“Organized crime” on The Daily Caller

A new audio recording released by al-Qaida’s As-Sahab Islamic Media Foundation suggests the terror group may have been suffering from financial difficulties. (more)

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Ten federal police officers were killed Monday after being attacked by unidentified gunmen near a vocational high school in western Mexico. (more)

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The arrest of Cancun’s mayor on suspicion of protecting two violent drug gangs as he campaigned for governor has heightened fears that cartels are muscling their way into Mexican politics. There are also worries the gangs are tightening control over the country’s most important tourist resort. (more)

WINFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Mexican drug smugglers are increasingly peddling a form of ultra-potent heroin that sells for as little as $10 a bag and is so pure it can kill unsuspecting users instantly, sometimes before they even remove the syringe from their veins. (more)

Sebastián Marroquín finally feels free. As the only son of the most famous drug lord in history, he has spent the past 17 years hiding his identity — until now. (more)

ROME (Reuters) – Italian police have arrested the head of a powerful Calabrian mafia clan who was listed among the country’s 30 most dangerous fugitives. (more)

The British ambassador in Yemen narrowly escaped a homicide attack Monday, when a young man in a school uniform detonated his explosives belt near his armored car at a poor neighborhood of San’a, officials said. (more)

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Troops battled a suspected drug gang in a wealthy neighborhood on the outskirts of Mexico City and captured an alleged major trafficker with a $2 million U.S. bounty on his head, officials announced on Thursday. (more)

A massive gang takedown in Queens uncovered a rare alliance between Bloods and Crips and a ruthless plot to assassinate cops, authorities said Friday. (more)

Saudi Arabia said Wednesday that its security forces had arrested 113 militants with ties to Al Qaeda who had been planning attacks against oil operations and security facilities in the eastern part of the kingdom. (more)

Organized crime leaders in Italy are shifting their focus from violence and intimidation to seeking control of the economy, finance and politics, officials say. (more)

“The Sopranos” and other television shows about the mafia are damaging Italy’s reputation abroad, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said today. (more)

TIJUANA, Mexico (AP) — Federal troops stormed a seaside vacation home and captured one of the country’s most brutal drug lords Tuesday, the second time in less than a month that Mexico has taken down one of its most powerful traffickers. (more)

TIJUANA, Mexico (AP) — Mexico has captured a kingpin accused of terrorizing his way to the top of a gang fighting for control of key U.S. drug routes — even ordering rivals dissolved in caustic soda. Tuesday’s arrest, announced by U.S. and Mexican officials, capped a series of victories in Mexico’s U.S.-backed war on narcotics. (more)

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico opened the new year with what could be its most dubious distinction yet in the 3-year-old battle against drug trafficking — 69 murders in one day. (more)

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The body of 36-year-old Hugo Hernandez was left on the streets of Los Mochis in seven pieces as a chilling threat to members of the Juarez drug cartel. A note read: “Happy New Year, because this will be your last.” (more)