts show what EPA’s deregulation plans ignore – https://theconversation.com/americas-clean-air-rules-boost-health-and-economy-charts-show-what-epas-deregulation-plans-ignore-251203

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Travel Advisory: Lane Shifts on Route 146 Start April 3

    Source: US State of Rhode Island

    As part of improvements to Route 146 in North Smithfield, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) will implement two changes to the traffic patterns starting April 3 at 9 p.m.

    RIDOT will shift the northbound lanes on the flyover 12 feet to the right to free up space where a southbound lane will eventually be put in place. This change will provide one lane northbound on the flyover and one at ground level. Travelers should not notice this shift. The existing northbound and southbound lanes at grade will remain in place.

    On April 11, a second lane shift will occur to provide one lane southbound on the flyover. The final configuration will be one lane in each direction at the flyover and at ground level. The traffic signal will be adjusted to ensure that the intersection functions at maximum efficiency. These changes will be in place until the end of the year.

    The Route 146 Improvement Project will replace multiple bridges, repave 8 miles of road and eliminate congestion at the intersection of Sayles Hill Road and Route 146. Approximately 171,000 vehicles use Route 146 daily.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Rocky Mount Man Sentenced to More Than 18 Years for Armed Robbery

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    RALEIGH, N.C. – A Rocky Mount man was sentenced today to 218 months in prison for robbing a Dollar General and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of multiple crimes of violence.  Kaleb Joseph Coppage, age 23, pled guilty to the charges on September 30, 2024.

    According to court documents and other information presented in court, on November 30, 2023, Coppage entered the Dollar General at 2800 W. Raleigh Blvd. in Rocky Mount wearing a facemask.  He pointed an AR-style pistol at an employee and demanded money.  After stealing more than $2,800 from the store’s safe and cash registers, Coppage fled on foot.  

    On December 8, 2023, Coppage entered the Circle K at 5102 Dortches Blvd. in Rocky Mount, again wearing a facemask, and pointed an AR-style pistol at an employee and demanded cash.  The employee gave Coppage approximately $60 in a shopping bag which also contained a GPS tracker.  The Nash County Sheriff’s Office followed the coordinates on the tracker and located Coppage in a stolen car.  When they attempted to conduct a traffic stop, Coppage fled.  He led law enforcement on a chase that exceeded 120 mph in a 45-mph zone.  Coppage ultimately collided with another car and then fled the scene on foot.  Law enforcement found the AR-style pistol, which was stolen, in the car Coppage had been driving.  

    Upon further investigation, the sheriff’s office discovered that Coppage was on probation and monitored by an ankle bracelet. Through the ankle monitor, officers confirmed that Coppage was present at both the Dollar General and Circle K  at the times of these robberies.  Upon arrest, Coppage admitted to the robberies, and admitted that he stole the vehicle in which he fled from the Circle K.

    “Violently robbing our places of business terrorizes our communities and is a serious federal offense with significant consequences,” Acting United States Attorney Daniel P. Bubar stated today.  “Today’s sentence demonstrates that we will continue to work tirelessly with our partners to stamp out gun violence.  I commend the excellent work in this case by ATF, the Nash County Sheriff’s Office, and the Rocky Mount Police Department.”

    “Our Office has strived to take every available action to combat violent repeat offenders from wreaking havoc in our communities. We have focused our attention on illegal guns, gangs, and drugs that have found their way into Nash County,” said Nash County Sheriff Keith Stone.  “Our partnerships with our local agencies, the District Attorney’s Office, federal partners, North Carolina Probation and Parole, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, has greatly increased our ability to remove defendants, that engage in these types of crimes away from our citizens. Mr. Coppage not only robbed our local convenience stores, but he also used a firearm to terrorize the clerks and lead our deputies on a pursuit that placed everyone’s life in danger. I am thankful for the hard work, dedication, and professionalism that the Nash County Sheriff’s Office, Edgecombe County Sheriff’s Office, ATF, North Carolina Probation and Parole, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office demonstrated in this case. The Nash County Sheriff’s Office will continue its relentless pursuit to stop violent crime and drug trafficking in our county.” 

    “A firearm in the hands of a prohibited individual is illegal and extremely dangerous,” said ATF’s Acting Special Agent in Charge Christopher Rogers.  “ATF is committed to working with our law enforcement partners to identify and apprehend those who try to undermine public safety and threaten our communities.”
    Daniel P. Bubar, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Terrence W. Boyle. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Nash County Sheriff’s Office, and the Rocky Mount Police Department investigated the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Phil Aubart and Lori Warlick prosecuted the case.

    Related court documents and information can be found on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER by searching for Case No. 5:24-CR-84-BO-RJ.
     

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    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Revolutionizing Plastic Recycling Through Irradiation

    Source: International Atomic Energy Agency – IAEA

    The IAEA is harnessing the power of radiation technologies, through its NUTEC Plastics initiative, to assist countries in dealing with plastic pollution on two fronts: at the point of source, by introducing new technologies to improve plastic recycling; and in the ocean, where the bulk of plastic waste ends up.

    “The focus on the first front is on reducing plastic waste volumes through innovative upcycling, increasing the re-purposing of hard-to-recycle plastics into valuable products and developing bio-based plastics,” said Celina Horak, Head of the IAEA Radiochemistry and Radiation Technology Section. “With the help of the NUTEC Plastics initiative, nine countries across Asia, Latin America and Africa are in the process of establishing radiation-assisted pilot plants.”

    The role of irradiation in helping beat plastic pollution will be discussed during the IAEA’s upcoming Third International Conference on Applications of Radiation Science and Technology. Gathering hundreds of experts from radiation-related physics, chemistry, materials science, biology and engineering fields in Vienna, Austria, from 7 to 11 April 2025, #ICARST2025 will be accessible to anyone interested via livestreaming.

