Month: June 2020

Coast Guard Cutter James offloads approximately 30,000 pounds of cocaine, marijuana at Port Everglades

The Coast Guard Cutter James (WMSL-754) crew offloaded approximately 23,000 pounds of cocaine and approximately 6,900 pounds of marijuana, all worth more than an estimated $408 million, on Tuesday in Port Everglades.


The Coast Guard Cutter James (WMSL-754) crew offloaded approximately 23,000 pounds of cocaine and approximately 6,900 pounds of marijuana, all worth more than an estimated $408 million, on Tuesday in Port Everglades.

The drugs were interdicted in international waters of the Eastern Pacific Ocean off the coasts of Mexico, Central and South America, and in the Caribbean Sea including contraband seized and recovered during 11 interdictions of suspected drug smuggling vessels by four Coast Guard cutters and two U.S. Navy ships:

“The roughly 15 tons of illicit narcotics being offloaded here today and the likely ensuing prosecutions, are the results of extraordinary teamwork and intelligence-driven operations,” said Adm. Karl Schultz, commandant of the Coast Guard. “It is important to note that our fellow citizens aren’t the only ones who benefit from these counter-narcotics efforts. Our Central American neighbors face tremendous strain from drug-fueled violence sparked by transnational criminal organizations. Efforts like this enhanced counter-drug operation significantly disrupt the criminal activity destabilizing the region.”

Photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Jonathan Lally

On April 1, U.S. Southern Command began enhanced counter-narcotics operations in the Western Hemisphere to disrupt the flow of drugs in support of Presidential National Security Objectives.

Numerous U.S. agencies from the Departments of Defense, Justice and Homeland Security cooperated in the effort to combat transnational organized crime.

The Coast Guard, Navy, Customs and Border Protection, FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, along with allied and international partner agencies, play a role in counter-drug operations. 

The fight against drug cartels in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea requires unity of effort in all phases from detection, monitoring and interdictions, to criminal prosecutions by international partners and U.S. Attorneys’ Offices in districts across the nation.

The law enforcement phase of counter-smuggling operations in the Eastern Pacific Ocean is conducted under the authority of the Coast Guard 11th District, headquartered in Alameda, California, and the law enforcement phase of operations in the Caribbean is conducted under the authority of the Coast Guard 7th District, headquartered in Miami.

The interdictions, including the actual boardings, are led and conducted by members of the U.S. Coast Guard. 

The cutter James is a 418-foot national security cutter home ported in Charleston, South Carolina.

The cutter Mohawk is a 270-foot medium endurance cutter home ported in Key West, Florida.  

The cutter Escanaba is a 270-foot medium endurance cutter home ported in Boston. The cutter Confidence is a 210-foot medium endurance cutter home ported in Port Canaveral, Florida.

The USS Pinckney is a 510-foot Arleigh Burke-class destroyer home ported in Naval Base San Diego.

The USS Lassen is a 510-foot Arleigh Burke-class destroyer home ported in Naval Station Mayport, Florida.

US Coast Guard (June 2020) Coast Guard Cutter James offloads approximately 30,000 pounds of cocaine, marijuana at Port Everglades

Pittsburgh Man Charged with Possession of a Destructive Device after Placing a Backpack of Homemade Explosives in Downtown

A Pittsburgh man has been charged federally with illegal possession of an unregistered destructive device after planting a backpack with homemade explosives in a downtown open space, United States Attorney Scott Brady has announced.


A Pittsburgh man has been charged federally with illegal possession of an unregistered destructive device after planting a backpack with homemade explosives in a downtown open space, United States Attorney Scott Brady has announced.

Matthew Michanowicz, 52, of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, is charged by complaint with knowingly and unlawfully possessing a firearm, that is, a destructive device, which was not registered to him in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record.

Michanowicz was taken into custody Friday evening by the Allegheny County Sheriff’s Department.

He will make his appearance in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh at a date to be determined by the court.

U.S. Attorney Brady said, “Once again, we see that certain participants in the protests in Pittsburgh were only present to serve as agitators and to incite violence. Let’s call them what they are: criminals. They have no intention of peacefully exercising their First Amendment rights; they seek only to incite and destroy. Michanowicz brought a backpack full of homemade Molotov cocktails to downtown Pittsburgh. He wasn’t there to protest; he was there to engage in violent attacks. I hope that any organizers or protestors who are participating consistent with the First Amendment will help identify and stop agitators who seek to manipulate their protest for violent ends. Rest assured that we stand ready to prosecute such provocateurs federally.”

According to the complaint, on June 1, 2020 at approximated 8 a.m., Pittsburgh Bureau of Police officers were called to the open area of 2 PNC Plaza facing Wood Street in downtown Pittsburgh to respond to a suspicious bag.

They had been called by PNC security officers for a “Military, green backpack” located by a bicycle rack under some trees on PNC property. PBP officers discovered three devices and a foul odor and called the PBP Bomb Squad. The Bomb Squad found three suspected “homemade Molotov cocktails.”

