GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Two Colombian nationals are facing charges after being accused of conspiring to move large amounts of cocaine into the United States, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan Timothy VerHey.

According to an indictment, from November 2024 through June 24, 2025, Carlos Andres Rueda Ipia, or “Indio,” and Manuel Augusto Munoz Orozco, or “Gordo,” conspired with each other and others to distribute and import five kilograms or more of cocaine into the United States from Colombia.

The pair are also accused of distributing five kilograms or more of cocaine in Colombia on March 13, 2025, “having reasonable cause to believe the cocaine would be unlawfully imported into the United States.”

“We worked with our international law enforcement partners to extradite these two men to face justice here because we want to send this message: if you send drugs into our community, we will come for you no matter where you are,” VerHey said. “I look forward to proving the guilt of these two defendants before a West Michigan jury.”

Rueda Ipia and Munoz Orozco were extradited to the United States on Thursday, and made their first appearance in court in Grand Rapids on Friday.

If convicted, the pair face a mandatory minimum of 10 years and up to life in prison, according to VerHey.

“Let this be a warning, if you choose to traffic cocaine into the United States, you should expect to be hunted down, arrested, and brought into an American courtroom—no matter where you try to hide,” DEA Detroit Division Special Agent in Charge Joseph O. Dixon added. “The DEA will relentlessly pursue transnational drug traffickers, dismantle their criminal enterprises, and ensure they face the full weight of the American justice system.”

For Kent County Sheriff’s Office Undersheriff Bryan Muir, working with federal and international partners is necessary to keep people accountable.

“Drug trafficking on this scale crosses jurisdictions and international borders, and working with our federal and international partners is necessary to hold those responsible accountable,” he said. “Having a KCSO detective assigned to the DEA Task Force gives us a direct role in these investigations, improves information sharing, and helps keep dangerous drugs out of West Michigan.”

The DEA is investigating this case with help from the Kent County Sheriff’s Office, the Grand Rapids Police Department and Michigan State Police.

International assistance includes DEA offices in Bogota, Colombia, and Vienna, Austria, as well as the Colombian National Police, the Austrian Bundeskriminalamt and the Austrian Landeskriminalamt, according to the attorney’s office.

NEW YORK (AP) — Millions of people in the Great Lakes, Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states muddled through another day of unhealthy air from uncontrolled wildfires on Friday, as smoke enveloped the nation’s capital in a gloomy, eerie haze.

Air quality warnings were expected to remain in effect through Saturday across a wide swath of the U.S., but there’s potential for temporary relief with rains and storms forecast over a chunk of the affected region over the weekend.

The smoky conditions won’t be gone anytime soon, though, as fires burn unchecked across a remote region of Canada, cautioned Bob Oravec, a lead forecaster at the National Weather Service based in Maryland. Wildfires in a wilderness area in Minnesota are also contributing to the smoke.

“The source of the smoke is going to continue on for certainly a week, probably,” he said. “So in some form, there’s going to be smoke that gets transported from the fires downstream, and it’s just going to depend upon which way the wind’s blowing as to where the smoke is going to affect the most.”

On Friday, communities in Minnesota, Michigan and Illinois closest to the Canadian border and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Minnesota again registered some of the worst air quality in the world, according to IQAir, an air quality monitoring website.

Not far behind them was Washington, D.C., where the thick smoke created eerie scenes. The Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial and other national landmarks could be seen enveloped in a thick, orange-hued haze in the morning.

“Wow that Canadian smoke haze is no joke,” Stewart Verdery, a former assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, wrote on X as he shared a panorama of D.C. at sunrise. “Almost nothing visible – no sun, no monuments, no Reagan Airport.”

Air in and around Washington was expected to go from bad to worse as the day progressed, reaching “very unhealthy” and potentially “hazardous” levels on the air quality index, regional officials said.

People, particularly those with heart or lung disease, older adults and children, were urged to limit or avoid going outside as much as possible until air quality improved.

There was also concern in the New York City area about how the foul air might impact the World Cup final match between soccer powerhouses Spain and Argentina at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Sunday.

Oravec said winds will continue pushing the wildfire smoke east in the U.S., though conditions should be better on game day Sunday than on Saturday.