    International events will also be held in October 2025 in the Republic of Korea, featuring IAEA tools for circular economy assessment and for technological maturity level, and in November 2025 in the Philippines, the first international high level forum on NUTEC Plastics. Both events will include the other aspect of the NUTEC Plastics initiative, the marine monitoring component, where nuclear science is used to identify, trace and monitor plastics in the ocean, particularly microplastics.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: $33.7 Million Highway 2 Over Trans Canada Highway 1 Project Underway at Moose Jaw

    Source: Government of Canada regional news

    Released on March 28, 2025

    Today, Highways Minister David Marit and the Moose Jaw community celebrated the recent start of an estimated $33.7 million project to raise the height of Highway 2 over Trans-Canada Highway 1 in Canada’s Most Notorious City.

    “Once completed the project will improve safety and trucking efficiency over the long term on Trans-Canada Highway 1 in Saskatchewan, which connects the province’s export-based economy to the rest of the country – and the world,” Marit said.

    The overpass project involves demolishing the existing pair of nearly 60-year-old Highway 2 over Highway 1 bridges, which have a clearance height of 4.5 metres and have been hit multiple times over the years by oversized traffic. The new structures will have a clearance height of 5.3 metres.

    “On behalf of City Council, we thank the Ministry of Highways for undertaking this critical overpass project,” Moose Jaw Mayor James Murdock said. “This improvement not only benefits the trucking industry, which is a cornerstone of our local economy, but also enhances the overall safety and well-being of our community, and the thousands of tourists that use Highways 1 and 2 to visit us in Canada’s Most Notorious City.”

    The existing classic cloverleaf shaped on- and off-ramps will also be replaced with modern diamond-shaped on- and off-ramps.

    “The Saskatchewan Trucking Association welcomes the investment in the Highway 2 overpasses at Moose Jaw,” Saskatchewan Trucking Association Executive Director Susan Ewart said. “This project is a critical improvement that will enhance safety and efficiency for trucking operations on this key transportation corridor, while demonstrating the provincial government’s commitment to modernizing infrastructure.” 

    A Ministry of Highways contractor began staging in the area in mid March and is expected to begin demolishing the northbound bridge the week of April 1.

    During construction this year, Highway 2 will have two-way traffic on the southbound bridge while the new northbound bridge is being built. Next year, Highway 2 will have two-way traffic on the new northbound bridge while the new southbound bridge is being built. 

    Highway 1 underneath the bridges will be reduced to two-way traffic throughout the project. Traffic from the exit ramps will be detoured as needed.

    All motorists are reminded to obey all signage and flag persons in the area and to check the Highway Hotline at https://hotline.gov.sk.ca/ for construction updates before heading out.

    The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2026, pending weather.

    -30-

    For more information, contact:

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Former federal officer sentenced for smuggling aliens and receiving bribes from cartel

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    LAREDO, Texas – A former Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer has been sentenced to federal prison in two separate cases for allowing aliens and cocaine across the border, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.

    Emanuel Isac Celedon, 37, Laredo, pleaded guilty March 11, 2024, for his role in illegally smuggling illegal aliens into the United States through the Lincoln Juarez Port of Entry (POE) in Laredo. He also admitted to bribery and attempted importation of cocaine for accepting money to allow what he thought was cocaine to cross into the United States from Mexico. 

    U.S. District Judge Diana Saldana has now imposed a total of 117 months in prison for both cases to be immediately followed by four years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay a money judgment of $17,980. At the hearing, the court noted Celedon’s job was to protect the United States from introduction of controlled substances and people not authorized to be in the country, and that he had failed in both regards. Judge Saldana added that Celedon was deeply involved in the organization and appeared to want to go even deeper.

    “Anybody who aids or works for the cartel is going to find themselves on the wrong end of a federal indictment,” said Ganjei. “This case was especially troubling given the position of trust the defendant held. His criminal conduct stands in stark contrast to the heroic work the men and women of CBP are doing every day to keep our border and ports secure.”

    While employed as a CBP Officer in Laredo in 2023, Celedon sought contacts within the Mexican criminal organization known as the Cartel del Noreste in order to smuggle drugs and aliens through his inspection lane in exchange for monetary payment.

    During an undercover operation, Celedon expressed his interest in smuggling cocaine for payment, provided his duty schedule and gave instructions directing a loaded vehicle to his inspection lane at the port of entry. He then allowed the vehicle to safely cross into the United States. 

    Using his position as a CBP officer, Celedon allowed several kilograms of what he believed to be cocaine into the United States on two separate occasions in October 2023. In exchange, he received $6,000.

    Further investigation revealed Celedon also conspired with at least three others to bring illegal aliens into the United States without inspection. Celedon provided his daily lane assignment to Mexican national Homero Romero-Hernandez, 32, who passed the information to Jose Osvaldo Zapata-Vasquez, 25, another Mexican national with ties to the cartel. Zapata-Vasquez hired Cotulla resident Beatris Guadalupe Martinez, 22, to act as the driver.

    Zapata-Vasquez relayed instructions to Martinez based on information Celadon provided regarding when to pick up the aliens in Mexico and which lane to approach when making entry to the United States.

    The investigation revealed Martinez transported people through Celedon’s lane on at least nine separate occasions between September and November 2023. Each time, Celedon permitted entry without inspecting any of Martinez’s passengers. Additionally, on at least two of those dates, Celedon falsely inputted information into a CBP database in order to avoid sending Martinez to a mandatory secondary inspection.

