Category Archives: Gangs and Crimes

Obama Library Scandal vs. the Trump Library Site Approval

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Primer: A 2.6 acre parking lot designated by Governor DeSantis, formerly now part of Miami Dade College has to approved votes to proceed to build the Trump library adjacent to the Freedom Tower.

Meanwhile, there is this money scandal surrounding the Obama Library in Chicago….

NYP in part:Donations to the Obama Foundation, set up by the former president to build a 19-acre campus including a museum, athletic facility and fruit and vegetable gardens in Chicago, totaling $2 million were instead sent on to Tides Foundation in 2022 and 2023, according to its latest available federal tax filings.

The cash was earmarked to “support local organizations that are working to reduce violence in communities,” according to the nonprofit’s filings.

Tides Foundation — also funded by Democratic mega-donor George Soros — is a network that operates as a fiscal sponsor for groups that have not registered with the IRS as charities.

The third-party grant-making group is under scrutiny by the House Ways and Means Committee for handling donations for anti-Israel groups such as the Adalah Justice Project, Samidoun and the People’s Forum. Such groups helped set up pro-Palestinian demonstrations and college encampments after the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel that left 1,200 Israelis dead.

After this story was published Friday, a spokeswoman for the Obama Foundation told The Post that the $2 million was granted to more than 50 organizations across the country to help reduce “surging summer violence” and provide “safe spaces”  for young people. More here.

FNC:

When the Obama Foundation snagged a sweetheart deal to build its beleaguered Obama Presidential Center in a Chicago public park, it pledged to create a $470 million reserve fund to spare taxpayers should the project ever go belly up.

But new tax filings show the foundation has only deposited $1 million into the fund and has not added to it in years, with critics saying the empty promise could potentially leave Chicagoans on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars.

Under its agreement with the city, the foundation was required to create the fund, known as an endowment, to take control of a sprawling 19.3-acre section of Jackson Park — often described as Chicago’s Central Park equivalent — where the complex is now slowly rising.

The foundation ultimately secured the public land for just $10 in 2018 under a 99-year deal.

Barack Obama and the Obama Presidential Center construction site in Chicago.

Former President Barack Obama is pictured next to construction of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, a project facing delays, soaring costs and mounting scrutiny over its finances. (Scott Olson/Getty Images; Reuters/Vincent Alban)

OBAMA LIBRARY, BEGUN WITH LOFTY DEI GOALS, NOW PLAGUED BY $40M RACIALLY CHARGED SUIT, BALLOONING COSTS

But when former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama turned the sod at the site in September 2021, just $1 million — or 0.21% of the pledged funds — had been deposited into the endowment, and that figure has remained unchanged ever since.

With construction progressing at a snail’s pace and costs ballooning from an original estimate of $330 million to at least $850 million, the lack of progress on the promised endowment has fueled fears the Obama Presidential Center could leave taxpayers holding the can if finances spiral into the red.

It comes as the Obama Foundation’s latest tax return shows its finances under strain with revenue swinging wildly year to year, fundraising shortfalls and unfulfilled donor pledges.

On news that the endowment has largely remained unfunded, Illinois GOP Chair Kathy Salvi slammed the project as an “abomination” while blasting Democrats for potentially exposing taxpayers with the deal.

“It should come as no surprise that the Obama Center is potentially leaving Illinois taxpayers high and dry — it’s an Illinois Democrat tradition,” Salvi told Fox News Digital in a statement. “Democrats in this state, when not going to prison for corruption, treat taxpayers like a personal piggy bank giving sweetheart deals to their political benefactors.”

The Obama Presidential Center in July 2025.

The Obama Presidential Center under construction in July. (Fox News Digital)

Scholar sounds alarm

Richard Epstein, a University of Chicago law professor emeritus and a New York University law professor, has raised concerns about the endowment for years and advised the local nonprofit Protect Our Parks with legal challenges to try to stop the Obama Center’s construction.

Epstein argues the foundation’s failure to fund its endowment confirms his long-held view that the city never should have signed over the large section of Jackson Park.

