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Indiana beauty queen arrested in Mexican cartel bust that included one of feds' most wanted fugitives

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Indiana beauty queen arrested in Mexican cartel bust that included one of feds' most wanted fugitives

An Indiana beauty queen was swept up in a sweeping drug bust with ties to a Mexican cartel that’s been years in the making.

Glenis Zapata, 34, who was crowned Miss Indiana Latina in 2011, allegedly used her job as a flight attendant to move drug money from Chicago to the southern states and into Mexico, according to a federal indictment. 

She’s charged with two counts of money laundering stemming from a $170,000 cash transport on August 7, 2019, and at least $140,000 on September 10, 2019.

Zapata was one of 18 suspects arrested when federal law enforcement took down their main target, Oswaldo Espinosa, who was among the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) most wanted fugitives.

KILLERS IN MEXICO ‘CAN LOOK LIKE ANYONE,’ INCLUDING A KIM KARDASHIAN LOOKALIKE OR SEVEN-YEAR-OLD CHILD

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Glenis Zapata, who was crowned Miss Indiana Latina in 2011, was arrested as part of a Mexico-based international drug operation. (Rio Wray Photography)

Zapata, along with two bank tellers – Zapata’s sister, Ilenis Zapata and Georgina Banuelos – were the latest to be arrested in the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces’ take down of Oswaldo Espinosa. 

Espinosa is the alleged ring leader of a multi-million dollar, Mexico-based drug trafficking ring that flooded US streets with thousands of kilograms of cocaine, according to the latest federal indictment filed on May 16.

AMERICAN KIDNAPPED IN MEXICO, LEFT TO DIE IN JUNGLE WITH EYES, WRISTS TAPED

From 2018 to 2023, Espinosa recruited seemingly ordinary, under-the-radar workers like Zapata, as part of his alleged criminal enterprise, which used warehouses and garages all over the Windy City to hide money and drugs. 

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Cash and cocaine were loaded into semi-trailer trucks and on planes from the Midwest stash houses to the southern part of the U.S. and into Mexico, “including via commercial flights and using the assistance of Glenis Zapata,” the indictment alleges. 

Oswaldo Espinosa was a wanted fugitive by the DEA who allegedly ran a multi-million dollar, Mexico-based international drug trafficking organization. (DEA)

Glenis Zapata is accused of using her job as a flight attendant to transport over $300,000.  (Rio Wray Photography)

Espinosa was the head of his own Mexican international drug trafficking organization (DTO) called the Espinosa DTO, according to court documents. 

The last filing, which included the charges against Zapata, detailed eight drug trafficking operations from 2021 to 2023 and 15 cash transports between November 2019 and March 2022. 

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‘MOST RUTHLESS’ MEXICAN CARTELS OPERATE IN ALL 50 STATES, BRING TURF WARS TO US: DEA

The investigation into Espinosa was spearheaded by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces, which was created to attack major drug rings in the U.S. 

The ESPINOSA DTO is a small cartel in comparison to powerhouses like The Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and El Chapo’s Sinaloa Cartel, which control nearly all of Mexico and its maritime ports and spread their tentacles throughout the U.S. 

Glenis Zapata was charged with two counts of federal money laundering.  (Rio Wray Photography)

Court documents detailed eight alleged drug trafficking operations from 2021 to 2023.  (Department of Justice )

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In total, researchers estimate there are about 150 Mexican cartels of various sizes with about 175,000 “active members” (as of 2022), according to a September 2023 study by Science.

And many of these organized crime syndicates spread their illegal businesses into the US, and smuggle drugs and money across the border. 

TROPICAL RESORTS POPULAR WITH AMERICANS NO LONGER ‘OFF LIMITS’ FOR CARTEL KILLERS: ‘THE RULES HAVE CHANGED’

A May DEA report said Mexico’s “most powerful and ruthless cartels” — The Jalisco New Generation and Sinaloa cartels — operate in all 50 states.

Both cartels’ primary products are meth and fenantyl, according to the report, which said that Mexican cartels have “caused the worst drug crisis in US history.” 

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The Oswaldo Espinosa DTO allegedly made 15 cash transports between November 2019 and March 2022, according to federal court documents.  (Department of Justice )

The Oswaldo Espinosa DTO allegedly made 15 cash transports between November 2019 and March 2022, according to federal court documents.  (Department of Justice )

Dismantling major drug operations is among federal law enforcement agencies’ primary goals. 

