US puts $8M bounty for arrest of Mexican drug cartel leaders charged with trafficking fentanyl
U.S. Department of State
The Justice Department on Tuesday unsealed drug trafficking charges against the two leaders of the Mexican drug cartel La Nueva Familia Michoacana Organization (LNFM) and offered up to $8 million for information leading to their arrest.
Brothers Johnny Hurtado Olascoaga and Jose Alfredo Hurtado Olascoaga, are “responsible for the cartel’s resurgence” over the past decade, according to a DOJ official.
“These brothers were charged by a federal grand jury in the Northern District of Georgia with various crimes related to the manufacture, distribution and importation of massive quantities of heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and fentanyl into the United States,” Michael Herskowitz, chief of the Narcotics Section at the U.S. Attorney’s office in Atlanta, said at a press conference Tuesday.
The Treasury Department also sanctioned the brothers, and the State Department has offered $3 and $5 million rewards for information leading to their arrest. The men are currently in Mexico, officials said.
“It is our hope that these multimillion dollar rewards will encourage people to come forward with what they know about their Olascoaga brothers, both here in the United States and in cities and towns in Mexico, who are most impacted by the cartels violence,” Herskowitz said.
DEA Atlanta Acting Special Agent in Charge Jae Chong told reporters that the foreign terrorist organization designation that the Trump administration has leveled against the cartels has “allowed law enforcement to apply enhanced counterterrorism authorities to drug cartel operations, something we believe that will have a greater impact in the fight to protect our communities.”
“In 24 hours, DEA and our partners have seized over 100 pounds of fentanyl, $320,000 of suspected drug proceeds, guns, and made 22 arrests, 11 of which are illegal criminals,” Chong said.
The fentanyl they seized was enough to kill 3.5 million people, according to Chong.
In a separate indictment, the Justice Department also charged seven individuals with allegedly funneling the proceeds of the cartel’s activity through a business in Georgia.
Agents “analyzed the money service businesses transactions and determined that the cash was wired to Mexico, but was transferred in small increments, as did not raise suspicion by federal regulators during an approximate period of two months, these individuals allegedly laundered over $1 million in drug proceeds smuggled to Mexico,” Herskowitz said.
(WASHINGTON) — The Supreme Court ruled Friday that a government task force that determines what preventive health care services insurers must cover at no cost under the Affordable Care Act is constitutional.
The vote was 6-3 with conservative Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch dissenting.
This is a relief to public health advocates and medical groups who had said cancellation of the United States Preventive Services Task Force and invalidation of its recommendations would be devastating to Americans’ health. Roughly 150 million Americans have benefitted from the no-cost provision — which must underwrite a broad range of treatments from cancer screenings to cholesterol-lowering medications and drugs to prevent the spread of HIV.
A group of Christian-owned businesses challenged the arrangement, alleging that the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, which operates out of the Department of Health and Human Services, is not legally structured and possesses unchecked power to influence the health care system. Lower federal courts agreed.
The 16-member panel of expert volunteers is appointed by the HHS secretary. Members are removable at-will, but they are not confirmed by the Senate. It is also supposed to operate “independent” of political influence, meaning its recommendations are not directly reviewable.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(LONDON) — A high-stakes phone call between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin is underway, as the White House continues its push for an end to Moscow’s 3-year-old invasion of Ukraine after last week’s peace talks in Istanbul, Turkey.
“The subjects of the call will be, stopping the ‘bloodbath’ that is killing, on average, more than 5,000 Russian and Ukrainian soldiers a week, and trade,” Trump wrote in a post to his conservative social media website on Saturday.
“I will then be speaking to President Zelenskyy of Ukraine and then, with President Zelenskyy, various members of NATO,” Trump added.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters at Monday morning’s briefing the public can expect to hear from President Trump or the White House following the calls.
ABC News Senior Political Correspondent Rachel Scott pressed Leavitt if Trump will set a new deadline for peace talks during his conversation with Putin, but Leavitt said she wouldn’t get ahead of Trump on any specific timeline.