“They put a million dollars into a $400 million endowment, so it’s endowed. That gets you in jail as a securities matter,” Epstein told Fox News Digital. “An endowment means that you have the money in hand. But they have nothing. They just have the same $1 million that they put in in 2021 as far as I can tell. So, I regard this as something of a public calamity.”

An endowment is a pot of money meant to earn enough interest each year to cover operating costs without touching the principle in order to avoid the taxpayer stepping in.

“Without an endowment, they’ll have to scramble every year to cover $30 million in operating costs,” Epstein said. “The whole point of an endowment is to avoid that volatility. They just haven’t endowed it. Of that I’m 100% sure.”

Epstein argues that if the foundation or center falters, the public could be saddled with traffic rerouting costs, environmental impacts or even the bill for an incomplete building.

“Nobody knows exactly who is responsible for what if the project is abandoned or incomplete,” Epstein said. “There is a risk that the public will then have to bear that loss because the foundation won’t have the money.”

Epstein said the city has effectively looked the other way, declaring the foundation “compliant” on the endowment despite only $1 million ever being deposited. It’s proof, he argues, that officials never intended to enforce the requirement.

The Obama Foundation told Fox News Digital that it will be making “significant investments in the endowment in the coming years” as it has been prioritizing fundraising for the center and leadership programs.

“The Obama Presidential Center is fully funded, and it will open in the spring of 2026,” a spokesperson for the foundation said.

CharityWatch, a nonprofit watchdog, told Fox News Digital that the foundation technically complied with its agreement by creating an endowment because the deal never set a dollar figure. The group also said that the foundation remains “well-funded” overall while also acknowledging the pledge risks, volatility and lack of a real endowment.

Aerial view of Obama Presidential Center construction in Jackson Park, Chicago.

An aerial view shows construction of the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park, Chicago, where costs have soared and questions remain about the project’s funding. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

While the foundation’s agreement with the city required it to create an endowment, it did not specify an amount. The $470 million figure was being reported on as the city council deliberated on the deal, and the foundation committed to that sum in its 2020 annual report.

In 2021 documents, the foundation said that first-year operating costs would be as much as $40 million. By that math, the center would actually need an endowment of between $800 million to $1 billion to fund operations without tapping the principle.

It’s also unclear how much revenue the foundation expects to generate each year.

Epstein said the lack of funds has long been the project’s Achilles heel. Without the endowment it promised, the project’s financial underpinning remains shaky, he said.

CHICAGO RESIDENTS CALL OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL CENTER A ‘MONSTROSITY,’ FEAR THEY’LL BE DISPLACED: REPORT

Despite financial pressures, the Obama Foundation has already spent about $600 million constructing the center, which aims to honor former President Barack Obama’s political career and be a civic hub. It consists of a 225-foot-tall museum, a digital library, conference facilities, a gymnasium and a regulation-sized NBA court. It will also house the Obama Foundation.

The new tax filings show the foundation ended 2024 with $116.5 million in cash, down nearly $80 million from the year before, while still owing about $234 million in construction costs. Of the funding gap, $216 million comes from firm pledges — promises of future donations — while another $201 million is tied up in conditional pledges that may never materialize if benchmarks aren’t met.

Epstein said the foundation’s financial assurances ring hollow because a large chunk of the money it counts on is tied up in pledges and credit rather than cash in hand, leaving the center vulnerable to donor fatigue and year-to-year uncertainty.

WATCH: The Brian Kilmeade Show: Obama Presidential Center rocked by $40M racial bias lawsuit

‘The Brian Kilmeade Show’: Obama Presidential Center rocked by $40M racial bias lawsuitVideo

Public trust doctrine

In the Protect Our Parks lawsuit, Epstein argued that handing Jackson Park to the Obama Foundation violated the public trust doctrine, which bars cities from giving away public land without a clear public benefit. The plaintiffs said the city gave away land worth nearly $200 million without securing enforceable returns for taxpayers.

However, U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey, an Obama appointee, dismissed the case in 2019, ruling that the Obama Center qualified as a public use and that courts should defer to the city’s determination. The Seventh Circuit upheld the dismissal in 2020 and various other challenges by the plaintiffs have also failed on the public trust doctrine argument.