In 2023, law enforcement agencies within 150 miles of the border conducted nearly 600 bulk cash seizures valued at $18 million, the DEA report says. 

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“DEA’s top operational priority is to relentlessly pursue and defeat the two Mexican drug cartels … that are primarily responsible for driving the current fentanyl poisoning epidemic in the United States,” the report says. 

The operation “puts resources into the U.S.’s most violence- and overdose-plagued cities to target the violent dealers who kill thousands of Americans every week with fentanyl and with weapons.”

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Milwaukee, WI

Milwaukee oversight body asks for more police pursuit policy changes

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Milwaukee oversight body asks for more police pursuit policy changes


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  • The Fire and Police Commission is mulling a recommendation the Milwaukee Police Department amend its police chase policy and restrict chases for reckless driving.
  • The current recommendation draft calls for a ban on chases for reckless driving after an attempted traffic stop. That will now move to a committee for further changes.
  • The draft recommendation comes after department modified the policy to remove speeding as a sole justification for chases. Prior, speeding was allowed to be considered when evaluating reckless driving

A Milwaukee oversight body is pushing for further restrictions on how the city’s police decide to chase vehicles, but isn’t ready to move those forward yet.

At its March 5 meeting, the city’s Fire and Police Commission mulled a recommendation the Milwaukee Police Department no longer chase drivers for reckless driving after an attempted traffic stop and stop other chases for reckless driving if it raises danger to the public. The department’s pursuit policy has been a point of contention for years and has come under intense scrutiny after nine people died from police chase crashes in 2025.

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But that recommendation was tabled and sent to commission committee for further discussion, after concerns it needed to be further tweaked and receive more police department input.

“I’m trying to find incremental changes we can make to reduce chases,” said Commissioner Bree Spencer, who sponsored the recommendation.

Spencer said she was hesitant to push for policy changes that were too sweeping or too permissive. She said that had happened in years past, when pursuits were heavily restricted in 2010 and then later opened up in 2017 in response to reckless driving, following a then-Fire and Police Commission order.

As has become the norm at the commission’s meetings, a lengthy public comment period was held where some were critical of the proposed changes. Some called for dashcam footage of pursuit-related deaths to be released, as policy requires in officer shootings, and for the city’s costs of police chase-related lawsuits to be publicized.

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“Police chases do not keep our community safe,” Angela Lang, the co-executive director of Black Leaders Organizing Change, said during public comment.

The Fire and Police Commission’s proposed recommendation comes after the department voluntarily removed speeding as a permissible reason to chase someone who is recklessly driving. However, that move was met coldly by members of the public and the commission, which is the oversight body for the department, who said it didn’t go far enough.

Generally, department policy considers pursuits “justified” under six circumstances, among those being when an occupant is involved in a violent felony.

Milwaukee Assistant Chief Craig Sarnow said the department was content with its previous change, when commissioners asked him for feedback on the proposed recommendation.

Both the Fire and Police Commission’s drafted recommendation and police department’s change focus on reckless driving chases. Those make up an overwhelming amount of all chases that officers in Milwaukee make – with officers citing reckless driving as the initiating reason in 742 of the 970 chases in 2025, according to police data.

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The Fire and Police Commission’s recommendation is also the first time the body has exercised that power since state legislation, 2023 Wisconsin Act 12, was passed. Before that legislation was passed, the commission held the ability to outright change police department policy, but the law shifted that to the city’s Common Council.

Some have called for the Fire and Police Commission to more aggressively issue recommendations like these.

The recommendation will now move to the commission’s Oversight and Accountability Committee. The decision was made after commissioners said they sought more time to tweak the language and for police to provide input.

License plate reading camera use scrutinized

The department’s use of license plate reading cameras, a system known as Flock, came under scrutiny from many attendees at the meeting as well, who called for the city to ban it. Many noted the recent criminal charges brought against Josue Ayala, an officer who prosecutors say improperly used the system to track a former partner and another person.

Ayala resigned and is facing a misdemeanor charge of attempted misconduct in public office. Ayala had previously faced claims of lying and excessive force but was not placed on a Milwaukee County District Attorney’s list of officers with a history of dishonesty, bias or integrity concerns until recently.