According to the complaint, the devices are described as “spent OC vapor grenades” (identified by the PBPBS as spent devices they had previously deployed) which contained a fluid that had a smell similar to an ignitable liquid. The liquid was leaking out of one or more of the devices. All three devices had wicks attached to them, which were held in place by what appears to be “spray foam insulation.”

Security camera footage provided to PBP by PNC security showed someone possessing the bag at the scene where it was recovered.

That person was described as an older man, approximately 6’-6’1″ who rides a blue bicycle with a bright red pouch on the handlebars.

On the evening of June 3, 2020 a patrolling PBP officer saw a man with a bicycle matching that description in the exact location where the bag has been discovered on June 1, 2020. The officer approached the individual to identify him and Michanowicz provided only his last name.

The officer stated that after he identified Michanowicz, he released him, but Michanowicz stayed in the immediate vicinity.

The officer stated he called a PBP supervisor to report that he had stopped someone matching the description, and another PBP supervisor then directed the officer to detain Michanowicz and bring him to PBP Headquarters for questioning.

During questioning Michanowicz said he visited downtown to look at the “aftermath” of the riots and protests. Michanowicz admitted he was in the individual depicted in photographs from the surveillance footage but denied possessing the bag or knowing its contents. Michanowicz also stated he never possessed any destructive devices, including the devices recovered from the bag.

According to the complaint, on June 4, 2020, ATF Agents from the Pittsburgh Field Office executed a federal search warrant at Michanowicz’s residence at 144 Republic Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15211.

The search revealed, all in close proximity to each other on a workbench in the garage, a bundle of fuse exhibiting the same color and characteristics of the fuses found on the previously seized destructive devices, some partially burnt fuse remnants that appear to be from the same fuse bundle, a can of spray foam insulation consistent with the type of spray foam insulation that had been applied to the exterior of all three recovered destructive devices, and a syringe emitting a strong odor consistent with an ignitable liquid.

Also found in the garage were approximately 10 camouflage backpacks that were similar in size, pattern and configuration to the bag in which the destructive devices were discovered. A search of the trashcan in the garage revealed retail packaging of fuses and a pair of used latex gloves that emitted a strong odor consistent with an ignitable liquid.

It is unlawful for an individual to manufacture, possess, or transfer a Destructive Device without first being registered in ATF’s National Firearms Transfer Record (NFA) registry and without serial numbers being issued for said NFA Weapons (i.e.; Destructive Devices).

An NFA inquiry made on June 4, 2020, showed there was no such registration for Michanowicz.

The count charged in the criminal complaint carries a maximum potential penalty of 10 years in prison, and a maximum fine of $250,000.

U.S. Attorney Brady credited the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Pittsburgh Joint Terrorism Task Force, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, for conducting the investigation leading to the charges in this case. U.S. Attorney Brady also thanked the Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office for apprehending the defendant.

Assistant United States Attorney Jessica Lieber Smolar is prosecuting this case for the government.

The details contained in the criminal complaint are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Justice.gov (June 2020) Pittsburgh Man Charged with Possession of a Destructive Device after Placing a Backpack of Homemade Explosives in Downtown

Experts Predict Artificial Intelligence Will Transform Warfare

Artificial intelligence will increasingly and dramatically improve systems across the Defense Department, the director of the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center said.


Artificial intelligence will increasingly — and dramatically — improve systems across the Defense Department, the director of the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center said.

Army Lt. Gen. John N.T. ”Jack” Shanahan spoke remotely from the Pentagon yesterday with Dave Deptula, dean of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.

”It is my conviction and deep passion that AI will transform the character of warfare in the Department of Defense in the course of the next 20 years,” Shanahan said. ”There is no part of the department that will not be impacted by this, from the back office to the battlefield, from under sea to cyberspace and outer space, and all points in between.”

Artificial intelligence, often called AI, has been happening in commercial industry, but that effort only started in earnest in the department about 10 years ago, he noted, but ”we’ve been stuck in first gear in terms of fielding.”

​DOD has long struggled with how to take the world’s best research and development and field it at speed and at scale, he added.

Since the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center began operations about two years ago, all of the foundational elements have been put into place, Shanahan said, noting that the center now has 185 employees with a $1.3 billion annual budget.

Shanahan elaborated on what artificial intelligence foundational elements mean —  including AI strategy, policy, ethics, coalition partnerships, rules of engagement, user testing and evaluation.

All those elements were brought into the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center, where integrated product teams for projects do all of that work simultaneously, as opposed to sequentially, he said. ”In the department, those tend to happen in very different places, and sometimes they don’t happen at all.”

The center’s initiatives are focused on lower-consequence, lower-risk missions such as preventive maintenance, humanitarian assistance, defensive cyber and business process transformation, he said.

But perhaps the most important current focus is on joint warfighting operations, he said.