Epstein now points to the foundation’s failure to fund its promised endowment as proof the project never truly met the public benefit test and that a core part of his argument was valid.

As well as not being able to fill the endowment, the foundation is also financing a $250 million revolving credit line that it has yet to draw down but is costing the foundation hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual fees, according to the tax filings.

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker (L) joins former U.S. President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama in a ceremonial groundbreaking

Illinois Gov.  JB Pritzker, left, joins former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama in a ceremonial groundbreaking at the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park Sept. 28, 2021, in Chicago. At the time, around $1 million was in the endowment, and it has remained relatively the same since.  (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Easing oversight

Epstein argues the endowment shortfall is just one example of how the project has skirted safeguards.

Its 99-year deal with the city was rebranded as a “use agreement,” instead of a land lease, a legal pivot that he said let the city sidestep public trust oversight and other regulatory checks.

The move grew out of an earlier fight over filmmaker George Lucas’s bid to build a Museum of Narrative Art on the lakefront. In 2016, a federal judge ruled the city’s plan to hand Lucas a 99-year lease of public parkland violated the public trust doctrine, sending Lucas packing for Los Angeles.

When the Obama Foundation arrived the following year, city officials adopted the new user agreement label. The terms were effectively the same — exclusive control for nearly a century in exchange for $10 — but by calling it a “use agreement,” the city claimed it no longer triggered the same scrutiny.

Epstein called it a textbook case of bending the rules.

“You can’t get out of a government regulatory relationship by changing the name on something,” he said.

Epstein said the foundation’s finances have never been fully scrutinized, and his team was never allowed to examine the center’s internal records — from construction contracts to day-to-day statements — leaving the true state of its fundraising and shrouded in secrecy.

“They’ve gotten a free pass on both the environmental side and the financial side,” Epstein said. “Unless somebody cracks open the books, nobody really knows if they can actually fund this project. And if they can’t, it’s the public that will be left holding the bag.”

The offices of Mayor Brandon Johnson, Gov. J.B. Pritzker, the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Party of Illinois did not respond to requests for comment.

United States on the Cartel Cleanup

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Only recently did Mexico agree to extradite 26 cartel leaders to the United States which actually is the second time in just a few months. We often wonder why it takes so long to get Mexico to cooperate much less build cases in a court of law to ensure a win. Well, for some background, Associated Press has published the following, which is a good explanation…so read on.

It begins with a car accident two years ago in Tennessee….

In part from the AP:  The cases, as outlined in court documents, provide a glimpse into how drugs produced by violent cartels in large labs in Mexico flow across the U.S. border and reach American streets. They also highlight the violent fallout that drug trafficking leaves in its path from the mountains of Mexico to small U.S. towns.

Inside Jalisco Mexican 'young team' cartel primed for new wave of evil ... Credit DailyRecord 

 

“These cases in particular serve as a powerful reminder of the insidious impacts that global cartels can have on our local American communities,” Matthew Galeotti, acting assistant attorney general in charge of the Justice Department’s criminal division said in an interview with The Associated Press. “The chain started with a violent cartel in Mexico and it ended with law enforcement being shot at in a small town.”

United Cartels is an umbrella organization made up of smaller cartels that have worked for different groups over time. It holds a fierce grip over the western state of Michoacan, Mexico.

United Cartels is not as widely known as Jalisco New Generation, but given its role as a prolific methamphetamine producer, it has become a top tier target for U.S. law enforcement. It was one of eight groups recently named foreign terrorist organizations by the Trump administration.

A car crash and an abandoned protective case

The case goes back to 2019, when two dealers got into a car accident in a small town outside Knoxville, Tennessee, according to a search warrant affidavit filed in court. While fleeing the scene of the crash, they threw a hardened protective case filled with meth behind a building before being caught by police, according to court documents.

Authorities began investigating, using wiretaps, search warrants and surveillance to identify a man believed to be leading a major drug ring in the Atlanta area: Eladio Mendoza.