    Celedon then asked Zapata-Vasquez and Romero-Hernandez to relay this to smugglers in Mexico in order to reassure them that he was doing his part to facilitate the cartel’s smuggling efforts. Law enforcement seized $1,980 in cash from Celedon at the time of his arrest, which he admitted were proceeds from human smuggling.

    Judge Saldana previously sentenced Zapata-Vasquez, Romero-Hernandez and Martinez to 46, 36, and 42 months in prison, respectively.

    Celedon has been and will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

    The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) – Office of Inspector General, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Immigration and Customs Enforcement – Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI) and CBP – Office of Professional Responsibility conducted the investigation with assistance from the HSI Human Smuggling Unit in Washington, D.C., CBP’s National Targeting Center International Interdiction Task Force, Texas Department of Public Safety, Border Patrol, Webb County Precinct 2 Constable’s Office and CBP Laredo Joint Forensic Center.

    The case is the result of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation and coordinated efforts of Joint Task Force Alpha (JTFA).

    OCDETF identifies, disrupts and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach.

    JTFA, a partnership with DHS, has been elevated and expanded with a mandate to target cartels and transnational criminal organizations to eliminate human smuggling and trafficking networks operating in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama and Colombia that impact public safety and the security of our borders. JTFA currently comprises detailees from U.S. Attorneys’ Offices along the southwest border, including the Southern District of California, District of Arizona, District of New Mexico and Western and Southern Districts of Texas. Dedicated support is provided by the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, led by the Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and supported by the Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section, Office of Enforcement Operations and the Office of International Affairs, among others. JTFA also relies on substantial law enforcement investment from DHS, FBI, DEA and other partners. To date, JTFA’s work has resulted in more than 355 domestic and international arrests of leaders, organizers and significant facilitators of alien smuggling, more than 320 U.S. convictions, more than 265 significant jail sentences imposed and forfeitures of substantial assets.

    This case is also part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s OCDETF and Project Safe Neighborhood.

    Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jennifer Day and Arthur R. Jones prosecuted the cases.  

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Federal Jury Convicts Chicago Man of Sex Trafficking and Kidnapping Offenses

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    CHICAGO — A federal jury has convicted a Chicago man of violently sex trafficking five young victims, including a 15-year-old girl, and kidnapping two of them.

    The jury in U.S. District Court in Chicago on Tuesday convicted DENNIS WILLIAMS, 33, on all seven sex trafficking and kidnapping counts against him.  Williams faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison and a maximum of life.  U.S. District Judge Mary M. Rowland set sentencing for Oct. 7, 2025.

    The convictions were announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI. Valuable assistance was provided by the Chicago Police Department and the Lansing, Ill. Police Department. The government has been represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kristen Totten, Sushma Raju, and Michelle Parthum.

    According to evidence presented at the week-long trial, Williams used threats, violence, drugs, and other coercive means to force five victims to engage in commercial sex.  Williams often restrained or assaulted the victims to force them to comply and turn over the proceeds to him.  Williams also caused a 17-year-old girl, whom he also assaulted repeatedly, to assist him in trafficking the victims.  Williams operated his sex trafficking operation in 2022 and 2023 out of his Chicago residence and motels in Lansing, Ill.

    On Aug. 2, 2022, Williams kidnapped one of his victims by luring her inside his truck and abruptly driving away.  The victim escaped by leaping from the moving vehicle.

    On Jan. 10, 2023, Williams kidnapped another of his victims by confining her to his closet overnight and then forcing her to engage in commercial sex with strangers.  The victim escaped by jumping out of a second-floor window and running a quarter mile to a Chicago Public Library branch.

    All five of Williams’ victims, including both of the kidnapping victims, testified about their ordeals at trial.

    If you believe you are a victim of sexual exploitation, you are encouraged to contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children by logging on to www.missingkids.com or by calling 1-800-843-5678.  The service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Midland Felon Sentenced to 30 Years in Federal Prison for Producing Child Pornography

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    MIDLAND, Texas – A Midland man was sentenced in federal court to 360 months in prison for child pornography production and drug and firearm offenses.

    According to court documents, Job Jasso Jr., 27, led a Midland County Sheriff’s Office deputy on a high-speed chase following an attempted traffic stop on March 13, 2024. Jasso crashed the vehicle and fled on foot, leaving a 17-year-old female in the passenger seat. A search of her phone revealed multiple sexually explicit photos of Jasso and the minor female.

    On March 25, 2024, the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force and other partnered agencies executed an arrest warrant at a hotel where Jasso was staying. Inside the room, Jasso and the minor victim from the March 13 incident were naked and taken into custody. Two firearms were seized during the arrest. An executed search warrant also revealed additional firearms, along with firearm accessories and ammunition, drug paraphernalia, 63.2 grams of fentanyl pills, and other related items. Review of a recovered smartphone found approximately 44 images and two videos of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), and child exploitative material (CEM) depicting the minor victim. A search warrant return for a cloud storage account also uncovered 12 videos of CSAM and CEM of the minor victim.

    Jasso had previously been convicted in the 142nd District Court in Midland for aggravated kidnapping and received a sentence of five years’ confinement.

    On Aug. 28, 2024, Jasso was indicted for one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon; one count of possession with intent to distribute a quantity of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of fentanyl; one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug crime; and one count of possession of stolen firearms. A federal jury found him guilty of all four counts Nov. 6, 2024.

    A second indictment was filed Sept. 25, 2024, for two counts of production of child pornography. Jasso was also found guilty on both of those counts in a federal trial Dec. 10, 2024. U.S. District Judge David Counts sentenced Jasso to 360 months in prison for both child pornography charges, as well as a concurrent 300 months in prison for the other four counts. Judge Counts also ordered Jasso pay $55,000 in restitution.

