"The United States' Drug Enforcement Agency ran a secret operation where undercover agents were sent to Venezuela to build drug-trafficking cases against the country's leaders, The Associated Press reported on Thursday. The news agency, which cites a secret memo, argues U.S. authorities were aware they were arguably breaking international law. "It is necessary to conduct this operation unilaterally and without notifying Venezuelan officials," reads a passage of the memo.

"Operation Money Badger" targeted, among others, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and some of his closest allies, including businessman Alex Saab, who was recently freed from U.S. custody as part of a prisoner swap. It is not clear whether the Venezuelan government was aware of the document before its publication, but Maduro once again accused the DEA and the CIA of trying to destabilize the country.

Venezuela's leadership has long been accused of taking part in drug-trafficking operations, most notably running the Los Soles cartel. In fact, the Department of Justice presented a formal accusation against Maduro and other 14 high-ranking officials in March 2020.

Then-Attorney General William Barr said that "for more than 20 years, Maduro and a number of high-ranking colleagues allegedly conspired with the FARC, causing tons of cocaine to enter and devastate American communities."

"The scope and magnitude of the drug trafficking alleged was made possible only because Maduro and others corrupted the institutions of Venezuela and provided political and military protection for the rampant narco-terrorism crimes described in our charges," added the accusation, which offered $15 million for information that could lead to the arrest and/or conviction of Maduro.

The document reported by AP was created in 2018, also during the Trump administration and in the middle of its "maximum pressure" campaign against Maduro. The Venezuelan government had declared itself winner of what a large part of the international community, the U.S. and the EU included, called a sham election."

https://www.latintimes.com/what-money-badger-us-secret-operation-build-drug-trafficking-cases-against-venezuelan-550895

VIRGINIA: "Three men who were arrested and charged in November for operating high-end brothels around Boston and in Virginia were indicted Friday. The office of Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts Joshua S. Levy sent a news release saying that Han Lee, 41; James Lee, 68 and Junmyung Lee, 30 were each indicted on one count of conspiracy to persuade, induce, entice and coerce individuals to travel in interstate or foreign commerce to engage in prostitution and one count of money laundering conspiracy. Charging documents said that the three had operated a prostitution network with brothels in Cambridge and Watertown, Mass. and Fairfax and Tysons, Va.

Prosecutors accused the three of establishing the infrastructure “which they used to persuade, induce and entice women” to travel to these states to engage in prostitution. The news release said that these men primarily targeted Asian women.

Court documents said that while the women were staying there, the three would establish “house rules” for them to “protect and maintain the secrecy of the business and ensure that the women did not draw attention to the prostitution work inside apartment buildings.” The statement said that the men “persuaded the women to work for this prostitution network because the business maintained a regular customer base of men that were adequately screened, ensuring that the customers were not members of law enforcement or men who posed a risk to the safety and security of the commercial sex workers.”

Potential clients were asked to provide their full names, email addresses, phone numbers, employers and references if they had one."

https://www.dcnewsnow.com/news/local-news/virginia/men-arrested-for-fairfax-tysons-high-end-brothels-indicted/