The investigation into Mendoza’s suspected drug operation led law enforcement in early 2020 to a hotel near Atlanta. During their surveillance, authorities spotted a man leaving with a large Doritos bag. Troopers tried to stop the man after he drove from Georgia into Tennessee but he fled and fired an AK-style rifle at officers, hitting one in the leg before another trooper shot him. Inside the bag, police found meth and heroin, and identified him as a low-level dealer for Mendoza’s drug ring, court records say.

Weeks later, authorities searched properties linked to Mendoza and seized phones. They discovered messages between Mendoza and a close associate of “El Abuelo,” the leader of United Cartels, that showed the drugs were coming from Mexico, according to the court records. On one of Mendoza’s properties, investigators found a tractor trailer that had crossed from Mexico days earlier. When they searched it, authorities seized 850 kilograms of meth hidden in the floor of the truck and discovered more drugs inside a bus and a home on the property, court papers say.

Mendoza fled the U.S. a short time later and returned to Mexico, where he was killed by cartels leaders angry that U.S. authorities had seized their cash and drugs, according to prosecutors.

Cartels are targeted with terrorist designations

The case represents the latest effort by the Republican administration to turn up the pressure on cartels through not only indictments of the groups’ leaders but sanctions. The Treasury Department is also bringing economic sanctions against the five defendants as well as the United Cartels as a group and another cartel, Los Viagras.

“We have to pursue these criminals up and down the chain to make sure that the end result doesn’t result in violence and narcotics distribution on our streets,” Galeotti said.

In addition to “El Abuelo,” those facing U.S. indictments are Alfonso Fernández Magallón, or Poncho, and Nicolás Sierra Santana or “El Gordo,” who authorities say lead smaller cartels under the United Cartels organization. The two other defendants are Edgar Orozco Cabadas or “El Kamoni,” who was communicating with Mendoza, and Luis Enrique Barragán Chavaz, or “Wicho,” who serves as Magallón second-in-command, according to authorities.

The Trump administration has seen major cooperation from Mexico in recent months in turning over cartel leaders wanted by U.S. authorities.

In February, Mexico sent the U.S. 29 drug cartel figures, including drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero, who was behind the killing of a U.S. DEA agent in 1985, to the U.S. And on Tuesday, the Mexican government transferred to American custody 26 additional cartel leaders and other high-ranking members, including a man charged in connection to the killing of a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy.

“We’re working with the Mexican authorities to pursue these individuals,” Galeotti said. “We continue to work proactively with them, and we expect that they’ll be helpful with us in securing the presence of these individuals in United States courtrooms.”

 

The Answer to the Thousands of Stolen Cars

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Yes, it is an epidemic that no one mentions anymore, much less the media…but below are some facts. The cars are in fact stolen and even transported and sold with the original owners personal items still in the vehicle….yeesh


Let’s begin here…

Len Green of Toronto woke up to a very surprising call early one morning. A year ago, thieves had snagged his Acura from his driveway. The caller, David Common of the CBC, was sitting in Green’s old car. He’d found the stolen car in Africa.

Common asked, “Does this look like your car?” Green confirmed, “That’s it!”

After Common filmed a walk around the vehicle parked in Ghana, Green said, “I can’t believe it. And my documents and everything are still in there (the glovebox). That’s crazy.”

It’s certainly crazy. But Green is far from alone.

The billion-dollar industry hiding in plain sight

Auto theft in Canada and the U.S. is one of organized crime’s favorite side hustles. And business is booming. Detective Mark Haywood of Peel Police put it plainly: “A large portion of them are actually leaving the country.” He added, “You’ll see about 80 percent of them going out through the ports.”

Deputy Chief Nick Milinovich explained why: “It’s much easier to sell 15 cars on the black market than it is to sell 15 keys of cocaine or 15 illegal guns.” He added, “Last year in 2022 there was over a billion dollars worth of vehicles that were stolen across Canada.”

You read that right. Over one billion in losses. In Toronto alone, thieves took 27,000 cars in a single year. That’s one stolen every 17 minutes. And where do those cars go?

According to Haywood: “We’re seeing a lot of them go to the UAE to Dubai. Nigeria is a hotbed for that. Ghana is another place they’re ending up in.”