    “Jasso has amassed a troubling criminal record over the years, carelessly placing others—including minors—in grave danger through his illicit actions,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Margaret Leachman for the Western District of Texas. “The 30-year sentence that he will now serve in federal prison is a significant penalty that appropriately fits the multiple offenses for which he was found guilty by a jury.”

    “This sentence serves as a reminder to all predators. We will not allow crimes against children to go unpunished,” said John Morales, FBI El Paso Special Agent in Charge. “While this significant sentence cannot repair the damage done, it is a warning to those who engage in this behavior: FBI and our law enforcement partners will be relentless in our pursuit of child predators.”

    The FBI, Texas Department of Public Safety, Odessa Police Department, and Midland County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Sloane prosecuted the case.

    This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

    ###

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Detroit Man Sentenced to Just Over 2 Years in Federal Prison For Firing Gun on Crowded Sidewalk

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    DETROIT – A man from Detroit, Michigan was sentenced today for a July 2024 shooting near Grand Circus Park announced Acting United States Attorney Julie A. Beck.

    Beck was joined in the announcement by James Deir, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Detroit Field Division and Detroit Police Chief Todd Bettison.

    Christopher Wade, 30, was sentenced to 25 months in prison by United States District Judge Matthew F. Leitman.

    According to court records, following a dispute, Wade opened fire at the busy intersection of Woodward Avenue and Adams Avenue, firing nine rounds into the air. Thankfully, no one was injured, but a witness who was driving in the area reported that one of the rounds struck her vehicle. Officers quickly responded to the scene and apprehended Wade without further incident. Security cameras captured the shooting on video. This was the second time within a month that Wade opened fire in public and the fourth time in the last 10 years.

    Wade pleaded guilty to felon in possession of a firearm in November of 2024.

    This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Philip M. Jacques. The investigation was conducted jointly by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives with assistance from the Detroit Police Department.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: MSF ready to assist in Myanmar following powerful earthquake News Mar 28, 2025

    Source: Doctors Without Borders –

    A 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck central Myanmar on Friday March 28, with tremors felt across Myanmar and Thailand. The epicenter was close to Mandalay, Myanmar’s second largest city. The full scale of damage is unknown, but early reports state more than 100 people were killed and hundreds injured.

    Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams working in Myanmar and Thailand are safe and accounted for. 

    Paul Brockmann, MSF’s operations manager for Myanmar, Bangladesh, and Malaysia gave the following statement. 

    “Our medical humanitarian staff in Myanmar and neighboring countries have the capacity to respond at scale to the needs of affected communities as soon as authorities facilitate swift and unhindered access for teams to do assessments and provide medical care.

    Given the scale and intensity of the earthquake, the impact on people could be devastating, particularly for those who require immediate lifesaving assistance due to trauma injuries. We’re also concerned about those who will be vulnerable after losing shelter, access to general health care, and safe drinking water, which is crucial to control the possible spread of waterborne diseases.

    To enable an effective response, swift access to affected areas and timely approval of essential supplies and personnel are critical.

    Paul Brockmann, MSF operations manager for Myanmar, Bangladesh, and Malaysia

    The ability to deploy assessment teams and, ideally, surgical capacity, are critical in the first hours and days after any earthquake if we hope to respond with life and limb-saving surgical care for people injured.

    To enable an effective response, swift access to affected areas and timely approval of essential supplies and personnel are critical.”

    MSF in Myanmar

    MSF has been working in Myanmar since 1992, with focus on providing HIV and tuberculosis care, emergency responses to national disasters and conflict, as well as support to the persecuted Rohingya population in Rakhine state. 

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Warren, Pressley, Markey, Congressional Democrats Demand Explanation for “Disturbing Arrest and Detention” of Tufts University Student

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Massachusetts – Elizabeth Warren
    March 28, 2025
    Student seemingly arrested for her political views, lawmakers demand due process and answers
    Text of Letter (PDF) 
    Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Representative Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), and Senator Ed Markey (D-Mass.) led over 30 lawmakers in writing to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Acting Director for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Todd Lyons, demanding information about the arrest and detention of Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk and similar incidents across the country.
    “The Administration should not summarily detain and deport legal residents of this country merely for expressing their political views. Absent compelling evidence justifying her detention and the revocation of her status, we call for Ozturk’s release and the restoration of her visa,” wrote the lawmakers. 
    A total of 34 lawmakers signed the letter. In addition to Sens. Warren and Markey and Rep. Pressley, the following members joined in signing: Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), and Tim Kaine (D-Va.), along with Representatives Lori Trahan (D-Mass.), Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.), Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Summer Lee (D-Pa.), Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.), Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.), Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), Don Beyer (D-Va.), André Carson (D-Ind.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.), Greg Casar (D-Texas), and Jill Tokuda (D-Hawaii).
    On March 25, 2025, Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk was arrested on her way to a Ramadan dinner event by masked, plainclothes officers. Surveillance video shows officers loading Ozturk into an SUV and departing in three unmarked vehicles. Bystanders observed that the incident “looked like a kidnapping.”
    For almost 24 hours, Ozturk’s location was unknown and her lawyer could not locate her. On the afternoon of March 26, more than twelve hours after a district court judge ordered the federal government not to remove Ozturk from Massachusetts without at least 48 hours’ notice, ICE’s locator system was updated to show that she was being held at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center.
    This arrest appears to be one of the latest examples in a string of ICE arrests of university students with valid green cards and visas, seemingly on the basis of their political views. Ozturk was one of four authors of a 2024 op-ed in the Tufts student paper, which called for the university to “engage with and actualize” Israel- and Palestine-related resolutions passed by the university’s Student Senate.
    Secretary of State Marco Rubio has stated that the Administration will deny visas to those who “participate in that sort of activity,” referring to protest movements on campuses. Following Ozturk’s arrest, Tufts was informed that her “visa ha(d) been terminated” — similar to other recent cases in which ICE agents have declared, without a judicial or administrative hearing, that they were “terminating” or “revoking” students’ green cards and visas.
    The lawmakers asked the Departments of Homeland Security and State, along with ICE, to provide explanations for Ozturk’s arrest and visa revocation; her transportation to Louisiana despite a court order; officials’ use of unmarked vehicles, face coverings, and plain clothing; the federal government’s policies for terminating a student’s visa without a request from a university; and more. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Revere Man Sentenced to Nine Years in Prison for Armed Robberies of Two Local Convenience Stores

    Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (b)

    BOSTON – A Revere man was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston for the armed robberies of two Boston-area convenience stores in less than one week.

    Jaquan Barrows, 27, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns to nine years in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. In December 2024, Barrows pleaded guilty to two counts of robbery interfering with interstate commerce, commonly referred to as Hobbs Act robbery, and one count of using and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to, and in furtherance of a crime of violence. In April 2024, Barrows was charged by criminal complaint.

    On the morning of March 29, 2024, a male wearing a mask, dark clothing and an orange safety vest entered a Revere convenience store brandishing a handgun. The suspect walked behind the counter, demanded cash from the cash register drawer, additional cash and a cell phone from the store clerk. The suspect struck the clerk in the head with the firearm, took an ice cream bar from a store freezer and fled the scene.  

    Less than one week later, on the morning of April 4, 2024, a male wearing a black mask and dark clothing entered an Everett convenience store and appeared to be shopping. After being asked to pay for his items, the suspect brandished a handgun, pointed it at the store clerk and demanded cash from the cash register drawer and fled the scene.  

    A subsequent investigation identified a Honda Pilot captured in the vicinity of the Revere convenience store. The vehicle was registered to an individual who resided with Barrows. Surveillance footage obtained from the Revere convenience store and from Barrows’ residence showed Barrows wearing clothing similar to the robber. During a search of Barrows’ residence on April 4, 2024, clothing items matching the robber from the Revere robbery, as well as a handgun were found. Barrows was immediately taken into custody.    

    United States Attorney Leah B. Foley and Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the Revere and Everett Police Departments. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Maynard of the Major Crimes Unit prosecuted the case.
     

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Factsheet on industrial action by Unite the Union in the waste service

    Source: City of Birmingham

    We currently have a service that doesn’t meet the expectations of the people of our city.

    We need to address years of underperformance and bring pride back to our streets and improve the waste collection service for the benefit of everyone.

    We are committed to creating a modern, sustainable and consistently reliable waste collection service. The restructure proposal enables us to fulfil our commitment to improving the waste service and comes after careful consideration.

    The following sets out factual information about a number of issues in the public domain:

    Is this about the WRCO role?

    The WRCO role, which Unite are fighting to keep, came about as a result of a previous bin strike. No other council has this role, and if the council gave in, then we would risk creating a huge future equal pay liability.

    Will workers in the former WRCO role be forced to lose money?

    No worker need lose any money. All workers have been offered alternative employment at the same pay, driver training or voluntary redundancy. That offer remains open.

    Has compulsory redundancy been suggested?

    It is regrettable that it has come to this, the council has consistently tried to find a solution to the industrial action. We have made a very fair offer which means that no worker need lose any money. That offer remains open.

    We confirm that regrettably we have informed Unite representatives that next week we will formally notify and enter a period of collective consultation regarding compulsory redundancies for those who have declined all offers on the table.

    This is about securing a better waste service for the people of Birmingham. We thank staff who are working under difficult conditions and recognise the frustration of residents for which we apologise.

    See further background here.

    Have negotiations been too slow?

    The council has consistently tried to find a solution to the industrial action. We have been very accommodating to Unite, offering their choice of dates, times, locations and durations of meetings.  We are meeting them at their availability. In the time between meetings, we have given them information that they have requested, including information that clearly shows no worker is affected by an £8,000 pay cut.  Since the start of the industrial dispute, there have been regular and ongoing meetings with Unite officers and shop stewards to seek to resolve the dispute, including two meetings under the auspices of ACAS. Unite have set aside the agreement that was reached between us at ACAS, but our offer to settle this dispute remains on the table.

    What is happening at the depots?

    Unfortunately, striking workers are blocking our vehicles from leaving the depots meaning we are struggling to pick up waste across the city with the fewer resources we have.

    People have the right to go to work without fear of violence and intimidation, and we thank all those that have been working in these difficult circumstances.

    Is the WRCO role crucial to health and safety?

    The whole team is accountable for working in a safe and responsible way. None of the roles either past or present make any specific reference to there being a lead person responsible for health and safety.

    The service has a dedicated Health and Safety Manager to oversee and review safe systems and practices. They ensure continuous improvement and compliance with health and safety standards.

    The driver and team leader has control of the vehicle and therefore control of the way the service is delivered. Introducing the new vehicles with 360° cameras and other tech will support with safe working as well.

    The new vehicles come equipped with advanced safety features, including a comprehensive camera system to improve crew visibility and operational safety while working on Birmingham’s streets. Additionally, the vehicles feature low-level access points to make ingress and egress safer and easier, reducing the risk of crew injuries and enhancing overall working conditions.

    Does the service have too many agency staff?

