Ruta 35: The Escape Valve is finally airing on Unimas (with English captioning.) It's about the snitches recruited by the DEA and ICE to rat out the drug cartels in exchange for leniency for their own misdeeds, and is based on the career of long time ICE agent Dylan Wilkins .

This dramatic series is the story of Dylan Wilkins and the criminals he recruits to assist him in his relentless pursuit of drug lords and other wanted felons. These criminals become informants for ICE and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) in exchange for reducing their charges and avoiding prosecutions.

However, Wilkins’ informants are not your typical criminals- he introduces an array of men and women who, all driven by different motives such as fear and revenge, risk their lives everyday on a dark and risky mission. Among his informants are a 75-year-old grandmother who transports drugs, an IT engineer who has close ties and unparalleled access to a Mexican cartel, a “professional” informant who has been living a perilous double life for years, and the cousin of a ruthless mafia king, thirsty for the reward over her cousin's head.

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I just tuned into the State of the Union. How's Obama doing? Does he have anything new to say?

Here's a new open thread, all topics welcome.

David Bowie has died after a long bout with cancer. He was 69.

My favorite David Bowie song:

R.I.P.

If I were going to write another post today, undoubtedly it would be on El Chapo. Rather than do that, I'll put up a new open thread.

All topics welcome.

Update: Penn was not present during the interview. He met with El Chapo in Mexico, and they agreed to do the interview in the future, but circumstances prevented it. So Penn sent the questions by Blackberry Messenger and El Chapo filmed and sent his replies.

Orignal Post

Rolling Stone has just published a two minute video clip from a recent video interview of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman by Sean Penn at a secret location. RS says the interview was submitted to El Chapo and he had no changes.

The producer of the video is none other than Kate del Castillo, the terrific Mexican actress who starred in La Reina Del Sur and more recently, Duenos del Paraiso(See my post here.) She's also in the new film The 33 about the trapped Chilean miners. She's my favorite Mexican actress, by miles. [More...]

I don't know why the media keeps saying Mexico has refused until now to consider extraditing Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman-Loera to the U.S. It issued two arrest warrants for his extradition, one in July and one in September, 2015. One was for his San Diego case involving the 1993 Otay Mesa tunnel, and the other was for his 2012 Indictment in the Western District of Texas.

Mexico's Attorney General confirmed this today in a statement.

The statement also describes the various time periods relevant to an extradition proceeding. The defense has the right to challenge extradition, and the process likely will take several months or longer. His lawyer says he has six writs of Amparo pending or granted, and plans to file another, as he was denied access to El Chapo this weekend at Altiplano. One of the writs was dismissed on legal grounds.[More...]

At a press conference held at the government's airplane hangar in Mexico City around 10 pm MT last night(available here), both Osorio Chong and Attorney General Arely Gomez spoke. Gomez said El Chapo was being sent back to Altiplano, the prison from which he escaped. (He has since arrived there.)

As for extradition, I don't expect it to happen anytime soon. Last July, he was granted a Writ of Amparo prohibiting his extradition to the U.S. without first being provided a hearing and due process. In October, another court granted his writ. (News article in Spanish here.) [More...]

Multiple news sources are reporting that ISIS militant Ali Saqr al Qasem, on orders from ISIS, publicly shot and killed his mother outside the post office where she worked in Raqqa.

The reason: Al-Qasem had reported his mother for apostasy -- she had encouraged him to leave Raqqa with her. ISIS then ordered him to kill her.

True? I'm dubious, but I suppose it's possible. The source is the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights.

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto announced on his twitter feed today that Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman-Loera has been arrested.

Details to follow once I've found and translated them.

Update: The NY Times says the arrest followed a shoot-out in Los Mochis. The operation was conducted by the Mexican Navy.

The raid followed a "tip" about persons at a certain residence being armed. Also at the residence: Orso Ivan Gastelum Cruz, a northern Sinaloa leader. It appears he was able to escape. Five others at the home were killed and six were detained.

The Denver Sheriff's Department has been been justly slammed by an outside report of its performance, including multiple incidents involving the use of excessive force. Can it -- or any law enforcement agency -- change the culture that breeds such abuses?

The Denver Post reports the Sheriff's Department is trying. The largest recruitment class ever has begun training, and the recruits are being taught their role is one of a guardian, not a warrior. They are told that even when deadly force is legally authorized, it may not be the best option. It can also jeopardize their careers.

"We're in a monumental cultural change — not just us, but law enforcement nationwide. It's a culture of service. Our duty is to protect life. That's the message we want to convey...."

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The New York Times has a thoroughly depressing article on what remains of Ramadi now that the Iraqi army has dislodged ISIS.

Few civilians remain from a population that once numbered around 400,000, and the city lacks electricity and running water, meaning that supplies must be trucked in...It remains deserted, except for a contingent of Iraqi troops who do not wander around much because Islamic State fighters still hit it with mortar rounds.

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