***

TRENTON — Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and the Division of Criminal Justice announced charges today against 11 people for their roles in an auto theft ring that allegedly targeted high-end vehicles, burglarized homes to get the key fobs needed to steal the cars, stored the vehicles in parking garages in the Bronx, New York, and eventually shipped them to West African countries.

Promoters or organizers of the enterprise allegedly identified their targets – including Land Rovers, Mercedes Benzes, and BMWs – for theft crews that would allegedly then steal the vehicles. Investigators identified 43 stolen New Jersey vehicles valued at approximately $3.65 million in two parking garages on Jennings Street and Third Avenue in the Bronx.

“While car thefts in New Jersey have decreased significantly over the past year and have continued to decrease in 2025, we are committed to reducing them further. This case is about more than just the theft of vehicles, it is about stealing people’s sense of security and safety,” said Attorney General Platkin. “No one should be afraid that a thief will enter their home while they are sleeping to find their key fobs to steal their car, as is alleged in this case. So, we are working collaboratively to use every tool we have to return that sense of safety and security to our communities – including new laws, new technology, and information sharing between law enforcement agencies and between states to shut down car theft operations.”

“This is a case that shows what can be done when we work with our law enforcement partners at every level,” said DCJ Director Theresa L. Hilton. “This was a complex criminal enterprise that specifically targeted and stole high end vehicles to be shipped to overseas buyers. Working together, we were able to charge these defendants with serious crimes carrying lengthy prison sentencing exposure.”

“This case reflects how car theft today is a global enterprise,” Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark said. “Millions of dollars worth of stolen vehicles—including a $475,000 Rolls Royce—were taken to a Bronx parking garage that defendants used as a showroom. The vehicles wound up in shipping containers in Elizabeth  and then in West Africa. My Office, specifically, Assistant District Attorney Jessica Lupo, a Deputy Chief in the Trial Division, worked with NYPD Auto Crime and NJ Attorney General Matthew Platkin to identify and dismantle this group. We will not tolerate auto crime in the Bronx.”

According to the charging documents in this case, beginning in July 2024, law enforcement agencies identified a criminal enterprise that allegedly coordinated the theft of motor vehicles from Morris, Essex, Mercer, Middlesex, and Burlington counties. The stolen vehicles were allegedly “fenced” in the Bronx, for ultimate sale overseas. The members of the conspiracy also allegedly facilitated financial transactions as part of the criminal activity.

Theft crews would allegedly steal the requested vehicles, commonly from residences, and transport them to the Bronx, where middle-level and high-level fences would receive the cars, pay the theft crews, store the vehicles in the identified parking garages to avoid detection, and arrange for the disposition of the vehicles overseas, most often to West African countries.160831 v2 APM Terminals Port Elizabeth New Jersey aerial photo - gCaptain Port Elizabeth, NJ

Several allegedly stolen vehicles previously located in the garages on Jennings Street and Third Avenue, in the Bronx, were later recovered from shipping containers at ports in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and Staten Island, New York. The containers, and the stolen vehicles inside, were destined for West African countries.

Members of the alleged enterprise (see attached chart) include promoters/organizers, high and mid-level fences, and theft crews.

The promoters/organizers of this scheme, “Big G” and “E” remain unidentified.

Defendant Issa Yara was identified as a high-level fence. The investigation revealed that Yara was allegedly in repeated contact with members of the motor vehicle theft crews, exchanging text messages that identified target vehicles and the prices for them. For example, texts in January 2025 specifically referenced “cady,” “x7,” x3,” “X5,” and “Benz,” all of which refer to various types of high-end vehicles, including Cadillac, BMW, and Mercedes Benz. Investigators recovered additional texts requesting information about models and years of vehicles, buying and selling vehicles, coordinating payment, and locations of targeted vehicles.

Defendants Mamadou Camara, Moussa Doumbia, Arona Amadou, Mouslim Ouedraogo, and Moubarak Djibril were identified as middle-level fences. Camara was allegedly in repeated contact with members of the motor vehicle theft crews. Investigators learned Camara allegedly handled the receipt and purchase of stolen vehicles from theft crews, and that the crews dealt with Camara rather than “Big G” directly, who would also be present nearby. For example, the investigation revealed that, following the theft of a 2023 BMW X7 by codefendant Jahquil Louis and his crew, there were multiple calls between Louis and Camara from the time of the theft through the vehicle arriving at the Jennings Street Garage. Camara was captured on video surveillance at the Jennings Street garage operating multiple vehicles stolen from New Jersey.

