Criminology and Psychology

Private jet that crash-landed almost one year ago in eastern Mexico carrying 3.3 tons of cocaine had previously been used for CIA "rendition" flights, a newspaper report said here Thursday, citing documents from the United States and the European Parliament. The plane was carrying Colombian drugs for the fugitive leader of Mexico's Sinaloa cartel, Joaquin "Chapo" Guzman, when it crash-landed in the Yucatan peninsula on September 24, El Universal reported.The daily said it had obtained documents from the United States and the European Parliament which "show that that plane flew several times to Guantanamo, Cuba, presumably to transfer terrorism suspects."It said the European Parliament was investigating the private Grumman Gulfstream II, registered by the European Organization for the Safety of Air Navigation, for suspected use in CIA "rendition" flights in which prisoners are covertly transferred to a third country or US-run detention center...

Florida press on Tuesday reported that 43-year-old Bahamian Rickey Thompson is possibly facing a life sentence in connection with the deaths of three illegal immigrants who drowned in what Florida authorities say was a human smuggling attempt gone wrong.In addition to three counts of second-degree murder for the deaths of Nigel Warren, of Jamaica, and Haitian citizens Roselyne Lubin and Alnert Charles, Thompson faces 27 other criminal counts, including alien smuggling resulting in death and importing drugs into the United States. The jury in that case was reportedly asked to consider, among supposed stacks of photographs and bags of narcotics, two exhibits attorneys said should settle the case: a picture of a dead man and a secretly recorded telephone conversation. The picture allegedly shows the body Warren, one of three illegal immigrants whose 2006 drowning death could mean a life sentence for Thompson, a fisherman and allegedly "part-time smuggler." However, Thompson’s de...

The Coast Guard in Florida has recovered 3,200 pounds of cocaine after it was dumped by fleeing drug smuggling suspects. A Coast Guard aircraft conducting patrols in the western Caribbean sighted a suspicious "go-fast vessel" on March 18, according to a written statement from the Coast Guard. "When the smugglers knew they had been detected, the go-fast vessel immediately departed the scene at a high rate of speed," the statement said. The cutter Bear dispatched an MH-65C Dolphin helicopter from Jacksonville, Florida, in an effort to stop the suspects, and also launched a small boat with a law enforcement team on board, authorities said. Meanwhile, the suspected smugglers began dumping bales of cocaine overboard as they fled, the Coast Guard said. Although the helicopter fired shots in an effort to stop the vessel, it was able to elude capture.