    The council would rather not have to use agency staff however to maintain a service to residents, even when there isn’t a strike, we have to. Obviously, our preferred option is to have permanent employees, which is why part of our offer to those refuse workers who are in dispute has been driving training which would lead to an alternative higher paid role in the new transformed service. This restructure is part of a much-needed transformation of the service that would also reduce the reliance on agency staff.

    Are agency staff being used to cover strike action?

    We strongly refute any suggestion that agency workers have been carrying out work normally undertaken by striking workers. We continue to deploy the same number of agency workers on days of action as it we would on any normal working days.

    Is private security employed at depots?

    We are providing private security at our depots. It is sad we have to do this but unfortunately security at our depots has become a serious issue and the safety of our workers and the public must be our priority, and there will clearly be a cost to the public purse.

    What is happening with fly-tipping and clean-up?

    Street cleaning crews are clearing sites across our city on a daily basis and will continue to do so.

    Who is in charge of negotiations?

    Council officers are leading the negotiations on behalf of the Managing Director.

    Are workers losing £8,000 a year?

    No. Claims that 150 people could lose £8,000 a year in pay are incorrect. We have made an offer that means no worker need lose any money. The reality is that the number of staff that could lose the maximum amount (just over £6,000) is 17 people, they will have pay protection for six months in line with council policy.  

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Pressley, Warren, Markey, Lawmakers Demand Explanation for “Disturbing Arrest and Detention” of Tufts Student Rumeysa Ozturk

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07)

    Student seemingly arrested for her political views, lawmakers demand due process and answers

    Text of Letter (PDF)

    WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) and Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Edward J. Markey (D-MA) led over 30 lawmakers in writing to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Acting Director for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Todd Lyons, demanding information about the arrest and detention of Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk and similar incidents across the country.

    “The Administration should not summarily detain and deport legal residents of this country merely for expressing their political views. Absent compelling evidence justifying her detention and the revocation of her status, we call for Ozturk’s release and the restoration of her visa,” wrote the lawmakers. 

    A total of 34 lawmakers signed the letter. In addition to Rep. Pressley and Sens. Warren and Markey, the following members joined in signing: Representatives Lori Trahan (D-Mass.), Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.), Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Summer Lee (D-Pa.), Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.), Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.), Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), Don Beyer (D-Va.), André Carson (D-Ind.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.), Greg Casar (D-Texas), and Jill Tokuda (D-Hawaii), along with Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), and Tim Kaine (D-Va.).

    On March 25, 2025, Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk was arrested on her way to a Ramadan dinner event by masked, plainclothes officers. Surveillance video shows officers loading Ozturk into an SUV and departing in three unmarked vehicles. Bystanders observed that the incident “looked like a kidnapping.”

    For almost 24 hours, Ozturk’s location was unknown and her lawyer could not locate her. On the afternoon of March 26, more than twelve hours after a district court judge ordered the federal government not to remove Ozturk from Massachusetts without at least 48 hours’ notice, ICE’s locator system was updated to show that she was being held at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center.

    This arrest appears to be one of the latest examples in a string of ICE arrests of university students with valid green cards and visas, seemingly on the basis of their political views. Ozturk was one of four authors of a 2024 op-ed in the Tufts student paper, which called for the university to “engage with and actualize” Israel- and Palestine-related resolutions passed by the university’s Student Senate.

    Secretary of State Marco Rubio has stated that the Administration will deny visas to those who “participate in that sort of activity,” referring to protest movements on campuses. Following Ozturk’s arrest, Tufts was informed that her “visa ha[d] been terminated” — similar to other recent cases in which ICE agents have declared, without a judicial or administrative hearing, that they were “terminating” or “revoking” students’ green cards and visas.

    The lawmakers asked the Departments of Homeland Security and State, along with ICE, to provide explanations for Ozturk’s arrest and visa revocation; her transportation to Louisiana despite a court order; officials’ use of unmarked vehicles, face coverings, and plain clothing; the federal government’s policies for terminating a student’s visa without a request from a university; and more.

    This week, Congresswoman Pressley issued a statement condemning reports that ICE arrested and detained Rumeysa Ozturk, an international student with legal status in a graduate program at Tufts University. Earlier in the week, Rep. Pressley issued a statement following reports of ICE activity in Boston and other municipalities in Massachusetts.

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI: Form 8.3 – AXA INVESTMENT MANAGERS: Advanced Medical Solutions Group plc

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    FORM 8.3

    PUBLIC OPENING POSITION DISCLOSURE/DEALING DISCLOSURE BY
    A PERSON WITH INTERESTS IN RELEVANT SECURITIES REPRESENTING 1% OR MORE
    Rule 8.3 of the Takeover Code (the “Code”)

    1.        KEY INFORMATION

    (a)   Full name of discloser: AXA Investment Managers S.A.
    (b)   Owner or controller of interests and short positions disclosed, if different from 1(a):
            The naming of nominee or vehicle companies is insufficient. For a trust, the trustee(s), settlor and beneficiaries must be named.    		  
    (c)   Name of offeror/offeree in relation to whose relevant securities this form relates:
            Use a separate form for each offeror/offeree    		 Advanced Medical Solutions Group plc
    (d)   If an exempt fund manager connected with an offeror/offeree, state this and specify identity of offeror/offeree:  
    (e)   Date position held/dealing undertaken:
            For an opening position disclosure, state the latest practicable date prior to the disclosure    		 27 March 2025
    (f)   In addition to the company in 1(c) above, is the discloser making disclosures in respect of any other party to the offer?
            If it is a cash offer or possible cash offer, state “N/A”    		 N/A

    2.        POSITIONS OF THE PERSON MAKING THE DISCLOSURE

    If there are positions or rights to subscribe to disclose in more than one class of relevant securities of the offeror or offeree named in 1(c), copy table 2(a) or (b) (as appropriate) for each additional class of relevant security.

