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Columbus Air Force
The Columbus Air Force was the nickname for a group of pilots involved in smuggling marijuana to the U.S. in the 1960s and early 1970s. The group was based out of Columbus, New Mexico, a village next to the Mexican border. The group were reportedly the first pilots to transport drugs across the border by small aircraft. They were headed by Martin Willard Houltin, who served as a World War II B-29 bomber pilot in the United States Army Air Corps. The other members of the Columbus Air Force were Robert Burke, Tim Morrison, Michael Francis, Kenneth Croucher, and Curly Phillips. Investigation and arrest A joint state/federal task force, named Operation Sky Night, and headed by the Drug Enforcement Administration was responsible for capturing the members of the Columbus Air Force in October 1973. They were represented in court by criminal defense attorney Lee Chagra, the brother of Jamiel Chagra, who was another major drug trafficker. Because of some legal problems with the wire-tap ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Columbus, New Mexico
Columbus is a village in Luna County, New Mexico, United States, about north of the Mexico–United States border, Mexican border. It is considered a place of historical interest, as the scene of Battle of Columbus (1916), a 1916 attack by Mexico, Mexican revolutionary leader Pancho Villa, Francisco "Pancho" Villa that caused America to send 10,000 troops there in the Mexican Expedition (originally referred to as the "punitive Mexican Expedition"). Columbus's population was 1,664 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. History Early history (1891–1910s) Columbus was established in 1891 just across the Mexican border from Palomas, Chihuahua, and named after 15th-century explorer Christopher Columbus. In 1902, the village was moved north when the El Paso and Southwestern Railroad built its Columbus station. This station is now converted into a museum run by the Columbus Historical Society. About 1905, it was a very small town with a population of about 100, two of those ea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States Army Air Corps
The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical rift developed between more traditional ground-based army personnel and those who felt that aircraft were being underutilized and that air operations were being stifled for political reasons unrelated to their effectiveness. The USAAC was renamed from the earlier United States Army Air Service on 2 July 1926, and was part of the larger United States Army. The Air Corps became the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) on 20 June 1941, giving it greater autonomy from the Army's middle-level command structure. During World War II, although not an administrative echelon, the Air Corps (AC) remained as one of the combat arms of the Army until 1947, when it was legally abolished by legislation establishing the Department of the Air Force. The Air ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Drug Enforcement Administration
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA; ) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating drug trafficking and distribution within the U.S. It is the lead agency for domestic enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act, sharing concurrent jurisdiction with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection although the DEA has sole responsibility for coordinating and pursuing U.S. drug investigations both domestically and abroad. The DEA has an DEA Office of National Security Intelligence, intelligence unit that is also a member of the United States Intelligence Community, U.S. Intelligence Community. While the unit is part of the DEA chain-of-command, it also reports to the Director of National Intelligence. History and mandate The Drug Enforcement Administration was established on July 1, 1973, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jamiel Chagra
Jamiel "Jimmy" Alexander Chagra (December 7, 1944 – July 25, 2008) was an American drug trafficker, carpet salesman and professional gambler. He was implicated in the May 1979 assassination of United States District Judge John H. Wood Jr. in San Antonio, Texas. Chagra was active as a trafficker of marijuana beginning in the 1960s, and by the 1970s was a well-known drug trafficker operating out of Las Vegas and El Paso. In fact, he is described as having been "no less than the biggest marijuana smuggler in the country" during that time. According to George Knapp writing for ''Las Vegas CityLife'', he was "the undisputed marijuana kingpin of the Western world. He imported more high-grade ganja than anyone, tons at a time, planeload after planeload." Early life Jamiel Chagra, known as Jimmy, was born in El Paso, Texas on December 7, 1944. Jimmy was born the middle son of a Lebanese rug merchant family. His mother was named Josephine, and his father Abdou Chagra. He had two broth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stephen Stills
Stephen Arthur Stills (born January 3, 1945) is an American musician, singer and songwriter best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. As both a solo act and member of two successful bands, Stills has combined record sales of over 35 million albums. He was ranked number 28 in ''Rolling Stone''s 2003 list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time"''Rolling Stone'The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time2003-08-27. and number 47 in the 2011 list. Stills became the first person to be inducted twice with his groups on the same night into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. According to Neil Young, "Stephen is a genius." Beginning his professional career with Buffalo Springfield, he composed "For What It's Worth", which became one of the most recognizable songs of the 1960s. Other notable songs he contributed to the band were "Sit Down, I Think I Love You", "Bluebird", and "Rock & Roll Woman". According to bandmate Richie Furay, he was "the heart ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jimmy Buffett
James William Buffett (born December 25, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and businessman. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffett has recorded hit songs including "Margaritaville" (ranked 234th on the Recording Industry Association of America's list of "Songs of the Century") and "Come Monday". He has a devoted base of fans known as "Parrotheads". Aside from his career in music, Buffett is also a bestselling author and was involved in two restaurant chains named after two of his best-known songs; he currently owns the Margaritaville Cafe restaurant chain and co-developed the now defunct Cheeseburger in Paradise restaurant chain. Buffett is one of the world's richest musicians, with a net worth as of 2017 of $900 million. Early and personal life Buffett was born on Christmas Day 1946, in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and spent part of his childhood in Mobile, Alabama ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Banana Wind