“His goal is to see a ceasefire and to see this conflict come to an end, and he’s grown weary and frustrated with both sides of the conflict,” she said.
Leavitt also said she believed Trump “would certainly be open” to meeting with Putin but “let’s see how this call goes today.”
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed to journalists on Monday that the call would take place at 5 p.m. Moscow time — 10 a.m. ET — the state-run Tass news agency reported.
“The conversation is important given the talks that took place in Istanbul,” Peskov said, as quoted by Tass. “We have already said everything we could about the talks, what the main positional points are,” he said. “We will wait and give the best possible message based on the results of the conversation.”
Renewed direct contact with Putin — the last publicly known direct phone call between the two presidents took place in February — comes after Trump’s hopes for peace talks progress in Istanbul were scuppered, Putin having declined to attend despite Zelenskyy’s invitation to do so.
The Istanbul talks were the first known meeting between representatives of Moscow and Kyiv since spring 2022, when the Turkish city hosted the final round of unsuccessful peace negotiations to end Russia’s unfolding invasion.
Once it became clear Putin would not attend, Trump told reporters of the peace effort, “Nothing’s going to happen until Putin and I get together, okay?”
“And obviously he wasn’t going to go,” Trump added. “He was going to go, but he thought I was going to go. He wasn’t going if I wasn’t there. And I don’t believe anything’s going to happen, whether you like it or not, until he and I get together, but we’re going to have to get it solved, because too many people are dying.”
Trump’s repeated threats of further sanctions on Russia have so far failed to precipitate any notable shift in Moscow’s war goals — which, according to public statements by officials, still include Ukraine’s ceding of four regions — which Russian forces do not fully control — plus Crimea, as well as a permanent block on Kyiv’s accession to NATO.
Putin said Sunday that any peace deal with Ukraine should “eliminate the causes that triggered this crisis” and “guarantee Russia’s security.”
Kyiv and its European backers are still pushing for a full 30-day ceasefire, during which time they say peace negotiations can take place. Moscow has thus far refused to support the proposal, suggesting that all Western military aid to Ukraine would have to stop as part of any ceasefire.
Contacts between U.S., Russian and Ukrainian officials continued after the end of the talks in Istanbul. On Saturday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said Rubio welcomed a prisoner exchange agreement reached during the Istanbul meeting and emphasized Trump’s call for an immediate ceasefire.
Vice President JD Vance also met with Zelenskyy at the Vatican on Saturday, following Pope Leo XIV’s offer to host a bilateral meeting.
After the meeting, Zelenskyy wrote on X that he had “reaffirmed that Ukraine is ready to be engaged in real diplomacy and underscored the importance of a full and unconditional ceasefire as soon as possible.”
“We have also touched upon the need for sanctions against Russia, bilateral trade, defense cooperation, battlefield situation and upcoming prisoners exchange,” Zelenskyy continued. “Pressure is needed against Russia until they are eager to stop the war.”
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha on Monday wrote on X that the Istanbul meeting highlighted a “stark difference” between Moscow and Kyiv. “Ukraine is forward-looking, focused on the full and immediate ceasefire to kickstart the real peace process.”
“To the contrary, Russia is completely focused on the past, rejecting the ceasefire and instead talking constantly about the 2022 Istanbul meetings, attempting to make the same absurd demands as three years ago,” the foreign minister said.
“This is yet another reason why pressure on Russia must be increased,” Sybiha added. “Moscow must now understand the consequences of impeding the peace process.”
Meanwhile, long-range strikes by both sides continued. On Sunday night into Monday morning, Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 112 drones into the country, 76 of which were shot down or jammed. Damage was reported in five regions of Ukraine, the air force said in a post to Telegram.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Monday morning that its forces had downed 35 Ukrainian drones overnight.
