Senior Trump administration officials have held three meetings at the White House this week to discuss options for possible military operations in Venezuela, amid a growing U.S. military presence in the Caribbean. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/11/15/world/trump-officials-venezuela-meeting/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #worldnews #us #donaldtrump #venezuela #missiles #drugs #gangs
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Thursday a military operation to remove "narco-terrorists," amid growing concerns that a U.S. naval build-up in Latin American waters could presage a wider conflict. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/11/14/world/us-latin-america-new-military-plan/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #worldnews #us #petehegseth #drugs #gangs #venezuela
A declared military crackdown has left some destruction at a major scam compound in Myanmar, satellite images show, but most buildings are still standing in pictures taken up to Sunday. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/11/11/asia-pacific/crime-legal/myanmar-scam-centers-standing/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #asiapacific #crimelegal #myanmar #organizedcrime #gangs #fraud
U.S. Senate Republicans have blocked a resolution that would have prevented U.S. President Donald Trump from attacking Venezuela without congressional authorization. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/11/07/world/politics/us-senate-trump-venezuela/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #worldnews #politics #us #venzuela #donaldtrump #drugs #gangs
Tokyo police have arrested the head of a fraud group believed to be linked to hundreds of fraud cases in Japan, along with six related people. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/11/06/japan/crime-legal/tokyo-police-fraud-group/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #crimelegal #fraud #gangs #japanesepolice
Recent raids on one of Myanmar's most notorious internet scam hubs sparked a recruitment rush as fleeing workers scrambled to enlist at nearby fraud factories, experts and insiders said. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/11/05/asia-pacific/crime-legal/myanmar-scam-hub-recruitment/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #asiapacific #crimelegal #thailand #myanmar #organizedcrime #fraud #gangs
U.S. President Donald Trump's administration had a Republicans-only briefing about strikes on alleged drug vessels near Venezuela, which a Democratic senator called a dangerous trend of partisanship in national security. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/10/31/world/politics/democrats-us-briefing/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #worldnews #politics #democrats #republicans #us #venezuela #drugs #gangs
While the U.S. military blows up boats it claims are transporting drugs from Venezuela, tankers shipping Venezuelan oil in violation of a U.S. embargo continue to navigate the very same Caribbean waters undisturbed. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/10/31/world/venezuela-us-oil-violations/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #worldnews #venezuela #oil #us #drugs #gangs #donaldtrump
U.S. President Donald Trump has been meddling in Latin America in ways harkening back to an earlier era in U.S. history. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/10/31/world/trump-latin-america-interventionist/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #worldnews #us #donaldtrump #venezuela #gangs #drugs
Families lined up at a morgue in Rio de Janeiro to identify relatives killed in Brazil's deadliest ever police raids, and funerals began to take place for four police officers who died taking part in the operation. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/10/31/world/brazil-morgue-police-deaths/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #worldnews #brazil #drugs #gangs #riodejaneiro
Bodies piled up in poor neighborhoods of Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday as police launched their biggest ever raids on the city's drug traffickers. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/10/29/world/crime-legal/rio-neighborhood-drug-raids/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #worldnews #crimelegal #brazil #drugs #gangs
Rather than hurting Latin America's drug trade, U.S. strikes on vessels Washington claims are ferrying drugs to American soil might be benefiting drug lords by causing a supply crunch. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/10/24/world/crime-legal/us-drug-strikes-explainer/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #worldnews #crimelegal #us #donaldtrump #venezuela #colombia #drugs #gangs #trade
U.S. President Donald Trump said "the land is going to be next” in his campaign to stop the flow of drugs into the country from Venezuela. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/10/24/world/trump-venezuela-land-strikes/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #worldnews #us #venezuela #drugs #gangs #donaldtrump #nicolasmaduro
For three decades, Mako Nishimura was one of Japan's few female yakuza. These days, she helps other retired gangsters reintegrate into society. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/10/21/japan/society/yakuza-woman-redemption/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #society #yakuza #gangs #japanesepolice #gifu #drugs
Sixty-four South Koreans who had been detained in Cambodia for alleged involvement in cyberscam operations returned home Saturday and were under arrest, a police official said. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/10/18/asia-pacific/crime-legal/south-korea-cambodia-scam-return/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #asiapacific #crimelegal #southkorea #cambodia #fraud #gangs
As tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela escalate, a U.S. military strike on a suspected drug vessel in the Caribbean has left survivors, a U.S. official has said. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/10/17/world/us-drug-vessel-strike-survivors/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #worldnews #us #venezuela #drugs #gangs
Eighty South Koreans who were possible victims of fake jobs or scam centers were unaccounted for in Cambodia, South Korea's foreign ministry said, after the torture death of a student there shocked the country. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/10/14/asia-pacific/crime-legal/south-korea-cambodia-scam-center/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #asiapacific #crimelegal #southkorea #cambodia #fraud #gangs
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has declared a state of "armed conflict” with Latin American drug cartels, further justifying recent strikes against alleged drug-runners from Venezuela. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/10/03/world/us-venezuela-drug-cartel-conflict/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #worldnews #us #donaldtrump #venezuela #drugs #gangs
Amid the rapid rise in Okinawa's youths abusing what's known as "laughing gas vape", the health ministry formally designated a substance found inside the drug called etomidate as a prohibited substance. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/09/22/japan/okinawa-youth-drug-abuse/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #okinawa #drugs #japanesepolice #gangs #organizedcrime
The U.S. under President Donald Trump is crafting a confrontational approach toward Latin America that signals a willingness to use military force against drug cartels. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/08/09/world/politics/trump-military-drug-cartels/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #worldnews #politics #latinamerica #us #donaldtrump #drugs #gangs #usmilitary