A story in the Chicago Tribune has shed some seriously needed light on a practice going on in Tenaha, Texas. Here the police are cracking down and using the states asset forfeiture laws at a very high rate. The problem, they are confiscating property and money from travelers who have committed no crime at all. Police are stopping vehicles as they travel through town, searching them, and often taking property with the threat of criminal charges.

The police are able to take property or assets seized related to a crime. The issue with what the Tenaha police are doing is there is often no crime being committed at all. For instance, a family driving through with a large amount of cash may get stopped, accused of money laundering, and told to hand over the cash or face criminal prosecution. They are stopping families, ordinary citizens, and even the elderly with this scam.

What makes the ploy even more interesting is the majority of victims are minorities. The police are stopping and seizing property from black and mixed race people at a much higher rate than they are whites. While local police deny any wrongdoing, the numbers don’t lie and look awfully suspicious. read more

South Texas is already reporting increased in violence spreading north from Mexican drug cartels. This report from the Dallas Morning News looks at whether or not North Texas should also be preparing for the worst.

Drug cartels out of Mexico are major operations ran by violent people with one main interest, making money through large scale drug operations. If this interest ends in the death, kidnappings, or injuries of many, they don’t seem to care. If someone stands between the cartels and their money they may suffer dire consequences.

Although the Gulf cartel is said to control the supply of cocaine into Dallas, they have remained somewhat quiet over the last several years. This, apparently, is to avoid attracting attention to their large scale operations. read more