Defendants Louis, Jomar Ocasio, Daniel Deleon, Quadir Williams, and an unnamed juvenile were identified as members of motor vehicle theft crews. On January 5, 2025, a 2024 BMW X5, valued at approximately $89,000, was stolen from Pompton Plains, Morris County. The homeowner reported a burglary after hearing people in his home, finding his back window broken, and the key fob and vehicle missing. Surveillance captured three suspects near the rear door. Phone records placed Deleon near the scene at the time of the theft.

In another example, on December 30, 2024, a 2024 BMW X7, valued at approx. $52,150, and a 2021 Audi SQ8, valued at approx. $52,360, were stolen from East Windsor, Mercer County. Surveillance captured three suspects entering the occupied home, where they stole a Gucci purse, Gucci wallet, Valentino wallet, $400 in cash, a driver’s license, a N.J. Firearms ID card, and the vehicles. Louis’ phone placed him near the area of the burglary and near the Jennings Street garage. The stolen X7 was later recovered on February 25, 2025, from a container destined for Ghana, Africa, from a port in Elizabeth.

Theft crews were paid for the stolen vehicles with cash from money wired from West Africa to the mid-level and high-level fences. The total value of the stolen vehicles linked to specific residential burglaries by the theft crews operating as part of this enterprise was approximately $542,295.

All defendants are charged with first-degree racketeering.

How Badly is the Taxpayer Being Fleeced?

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We have some indications as noted by what DOGE has uncovered…but it hardly all of it. The House is working diligently on the Trump Big Beautiful Bill because much of what has come from DOGE as well as Cabinet secretaries, there will need to be legislative action to stop the stupid as in spending in the future….yet…check out what my long time friends at Open the Books has uncovered….

In part:

BY THE NUMBERS

During fiscal year 2024, federal agencies reported $161.5 billion in improper payments – money sent to the wrong entity, for the wrong amount or wrong reason – according to data released by the Office of Management and Budget in November.

That means President Biden left office having presided over $925.7 billion in waste, fraud, abuse and duplicative payments – and that’s just what agencies were able to report.

Adjusted for inflation, the figure grows to $986.2 billion – almost a trillion dollars lost through improper payments!

That’s the worst for any president since reporting began in 2004, even when adjusting for inflation.

NOTE: Perhaps unsurprisingly, the single-year record came during the fog of Covid, as enormous amounts of cash were shoveled out quickly by Congress. Fiscal year 2021 say $281.4 billion in improper payments, which we now know includes Covid-related aid that was subject to massive fraud.

BY AGENCY

As Open the Books first reported in RealClearInvestigations, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services wasted $87 billion in improper payments, more than any other government entity. Medicare reimbursements to health providers had a 7.7% mistake rate this year, the worst since percentages were first reported in 2019.

Another $4 billion was sent to recipients who had issues regarding their citizenship, including $824 million in unemployment insurance from the Department of Labor.

The government also sent $346 million to dead people, mostly because the Office of Personnel Management continued to send benefits to retirees who are no longer alive. That’s the highest amount since at least 2021.

The Treasury Department is working to rectify the problem of payments sent to dead people, having reported it recouped $31 million in such payments in five months. It did so simply by gaining access to the Social Security Administration’s federal death database. It’s amazing what can happen when the left hand simply knows what the right hand is doing! That said, Open the Books has reported $3.6 billion in Covid stimulus checks went to dead people. As our CEO, John Hart, told FOX News, “There are miles to go before we break even.”

Other Covid-era programs continued to have some of the worst improper payment rates. Roughly 25%, or $2 billion, of loans forgiven under the Paycheck Protection Program this year were paid improperly.

The data was released on Wednesday afternoon, Nov. 27, the day before Thanksgiving, leaving little time for negative coverage before families began breaking bread.