Over the next one to two years, the goal will be delivery of these AI-enabled systems to the warfighter, he said. ”We have to show we’re making a difference,” he added.

Shanahan said moving the department from being an industrial age, hardware-driven force to being an information-age, software-driven, more risk-tolerant one won’t be easy. Nor will it be easy to choose where to take those risks and how to take those risks, he said.

”We’re dealing with 60 years of legacy systems, legacy workflows, legacy talent management. You can’t just bolt those cutting-edge technologies onto … legacy equipment and expect to transform the Department of Defense,” he said, adding that, culturally, AI has to be in the fabric of the department and what DOD does every single day.

Defense.gov (June 2020) Experts Predict Artificial Intelligence Will Transform Warfare

Fulani Militants Kill Nine in Christian Village in Nigeria

The International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that Fulani militants once again have attacked the Adara natives in Kajuru LGA, Kaduna State, Nigeria.


Militants Continue Recent Spate of Violent Attacks

The International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that Fulani militants once again have attacked the Adara natives in Kajuru LGA, Kaduna State, Nigeria.

The attack on the Christian village took place while many were still mourning the loss of loved ones, property, and their means of livelihood following a series of coordinated attacks on at least five villages and 12 settlements over the past month.

The militants launched this most recent attack on Tudu-Doka Avong along Kaduna-Kachia road, killing nine people and injuring several others. Confirming the incident, a community representative, Usman Stingo, said, “It happened at about 5:45 a.m. on Wednesday, June 3, 2020. The gunmen arrived [at] the village and started shooting sporadically.  They entered into some homes and burnt household stuff. The situation is very, very pathetic.”

Those killed in the latest attack include Kefas Yusuf (30), Richard Yusuf (25), Fidelis Wada (40), Kachia Simon (30); Rose Soja (39), Genesis Soja (11), Rahap Soja (9), Victoria Gyata (50), and Lovette Akayi (10).

Further confirming the attack, the Kaduna State Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Reverend Joseph Hayab, said, “Nine persons were killed, including women and children. The photos are not good to look at.  The mood in the entire Kajuru area is gloomy. People are living in fear.”

The CAN chairman further disclosed that some pastors were also affected in the recent attacks and are suffering in silence. 

He, however, acknowledged good-spirited individuals who are assisting with food distributions to help the displaced, but lamented that the need is very large.  He expressed concern with the attitude of the government, saying, “The government seems to be living in pretense and looking away from the colossal impact of the attacks on the population.”

The recent attacks on the Adara communities spreading across Kajuru and Kachia local council areas in southern Kaduna impacted approximately 537 households with approximately 20,000 people displaced.

ICC’s Regional Manager for Africa, Nathan Johnson, stated, “Kajuru Local Government Area has now been attacked nearly a dozen times in the past month. Despite this, the government has not taken any clear or decisive steps to stop the violence. They have not caught any of the perpetrators, saved any lives, or assisted any of those who have suffered. This continued inaction is costing many people their lives, homes, and loved ones. It is time that the government in Nigeria is held accountable for the many lives that they have failed to defend. They are either completely incompetent and must be removed, or they are complicit and need to be thrown in jail.”

For interviews, please contact Olivia Miller, Communications Coordinator: press@persecution.org

Persecution.org (June 2020) Fulani Militants Kill Nine in Christian Village in Nigeria

Chinese Nationals Sentenced to Prison for Illegal Photography of U.S. Naval Installation in Key West, Florida

Three People’s Republic of China (PRC) foreign nationals were sentenced today to prison terms for illegal photography of military installations at the U.S. Naval Air Station in Key West, Florida (NAS Key West).


On Friday, Ariana Fajardo Orshan, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office announced that three People’s Republic of China (PRC) foreign nationals were sentenced today to prison terms for illegal photography of military installations at the U.S. Naval Air Station in Key West, Florida (NAS Key West).  

Lyuyou Liao,27, was sentenced to the statutory maximum term of 12 months in prison followed by one year of supervised release, after pleading guilty to illegally entering NAS Key West on December 26, 2019, and taking photographs and video footage of property on the Truman Annex of the station.

This included taking images of vital military equipment. (Case No. 20-10002-CR-KMM ).

In a separate case, Jielun Zhang,25,and Yuhao Wang,24, were sentenced to 12 months and nine months in prison, respectively, to be followed by one year of supervised release, after pleading guilty to illegally entering NAS Key West on January 4, 2020, and taking photographs of military and naval infrastructure located on the Sigbsbee Park and Trumbo Point Annexes of the station. (Case No. 20-10005-CR-KMM).  

U.S. Attorney Fajardo Orshan commended the investigative efforts of the FBI and the South Florida Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF). 

She also commended the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the Key West Police Department for their assistance.   Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Kobrinski prosecuted this case. 

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Justice.gov (June 2020) Three Chinese Nationals Sentenced to Prison for Illegal Photography of U.S. Naval Installation in Key West, Florida