Monthly Archives: February 2012

9 February 2012 Last updated at 14:58 ET The Mexican army says it has seized 15 tonnes of methamphetamine in the western state of Jalisco. Soldiers found the synthetic drug, thought to be the largest amount ever seized in Mexico, at a ranch after a tip-off by a local. The production of methamphetamine is on the rise in Mexico, with the powerful Sinaloa cartel smuggling huge amounts into the United States. Methamphetamine creates a powerful psychological dependency. Soldiers discovered the cache at a ranch in Tlajomulco de Zuniga, south of the state capital, Guadalajara. 'Historic seizure' Gen Gilberto Hernandez Andreu said the ranch had been used as a lab to manufacture the drug, which can be swallowed, sniffed, smoked or injected. "It's an historic seizure: more than 15 tonnes of methamphetamine, five kilos of crystal, and around seven tonnes of precursor chemicals," General Hernandez Andreu said. Soldiers also seized equipment used to produce the drug, but no arrests were made. The Mexican Defence Ministry said the security forces had discovered seven drug laboratories in Jalisco so far this year. Over the past few months, the authorities have also seized a record amount of precursor chemicals used to produce the drug. … Continue reading →

Whitney Houston will star in a posthumous movie she finished working on before her death, poignantly about a singing group dealing with the troubles caused by fame and drugs. "Sparkle," due out in August, is a remake of a 1976 film loosely based on the story of the Supremes, following three sisters as they battle with difficulties that a singing career brings. The 48-year-old singer and actress had finished working on the film, in which she plays the sibling trio's mother Emma, according to CNN. The IMDb movie industry website described the film about "three sisters (who) form a successful singing group and must deal with the fallout of fame and drugs." Sony Pictures, the studio which made the movie, said: "Like all those who knew and loved her, we are shocked and saddened and the world has lost an incomparable talent. "Right now our thoughts are with her daughter, her family and her friends," it added in a statement to CNN. The film's producer, Bishop T.D. Jakes, asked Houston fans "to join us in lifting up Whitney's family in prayer and ask God for their strength and comfort during this devastatingly difficult time." "At the apex of her career, … Continue reading →

Carrie Jeffers meditates at the Thamkrabok Monastery and rehab center in Thailand. By Ploy Bunluesilp , NBC News   BANGKOK – Carrie Jeffers feared she would never kick her heroin addiction after relapsing repeatedly in her native Michigan. Then she flew to Thailand, and her life changed. Jeffers, a 37-year-old yoga teacher, says she broke her dependency thanks to treatment at a remote Buddhist temple. The rigorous regime includes meditation and the daily ingestion of a foul-tasting herbal drink that induces projectile vomiting to cleanse the body of toxins. “I got my strength back slowly but surely after the treatment,” Jeffers said after spending months at Thailand’s Thamkrabok Monastery, a drug rehabilitation center in Saraburi province about 90 miles north of Bangkok. The center, in the heart of a sunlit forest surrounded by limestone crags, has won a worldwide reputation as a place with harsh but effective addiction treatment and has attracted thousands of foreigners from Europe and the U.S. Harsh, but effective Jeffers said she had been addicted to heroin since the age of 14 and underwent rehab treatment twice in the United States. The fees were $1,000 a day, which, fortunately, were covered by insurance. "A lot of drug … Continue reading →