Just a day earlier, a thick haze tinged with orange and yellow darkened skies across several states and partly obscured Manhattan’s skyline.

Officials from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and other Northeast states distributed free K95 face masks, canceled outdoor programming and opened libraries and other public buildings as cooling centers where people could get a respite from the sooty air.

As Friday progressed, air quality measures improved from “unhealthy” to “moderate” in some places in and around New York City.

A strong sun broke through a thin veil of smoke, and large chunks of clear blue sky were visible across much of the region by Friday afternoon.

Saturday brings a high chance of thunderstorms across much of the Northeast and mid-Atlantic, which will help dampen the bad air.

How long the reprieve lasts depends on what happens hundreds of miles north, as some 100 wildfires burn without end in sight, largely in the Ontario area in Canada. In the U.S., officials have closed the Boundary Waters while battling multiple fires.

Long-term exposure to smoky conditions can complicate existing health problems and lead to chronic and deadly issues, including respiratory illness, cardiovascular and neurological diseases and premature death.

A coalition of hemp businesses filed a federal lawsuit Thursday in an attempt to halt a statewide ban on intoxicating hemp products from going into effect in November.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District, claims the ban state lawmakers passed this spring contains “unconstitutionally vague” definitions for hemp and marijuana.

Craig Katz, government relations and compliance manager for one of the plaintiffs, St. Louis-based MNG 2005, Inc., said the problem begins with lawmakers’ lack of understanding about the cannabis industry.

“A lot of this stuff is kind of in the weeds,” Katz said. “It’s very difficult to understand. And when people are trying to legislate it, if they don’t understand it, you come up with something like HB2641, which doesn’t make a whole heck of a lot of sense.”

The coalition includes MNG, the parent company of 55 CBD Kratom stores nationwide, the Missouri Hemp Trade Association, and a Wisconsin-based hemp business, Lifted Liquids Inc.

The bill in question was among the first Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe signed this year and will take all intoxicating hemp products off the shelves starting Nov. 12 — including THC seltzers currently sold in bars and grocery stores.

The legislation largely aligns state law with the upcoming federal ban that Congress approved last year.

Under Missouri’s bill, if Congress reverses course and decides to allow the sale of these products, the state would only permit them in licensed marijuana dispensaries. And if Congress delays the ban for a couple of years, Missouri law would still ban all products, except for intoxicating beverages.

It also tasks Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway with enforcement.

Kehoe, Hanaway, and Sarah Wilson, director of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, which oversees the state’s marijuana program, are the named defendants.

Hanaway’s spokeswoman said the office had not been served with the lawsuit. Kehoe’s office and DHSS declined to comment since it’s pending litigation.

Gov. Mike Kehoe signs a bill placing restrictions on intoxicating hemp products in his office on April 23 (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent).

Similar bills have been debated since 2023, but have failed to pass. Without regulations, intoxicating hemp products with as much as 1,000 mg of THC are currently sold in smoke shops — outside of Missouri’s licensed marijuana dispensaries.

The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Dave Hinman, a Republican from O’Fallon, said the legislation largely gives state law enforcement and prosecutors the authority to enforce the federal hemp ban after Nov. 12.

“ I believe this is the last-ditch effort for the hemp industry,” Hinman said. “HB2641 passed the Missouri House, Senate, and was signed by the governor. It was vetted throughout the entire process. I don’t believe this Hail Mary will get the results the Hemp Trade Association wants, and Missouri will mirror the federal government.”

The lawsuit argues that the bill defines the same products as both “hemp” and “marijuana” in different provisions, which leaves businesses, law enforcement and prosecutors confused about what is legal.

“Because unlicensed marijuana activity is a crime in Missouri, that confusion carries criminal consequences,” states the coalition’s press release announcing the lawsuit.

While the bill “promises” not to interfere with interstate hemp commerce, the coalition notes that it also restricts who may transport hemp products through the state, the press release states.

And it contains effective date provisions “so convoluted that businesses cannot determine which products are covered or when,” it said.

The coalition believes the “confusing” definitions will also take non-intoxicating CBD products off Missouri shelves.

“This isn’t consumer protection,” said Jay Patel, the association’s president. “It’s the elimination of an entire legal industry coupled with a government-mandated monopoly.”