(WASHINGTON) — A bipartisan pair of senators applauded the Justice Department’s ongoing investigation into major egg producers over rising prices and called on the department to look even further into the issue in a letter to Assistant Attorney General Gail Slater late Thursday evening.
“We write to express support for the Department of Justice’s reported investigation into anticompetitive practices in the U.S. egg industry,” Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Republican Sen. Jim Banks wrote. “As you are aware, the sustained increase in egg prices has placed a significant financial strain on American families, particularly workingclass households. While egg producers and trade associations point to recent avian flu outbreaks as the cause of high prices, we are concerned that record high egg prices reflect noncompetitive behavior among large producers.”
ABC News reported in March that the Department of Justice was in the early stages of investigating major egg producers over soaring egg prices. Sources told ABC News at the time that department investigators were looking into whether the major egg companies were sharing information about supply and pricing, possibly contributing to price increases.
The average retail price of a dozen eggs climbed from $4.95 in January to $6.22 in March, the most recent month for which data is available, per Bureau of Labor Statistics data. That amounts to a 25% increase in consumer cost.
By contrast, wholesale prices of eggs are falling. The average price of a dozen large white eggs was $3.69 over the week ending May 3, the most recent week available, according to Department of Agriculture data. Over the week ending Jan. 17 — the last week of data before Trump took office — the average price of a dozen large white eggs stood at $6.14, data showed. That’s a nearly 40% decline.
Egg producers, including the industry’s trade association, have said that the hike in consumer egg costs is due to the avian flu. But in their letter, the senators cast doubt on this claim and encourage the Department of Justice to continue its efforts to determine whether “noncompetitive behavior among large producers” could be to blame.
“Egg prices began to drop from their record peaks only after the Department of Justice (DOJ) launched an investigation into whether large egg producers had engaged in anticompetitive practices to raise egg prices or restrict egg supply,” Banks and Warren write. “Large egg producers and trade associations have previously been found liable for price fixing. Given this history, we urge DOJ to thoroughly review whether recent trends in egg prices reflect impermissible coordination among egg producers and trade associations.”
In a statement to ABC News, Warren said Americans deserve answers over the cause of rising cost of eggs at the grocery store.
“While rising egg prices are hurting working families, giant egg producers are raking in record profits. Americans deserve to know if those sky-high prices are the result of out-of-control corporate greed. We’re pressing the Justice Department to get answers,” Warren said.
Banks said the egg industry is “long overdue” for an antitrust investigation.
“America’s egg industry has been controlled by a handful of companies for years, and it’s long overdue for an antitrust investigation to bring down prices and create more competition,” Banks said. “I fully support the Department of Justice’s probe into whether these companies have exploited the avian flu outbreak to manipulate prices.”
The ballooning cost of eggs was an ongoing political flashpoint during the 2024 presidential race. Then-candidate Donald Trump made lowering the cost of groceries a cornerstone of his campaign. Since returning to the Oval Office, he’s often spoken about egg prices and in recent days, he’s touted repeatedly that egg prices are lower because of his leadership.
“Gas is down, gasoline is down, energy is down, groceries are down, eggs are down. Eggs, thank you very much. But eggs are down,” Trump said during remarks in the Oval office on Thursday.
Warren and Banks say the cost of eggs continues to be a burden on American families.
“The sustained increase in egg prices has placed a significant financial strain on American families, particularly workingclass households,” they write. “Eggs have long been an affordable staple in Americans’ diets. Yet, the cost of eggs reached an unprecedented high this year.”
The senators said that they “support” the DOJ investigation into the behavior of egg producers and urged the agency to consider whether a “precipitous drop” in egg prices just “days” after news of the investigation broke suggest that egg producers had conspired to artificially inflate prices.
They also seek additional information from DOJ by mid-May about whether egg prices can be reasonably explained by bird flu, what sort of profit increases were seen by large egg producers, and whether DOJ analysis shows a sudden price decrease in eggs following the announcement of its investigation.