For comparison, Biden leaves office with an overall mistake rate of 5.42%, slightly higher than President Trump’s 4.94% in his first term. Still, Trump presided over $846.8 billion in improper payments, adjusted for inflation as of last October.

Now, he has an opportunity to make good on the war on waste.

SEC's Final Clawback Rules: What to Know | WorldatWork

So, as long as President Trump is signing Executive Orders, he needs to sign yet another that stands up a task force that pursues investigations and ‘clawback’ taxpayer money as much and as fast as can happen.

Homan and Noem in NY for Illegal Migrant Operations

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The operations in New York included criminal and civil law enforcement actions. A ruthless leader of Tran de Aragua, Anderson Zambrano-Pacheco was arrested who is/was wanted for kidnapping a woman from Aurora, Colorado also with the help of the DEA in an apartment building in the Bronx.

It is important to know however just what law enforcement is up against in New York as noted below as an example:

 

***

ABC News:

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem joined an immigration enforcement operation in New York City on Tuesday.

Noem posted a brief video of an arrest to her social media account.

The secretary is witnessing both criminal and civil enforcement operations, according to sources familiar with the actions in New York.

The criminal case involves a member of a Venezuelan gang that took over an apartment complex in Aurora, Colorado, the sources said. One alleged gang member was arrested in the Bronx.

The New York division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said it was working with partners at the Justice Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to assist the Department of Homeland Security with enforcement efforts.

***.Violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua recruiting NYC migrants for ... TdA recruiting migrants

There have been recent arrests in New York of a Venezuelan fugitive and TdA gang member. ICE published this example from May of last year in New York:

NEW YORK — On May 10, Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) New York City arrested an unlawfully present Venezuelan citizen and member of the Tren de Aragua transnational criminal organization. Johan Jose Cardenas Silva is wanted by Peruvian authorities for conspiracy, assault and aggravated theft. Cardenas was also one of eight noncitizens arrested by the New York City Police Department March 27 and charged with criminal possession of a weapon-second degree: loaded firearm; criminal possession weapon-second degree: loaded firearm on school grounds; criminal possession-controlled substance-5th: intent to sell; and act in manner injure child less than 17.

ERO New York City officers assigned to its Long Island office arrested Cardenas upon his release from Nassau County Correctional Center pursuant to an administrative warrant of removal. He is detained in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.

“This international fugitive mistakenly thought he could waltz into the United States to not only evade justice in other countries, but to continue his criminality with impunity,” said ERO New York City Field Office Director Kenneth Genalo. “His history of lawless behavior and membership in a violent international criminal organization clearly demonstrate that he is a serious threat to the public safety.”

U.S. Border Patrol officials encountered Cardenas in Del Rio, Texas, Oct. 4, 2022, and determined he unlawfully entered the United States and issued him a notice and order of expedited removal.

On Jan. 19, 2023, ERO San Antonio served Cardenas a notice to appear with a list of free legal services and filed it with the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR). On March 30, 2023, an immigration judge ordered Cardenas removed from the United States.

On Oct. 5, 2023, Cardenas was released from Stewart County Detention Center on an order of supervision to report to New York City; however, he never reported as directed.

On March 27, NYPD arrested him for the crimes of criminal possession of a weapon-second degree: loaded firearm; criminal possession weapon-second degree: loaded firearm on school grounds; criminal possession-controlled substance-5th: intent to sell; and act in manner injure child less than 17. On this same date, the Bronx Criminal Court arraigned and released Cardenas on his own recognizance before an immigration detainer could be lodged. Due to the New York state’s Protect Our Courts Act, ERO New York City was precluded from arresting Cardenas upon his release.

On April 1, the Nassau County Police Department arrested and charged Cardenas with the crimes of grand larceny in the fourth degree: value property greater than $1,000 and petit larceny. On that same day, ERO New York City lodged an immigration detainer with the Nassau County Jail against Cardenas’ release.

On April 9, ERO New York City received notification that Cardenas was an international fugitive wanted by Peruvian authorities on an arrest warrant issued in October 2018.

On April 30, the First District Court of Nassau County convicted him of petit larceny and sentenced him to 60 days of imprisonment. More here.