    (a)      Interests and short positions in the relevant securities of the offeror or offeree to which the disclosure relates following the dealing (if any)

    Class of relevant security: 5p ordinary
      Interests Short positions
      Number % Number %
    (1)   Relevant securities owned and/or controlled: 5,594,026 2.57    
    (2)   Cash-settled derivatives:        
    (3)   Stock-settled derivatives (including options) and agreements to purchase/sell:        
    TOTAL:
             		 5,594,026 2.57    

    All interests and all short positions should be disclosed.

    Details of any open stock-settled derivative positions (including traded options), or agreements to purchase or sell relevant securities, should be given on a Supplemental Form 8 (Open Positions).

    (b)      Rights to subscribe for new securities (including directors’ and other employee options)

    Class of relevant security in relation to which subscription right exists:  
    Details, including nature of the rights concerned and relevant percentages:  

    3.        DEALINGS (IF ANY) BY THE PERSON MAKING THE DISCLOSURE

    Where there have been dealings in more than one class of relevant securities of the offeror or offeree named in 1(c), copy table 3(a), (b), (c) or (d) (as appropriate) for each additional class of relevant security dealt in.

    The currency of all prices and other monetary amounts should be stated.

    (a)        Purchases and sales

    Class of relevant security Purchase/sale Number of securities Price per unit
           

    (b)        Cash-settled derivative transactions

    Class of relevant security Product description
    e.g. CFD    		 Nature of dealing
    e.g. opening/closing a long/short position, increasing/reducing a long/short position    		 Number of reference securities Price per unit
             

    (c)        Stock-settled derivative transactions (including options)

    (i)        Writing, selling, purchasing or varying

    Class of relevant security Product description e.g. call option Writing, purchasing, selling, varying etc. Number of securities to which option relates Exercise price per unit Type
    e.g. American, European etc.    		 Expiry date Option money paid/ received per unit
                   

    (ii)        Exercise

    Class of relevant security Product description
    e.g. call option    		 Exercising/ exercised against Number of securities Exercise price per unit
             

    (d)        Other dealings (including subscribing for new securities)

    Class of relevant security Nature of dealing
    e.g. subscription, conversion    		 Details Price per unit (if applicable)
           

    4.        OTHER INFORMATION

    (a)        Indemnity and other dealing arrangements

    Details of any indemnity or option arrangement, or any agreement or understanding, formal or informal, relating to relevant securities which may be an inducement to deal or refrain from dealing entered into by the person making the disclosure and any party to the offer or any person acting in concert with a party to the offer:
    Irrevocable commitments and letters of intent should not be included. If there are no such agreements, arrangements or understandings, state “none”
    None

    (b)        Agreements, arrangements or understandings relating to options or derivatives

    Details of any agreement, arrangement or understanding, formal or informal, between the person making the disclosure and any other person relating to:
    (i)   the voting rights of any relevant securities under any option; or
    (ii)   the voting rights or future acquisition or disposal of any relevant securities to which any derivative is referenced:
    If there are no such agreements, arrangements or understandings, state “none”
    None

    (c)        Attachments

    Is a Supplemental Form 8 (Open Positions) attached? NO
    Date of disclosure: 28 March 2025
    Contact name: Sabrina AID
    Telephone number*: +33 1 44 45 58 79

    Public disclosures under Rule 8 of the Code must be made to a Regulatory Information Service.

    The Panel’s Market Surveillance Unit is available for consultation in relation to the Code’s disclosure requirements on +44 (0)20 7638 0129.

    *If the discloser is a natural person, a telephone number does not need to be included, provided contact information has been provided to the Panel’s Market Surveillance Unit.

    The Code can be viewed on the Panel’s website at www.thetakeoverpanel.org.uk.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Armed Raleigh Drug Trafficker Sentenced to 15 Years

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    RALEIGH, N.C. – A Raleigh man was sentenced Thursday to 15 years in prison for cocaine trafficking and firearms possession. On December 5, 2024, Linwood Davis pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more cocaine, possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more cocaine, and possession of a firearm in furtherance a drug trafficking crime.

    According to court documents and other information presented in court, in June of 2023, law enforcement identified Davis as a source of supply of cocaine in the Raleigh area. After conducting multiple controlled purchases involving Davis, law enforcement executed a search warrant at his residence on November 3, 2023.  Law enforcement recovered over 1,000 grams of cocaine, approximately $44,470 in U.S. currency, and two firearms, both with large capacity magazines, from Davis’s house.

    Davis has five previous felony drug convictions (2003, 2004, 2007 and 2013) and two previous felony convictions for eluding arrest with a motor vehicle (2003 and 2004).

    Daniel P. Bubar, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Terrence W. Boyle. The Raleigh Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives investigated the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Casey L. Peaden prosecuted the case.

    Related court documents and information can be found on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER by searching for Case No. 5:24-CR-263-BO-RN.

    ###

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Illegal alien indicted for smuggling 19 other illegal aliens

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    BROWNSVILLE, Texas – A 33-year-old Mexican national has been charged for smuggling 19 people and for illegally re-entering the United States following an order of removal, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.

    Orlando Daniel Hernandez-Cepeda is now in custody and is expected to appear for his arraignment before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ignacio Torteya III April 10 at 8:45 a.m.

    The criminal complaint originally filed in the case alleges that on March 10, authorities observed a white cargo van drive towards the Rio Grande River and come to a stop. At that time, they observed approximately 20 individuals entering the van, according to the allegations.   

    The charges allege that after the vehicle departed the location, law enforcement conducted a traffic stop. A search allegedly resulted in the discovery of 19 illegal aliens in the back with no legal status to enter or remain in the United States.