''Banana Wind'' is the twentieth studio album by American popular music singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett. It was released on MCA and Margaritaville Records on June 4, 1996, debuting at number four on the ''Billboard'' 200. Songs "Jamaica Mistaica" is about an incident in Jamaica on January 16, 1996, in which local authorities mistook Buffett's seaplane, the Hemisphere Dancer, for a smuggling operation. The plane was shot; shortly before, Buffett, U2's Bono, and Island Records producer Chris Blackwell had been aboard. No one was injured, though there were several bullet holes in the plane. (The plane itself is now on display at Universal CityWalk, across from Buffett's Margaritaville restaurant.) "Desdemona's Building a Rocketship" concerns the character Desdemona from Buffett's 1992 novel '' Where Is Joe Merchant?'' The song "False Echoes" (Havana 1921) references the ship captained by Jimmy's grandfather, the five-masted barkentine ''Chickamauga'', named after the civil war ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States Customs Service
The United States Customs Service was the very first federal law enforcement agency of the U.S. federal government. Established on July 31, 1789, it collected import tariffs, performed other selected border security duties, as well as conducted criminal investigations. In March 2003, as a result of the homeland security reorganization, the U.S. Customs Service was renamed the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, and most of its components were merged with the border elements of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, including the entire U.S. Border Patrol and former INS inspectors, together with border agriculture inspectors, to form U.S. Customs and Border Protection, a single, unified border agency for the U.S. The investigative office of U.S. Customs was split off and merged with the INS investigative office and the INS interior detention and removal office to form Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which, among other things, is responsible for interior immigration ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Smuggling In The United States
Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. There are various motivations to smuggle. These include the participation in illegal trade, such as in the drug trade, illegal weapons trade, prostitution, human trafficking, kidnapping, exotic wildlife trade, art theft, heists, chop shops, illegal immigration or illegal emigration, tax evasion, import/export restrictions, providing contraband to prison inmates, or the theft of the items being smuggled. Smuggling is a common theme in literature, from Bizet's opera '' Carmen'' to the James Bond spy books (and later films) '' Diamonds Are Forever'' and '' Goldfinger''. Etymology The verb ''smuggle'', from Low German ''smuggeln'' or Dutch ''smokkelen'' (="to transport (goods) illegally"), apparently a frequentative formation of a word meaning "to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Illegal Drug Trade In The United States
The U.S. Federal Government is an opponent of the illegal drug trade; however, state laws vary greatly and in some cases contradict federal laws. The Organization of American States estimated that the revenue for cocaine sales in the U.S. was $34 billion in 2013. The Office of National Drug Control Policy estimates that $100 billion worth of illegal drugs were sold in the U.S. in 2013. War on Drugs The "War on Drugs" is a term commonly applied to a campaign of prohibition and foreign military aid and military intervention undertaken by the United States government, with the assistance of participating countries, and the stated aim to define and reduce the illegal drug trade. This initiative includes a set of drug policies of the United States that are intended to discourage the production, distribution, and consumption of illegal psychoactive drugs. The term was first used by U.S. President Richard Nixon, and was later popularized by the media. Minors The U.S. government ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cannabis Trafficking
''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: ''Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternatively, ''C. ruderalis'' may be included within ''C. sativa'', all three may be treated as subspecies of ''C. sativa'', or ''C. sativa'' may be accepted as a single undivided species. The genus is widely accepted as being indigenous to and originating from Asia. The plant is also known as hemp, although this term is often used to refer only to varieties of ''Cannabis'' cultivated for non-drug use. Cannabis has long been used for hemp fibre, hemp seeds and their oils, hemp leaves for use as vegetables and as juice, medicinal purposes, and as a recreational drug. Industrial hemp products are made from cannabis plants selected to produce an abundance of fibre. Various cannabis strains have been bred, often selectively to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cannabis In New Mexico
Cannabis in New Mexico is legal for recreational use as of June 29, 2021. A bill to legalize recreational use – House Bill 2, the Cannabis Regulation Act – was signed by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham on April 12, 2021. The first licensed sales of recreational cannabis began on April 1, 2022. Medical use was legalized in 2007 through a bill signed by Governor Bill Richardson. A 1978 law also allowed for medical use, but only through a federally-approved research program. It was the first medical cannabis law enacted by any state. State policy Prohibition (1923) In 1923, New Mexico banned the cultivation, importation, and sale of cannabis. ''The Santa Fe New Mexican'' noted: Controlled Substances Therapeutic Research Act (1978) In 1978 New Mexico became the first state to pass legislation allowing the medical use of cannabis in some form. Known as the Controlled Substances Therapeutic Research Act, the bill allowed the use of cannabis through a research program approved b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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