Law Enforcement

Afghan narcotics officials Sunday destroyed 6.5 tons of drugs and precursor chemicals in a raging bonfire they said symbolized recent successes in their fight against opium poppies and heroin. The drugs, burned in a large pile on a sloping mountainside on the outskirts of Kabul, were confiscated over the last three to four months, said Gen. Khodaidad Khodaidad, the country's counter-narcotics minister.

The reputed head of Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel is threatening a more aggressive stance against competitors and law enforcement north of the border, instructing associates to use deadly force, if needed, to protect increasingly contested trafficking operations, authorities said. Such a move by Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, Mexico's most-wanted fugitive, would mark a turn from the cartel's previous position of largely avoiding violent confrontations in the U.S.

Army Capt. Claudio Montane wants one thing clear from the start: This place is not a narco-museum. The point is not to glorify drug traffickers. "Its purpose is to show Mexico and the world the efforts and the good results that we have achieved," Montane said, opening a tour of a military collection officially called the Museum of Drugs.

In 1865, with the Confederacy in extremis, Jefferson Davis bludgeoned appalled rebel lawmakers into accepting Robert E. Lee's request to recruit black troops into Northern Virginia's depleted army ranks. One outraged Southern diarist accused Lee and Davis of surrendering "the crown jewel of our independence." A die-hard legislator argued that if blacks were allowed to fight alongside white soldiers, "then everything for which we have fought has been a lie."

As the mood of the crowd outside the Staples Center turned quickly from jubilation over a Lakers victory to something more destructive, Los Angeles police knew they had to finely calibrate their response to avoid the public relations debacles of the department's recent past. Officers had to control a group of "knuckleheads," in the words of Los Angeles Police Chief William J.

In an effort to plug a hole in U.S.-Mexico drug enforcement, the U.S. departments of Justice and Homeland Security announced an agreement Thursday that will give designated immigration agents expanded powers to pursue drug investigations. A key goal is to end the long-standing turf battles between the Justice Department's Drug Enforcement Administration and Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement that many critics believe have hampered investigations.

Government records will be more open in South Dakota, Florida is cracking down on illicit prescription drug sales, and downing a cold one at the corner bar will be easier in Utah. New laws that took effect this month reflect states' concerns with holding police more accountable, expanding the use of DNA to solve crimes and offering certain tax breaks. July 1 was the effective date in many states for laws passed during this year's legislative sessions.

The Obama administration continued its push for a legal workforce Wednesday with an announcement that federal contractors and subcontractors would soon be required to verify that their employees are eligible to work in the U.S. Beginning Sept. 8, the government will award contracts only to companies that enroll in E-Verify, an online program that uses federal databases to check whether employees are in the country legally and authorized to work.

Local police agencies empowered by the federal government to enforce immigration law must focus their efforts on criminals who pose a threat to public safety, with less emphasis on those who commit minor crimes, Department of Homeland Security officials announced Friday. The announcement aims to clarify a controversial program that deputizes police to turn over suspects or criminals to immigration authorities for possible deportation. Normally police do not enforce federal law.

When Capt. Kevin Cavanaugh guided his ship under the Golden Gate Bridge and into San Francisco Bay last week, it ended a voyage that marked two firsts for the veteran officer. It was the first time he circumnavigated the globe -- a rare achievement for any sailor -- and the first time he tangled with suspected pirates.