Galveston cruise ship passenger sentenced to prison for attempted strangling
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GALVESTON, Texas (KTRK) A passenger who departed Galveston on a cruise ship in 2018 with a woman he later tried to strangle and suffocate while on-board has been sentenced to federal prison for the crime.
Hector Fernando Blanco, 45, was ordered to serve three years in prison after he pleaded guilty to the attack, which happened approximately 45 miles off the coast of Galveston in the Gulf of Mexico, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas. No excuse can justify Hector Blanco s violent actions that turned a dream vacation into a dreadful nightmare for his victim, FBI Special Agent in Charge Perrye K. Turner said in a statement. I am extremely proud of FBI special agents in the Texas City Resident Agency and our victim specialists who provided compassionate support to the brave survivor who reported this crime.
A second alleged senior leader of a vast drug syndicate has been arrested, a Thai narcotics official said, as a transnational dragnet tightens on the Sam Gor group, which police say dominates the $91 billion annual Asia Pacific drug trade.
The October arrest of Hong Kong citizen Lee Chung Chak in Bangkok preceded last month s high-profile arrest in the Netherlands of Tse Chi Lop, a China-born Canadian national who police suspect is the top leader of the syndicate, also called The Company .
Mr Lee, 65, is a former prison mate of Mr Tse s, suspected of being involved in drug trafficking for four decades.
Story by Reuters
A Thai soldier guards bags of methamphetamine pills in this file photograph from June 2019. (CNN)A second senior leader of a vast drug syndicate has been arrested, a Thai narcotics official said, as a transnational dragnet tightens on the Sam Gor group, which police say dominates the $70 billion annual Asia Pacific drug trade.
The October arrest of Hong Kong citizen Lee Chung Chak in Bangkok preceded last month s high-profile arrest in the Netherlands of Tse Chi Lop, a China-born Canadian national who police suspect is the top leader of the syndicate, also called The Company.
Lee, 65, is a former prison mate of Tse s suspected of being involved in drug trafficking for four decades. A 2018 Australian Federal Police (AFP) document reviewed by Reuters outlining the top 19 targets in the syndicate described Lee as a senior project manager responsible for big ventures of border controlled drugs.
A second senior leader of a vast drug syndicate has been arrested, a Thai narcotics official said, as a transnational dragnet tightens on the Sam Gor group, which police say dominates the $70 billion annual Asia Pacific drug trade.