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That was despite, in 2022, a federal public defender issuing a complaint against Ayala, saying he exaggerated so much in his testimony and reports that it almost seemed “like a compulsion.”

Milwaukee police officials like Heather Hough, the department’s chief of staff, said they were never made aware of that previous concern against Ayala.

“Had we received the information from defense counsel about these concerns they would have been investigated,” she said in an email to the Journal Sentinel.

But that goes against the role of the defense bar, outside experts and defense attorneys locally told the Journal Sentinel. Prosecutors have the ethical duty to share potential Brady material and serve the public, whereas defense attorneys’ obligation is to their client.

Milwaukee police began using Flock cameras in 2022. MPD has a $182,900 contract with Flock for the use of the technology. That contract is active through January 2027 and passed without requiring approval from member of the city’s Common Council, a point criticized by attendees.

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The scrutiny against Flock came despite it not being on the meeting’s agenda. Attendees held signs that said things like “GET THE FLOCK OUTTA HERE” and called for the city to be “de-Flocked.”

David Clarey is a public safety reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He can be reached at dclarey@gannett.com.



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Minneapolis, MN

Minneapolis police investigating 3 shootings within 20 minutes

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Minneapolis police investigating 3 shootings within 20 minutes


Minneapolis police say they are investigating three separate, unrelated shootings that happened within the span of about 20 minutes Thursday night.

Minneapolis police say they are investigating three separate, unrelated shootings that happened within the span of about 20 minutes Thursday night.

Minneapolis shootings

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What we know:

Authorities responded to a shooting at about 6:29 p.m. on the 400 block of Taylor Street NE. 

Less than 10 minutes later, police responded to a shooting on the 2000 block of West River Road.

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At about 6:46 p.m., police responded to a shooting on the 800 block of Franklin Ave. E.

Police say their preliminary information indicates each shooting had one victim. All injuries appear to be non-life threatening.

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Shootings not connected

What we don’t know:

Police say in their investigation, it doesn’t appear that the three shootings are related. Authorities have not made any arrests.

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The incidents remain under investigation.

Crime and Public SafetyMinneapolis



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Indianapolis, IN

How to Watch 2026 Indianapolis SX, Talladega GNCC, and MXGP of Argentina Live on TV – Racer X

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How to Watch 2026 Indianapolis SX, Talladega GNCC, and MXGP of Argentina Live on TV – Racer X


The ninth round of the 2026 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship will take place on Saturday, March 7, as Lucas Oil Stadium hosts the Indianapolis Supercross. This will be the third round of the 250SX East Division championship and will be our second Triple Crown event of the ’26 season.

Check out how to watch the Indianapolis SX below, plus check out the full race day schedule, the entry lists, injury report, track maps, AMA national numbers refresher, live timing link, and anything and everything else you need to know for Indianapolis for Saturday.

What you need to know the most for the Indianapolis SX: the Triple Crown races begin just after 7 p.m. Eastern/4 p.m. Pacific.

On Saturday, qualifying can still be seen on Race Day Live beginning at 1 p.m. EDT/10 a.m. PDT on Peacock. The Race Day Live broadcast will end with the two last chance qualifier races to determine the gate picks for the main program/night show Triple Crown races. 

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The SMX Video pass broadcast—which is available only outside of the United States—will start at the same time. Once again, there are Spanish and French broadcasts as a part of the 2026 SMX Video Pass this year, just as they were last year. 

Viewers can also listen to audio from the full night show broadcast each and every weekend of SMX in its entirety on SiriusXM Radio (with Indianapolis also starting at 7 p.m. Eastern/4 p.m. Pacific).

The Progressive Grand National Cross Country (GNCC Racing) Series is back in action this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama. The Talladega GNCC will have both Saturday’s pro ATVs (2 p.m. EST/11 a.m. PST) and Sunday’s pro bikes (1 p.m. EST/10 a.m. PST) broadcasted live by the RacerTV crew.

And the FIM Motocross World Championship (MXGP) kicks off this weekend with the MXGP of Argentina on Saturday (qualifying) and Sunday (points-paying motos). You can watch the action live on both days on MXGP-TV.com or catch the delayed broadcast of the second motos on CBS Sports (might want to DVR this with the late night time!).

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