    The indictment, returned March 27, alleges authorities also identified Hernandez-Cepeda as a Mexican citizen with no legal status to enter or remain in the United States and had been previously removed.

    Hernandez-Cepeda is charged with conspiracy to transport illegal aliens and faces up to 10 years in federal prison, upon conviction. If convicted of any of the three counts of transporting illegal aliens, he could receive up to five years and another two years upon conviction of illegal reentry. All charges also carry a potential $250,000 maximum fine.

    Border Patrol conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Luis Salazar is prosecuting the case.

    An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence. A defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Ramah Man Faces Federal Charges for Roadside Shooting

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    ALBUQUERQUE – A Ramah man is facing charges in federal court for allegedly shooting at a vehicle, injuring one person.

    According to court documents, on March 18, 2025, a vehicle driven by John Doe swerved to avoid a collision with a blue Jeep driven by Leon Garcia, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation. After the near-miss, John Doe followed Garcia‘s vehicle to a residence on the Ramah Navajo Reservation. There, Garcia allegedly exited his Jeep armed with a rifle and fired multiple shots at John Doe’s car. As John Doe attempted to turn the vehicle around, Garcia allegedly shot at it multiple times. Garcia also fired again as the vehicle drove away.

    Garcia is charged with assault with a dangerous weapon and will remain in custody pending trial, which has not been set. If convicted of the current charges, Garcia faces up to 10 years in prison.

    Acting U.S. Attorney Holland S. Kastrin and Raul Bujanda, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Albuquerque Field Office, made the announcement today.

    The Gallup Resident Agency of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Albuquerque Field Office investigated this case with assistance from the Ramah-Navajo Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brittany DuChaussee is prosecuting the case.

    A criminal complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Traffic Stop in Southeast D.C. Leads to Indictment, Firearm Recovery, and Drug Seizure

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

              WASHINGTON – Ikea Gartrell, 35, of Washington D.C., has been indicted on federal gun charges in the latest case to be federally adopted as part of the “Make D.C. Safe Again” initiative, announced U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin Jr., Special Agent in Charge Anthony Spotswood of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

              Gartrell was indicted on one count of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, following her March 1st arrest in Southeast D.C.

              According to court documents, on March 1, 2025, at approximately 4:49 p.m., Metropolitan Police Department personnel conducted a traffic stop in the 900 block of Barnaby Street SE, Washington, D.C. Officers then made contact with the driver, later identified as Ikea Gartrell, who was allegedly found to be operating without a valid license.

              During the stop, it is alleged that an open container of alcohol was observed, prompting officers to ask all occupants to exit the vehicle. A subsequent investigation led to the discovery of a loaded, unregistered firearm on Gartrell’s person. Gartrell was placed under arrest for Carrying a Pistol Without a License (CPWL) and no permit.

              Records indicated Gartrell had a prior felony conviction.

              The investigation is ongoing.

              The ATF and MPD are investigating this case. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Helfand.

              This case is part of Make DC Safe Again, a public safety initiative led by U.S. Attorney Martin that is surging resources to reduce violent crime in the District. This initiative was created to address gun violence in the District, prioritize federal firearms violations, pursue tougher penalties for offenders, and seek detention for federal firearms violators.

              An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Recidivist Receives 7 Years in Prison for Firearms Possession and Drug Trafficking

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    Raleigh, N.C. – A Goldsboro man was sentenced Thursday to 5 years in prison for possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. Arraqib Hardy, 33, pled guilty to the charge on December 16, 2024.   Hardy received an additional 2 years in federal prison for committing this offense while on federal supervised release for the offenses of possessing a stolen firearm (aiding and abetting) and discharging a firearm in a school zone (aiding and abetting). Hardy received a total sentence of 7 years.

    According to court documents and other information presented in court, Goldsboro Police officers were conducting surveillance on a convenience store parking lot due to possible drug activity on June 15, 2023.  Officers observed Hardy engage in what appeared to be hand-to-hand drug transactions and arrested him.  Police located a bag with a loaded 9mm handgun, marijuana, fentanyl, and $365 on Hardy.  

    According to law enforcement, Hardy was a member of the United Blood Nation gang.  Hardy had prior convictions in 2013 for discharging a weapon into an occupied or moving vehicle. 

    This investigation was part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launders, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

    Daniel P. Bubar, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge James C. Dever III. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the Goldsboro Police Department investigated the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Severo prosecuted the case.

    A copy of this press release is located on our website. Related court documents and information can be found on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER by searching for Case No. 7:23-CR-00120.

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    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Jacksonville Felon Sentenced To Federal Prison For Unlawful Possession Of A Firearm

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    Jacksonville, Florida – U.S. District Judge Brian J. Davis has sentenced Jonathan Scott Thompson (45, Jacksonville) to 33 months in federal prison for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. The court also ordered Thompson to forfeit his interest in the firearm that he possessed. Thompson pleaded guilty on December 20, 2024.

    According to court documents, on March 15, 2024, officers from the Jacksonville Beach Police Department responded to a domestic disturbance after a witness called 911 to report that Thompson was dragging a woman and throwing her to the ground. The victim and Thompson then argued inside a vehicle at the scene, and at some point, Thompson threw her down into the car and located a Glock semi-automatic pistol. The victim saw the firearm in his hands. Officers arrived at the scene and recovered the loaded firearm inside the vehicle. At the time, Thompson had multiple prior felony convictions, including armed burglary and burglary of a conveyance. As a convicted felon, he is prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition under federal law.

    This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Jacksonville Beach Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Rachel Lasry.

    This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

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