Up First from NPR - Fentanyl Crackdown, Threats Of Hezbollah-Israel War, Cyber Sextortion

Episode Date: June 20, 2024

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is expected to announce new financial sanctions against individuals and organizations involved in fentanyl trafficking. Amid heightened cross border attacks, the leader of Hezbollah threatens all out war if Israel conducts military operations in Lebanon. And a growing number of teens in America, especially young boys, are falling victim to sexual extortion online.Want more comprehensive analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.Today's episode of Up First was edited by Catherine Laidlaw, Tara Neill, Hannah Block, Mohamad ElBardicy and Alice Woelfle. It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Christopher Thomas, Claire Murashima and Taylor Haney.Our technical director is Zac Coleman, with engineering support from Carleigh Strange.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The Biden administration is going after more than the fentanyl smugglers. This all comes back to the money piece. They want to disrupt the companies profiting off fentanyl. I'm Leila Faudel, that's Michelle Martin, and this is Up First from NPR News. More and more teens, especially young boys in America, are falling victim to sexual extortion online. The victims are afraid and embarrassed and feel like they have nowhere to turn. Many of these scammers are based abroad, so the FBI director is headed to Nigeria. What did he accomplish there?

And as attacks intensify on the Israeli-Lebanese border, both Israel and the Lebanese militia, Hezbollah, are warning of all-out war. Is this rhetoric or a future reality? Stay with us. We'll give you the news you need to start your day. Now Our Change will honour 100 years of the Royal Canadian Air Force and their dedicated service to communities at home and abroad. From the skies to Our Change, this $2 commemorative circulation coin marks their storied past and promising future. Find the limited edition

Royal Canadian Air Force $2 coin today. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is in Atlanta today where she announced new financial sanctions against high-level members of a Mexican cartel accused of trafficking fentanyl into the U.S. Street fentanyl kills more than 70,000 Americans a year. It also generates billions of dollars a year in black market profits. The Biden administration has been trying to disrupt the money side of international drug networks. NPR addiction correspondent Brian Mann is with us now to tell us more about this. Good morning, Brian. Good morning, Michelle. So what's the background to this and what's new today? So fentanyl is a booming business right now for Mexican drug cartels and for a lot of

these companies in China that are making the precursor fentanyl chemicals while also doing some legitimate business around the world. So over the last year, the White House has been stepping up efforts to target those companies and pinch off the flow of drug profits. The Treasury Department's already sanctioned a bunch of people and firms. And today, Secretary Yellen added top members and affiliates of one of the Mexican drug cartels to that list. The Treasury Department also released new guidance for U.S. banks and other financial institutions to help them spot this illicit drug money. Say more about the focus on the money, because I think we usually think of drug interdiction

as stopping the drugs before they cross the border. But I take it that's not really getting the job done? Yeah, you know, law enforcement agencies, Michelle, are already seizing a lot more fentanyl at the border and inside the U.S., but fentanyl is super easy and cheap to make. When cops capture a big batch of fentanyl pills, we see this on the news all the time, the cartels just churn out more, and that's seen as a relatively harmless cost of doing business. So the idea here is to try to inflict real pain and cause disruption of those fentanyl networks by seizing cash and assets and penalizing legitimate companies that are supporting this drug trade.

I spoke about this a couple weeks ago with White House drug czar Dr. Rahul Gupta. How do we address the commerce of illicit drug supply? This all comes back to the money piece, to focus on whether it's sanctions, whether it's money laundering efforts that are happening, anti-money laundering efforts. So what we heard today from Yellen is another attempt, Michelle, to try to tighten the screws, try to squeeze the money side of the fentanyl black market a little bit harder. I guess the obvious question is, why do they think this will work? Or are we seeing any evidence that this might work? We're not seeing that evidence yet. The Biden administration says

they are getting better at this, at finding and seizing fentanyl profits. Here's Assistant Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo speaking last October. We freeze and disrupt the operating capital criminals need to manufacture and transport these illicit substances. We stop or recover the proceeds from drug sales, either through the U.S. financial system or through those partner countries that are willing to work with us. But you know, Michelle, laying out that strategy is one thing and actually doing it is a lot harder. One challenge we're hearing about is crypto. A report issued by a congressional committee in April of this year found Chinese gangs getting really good at using cryptocurrencies to hide and transfer fentanyl profits. Chinese criminal gangs, some allegedly with ties to the Communist

Party, have emerged as global players at laundering fentanyl money. They've actually created what the U.S. Justice Department describes as an underground banking system where money transfers are really hard to detect. One more thing is that drug policy experts tell NPR that Mexican cartels and many Chinese companies appear to be operating with at least some protection from their national governments. So the Biden administration is moving hard on this. They think this is part of the solution to the fentanyl crisis, but no huge gains so far. Brian Mann is NPR's addiction correspondent. Brian, thank you. Thank you, Michelle. Israel and the Lebanese militant and political group Hezbollah are ratcheting up the war of words and firepower on the border.

Israeli military says it's approved plans for an offensive in Lebanon if diplomatic efforts fail to stop the conflict, which is contained for now, for the most part, with the trading of fire across the Israeli and Lebanese border. And in Lebanon, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah had stark warnings for Israel if they followed through. To hear more about what's going on here, we're joined by NPR's Jane Araf from Beirut. Jane, hello. Hi, Michelle. So, Jane, Nasrallah spoke for more than an hour yesterday. What was the main point? Well, he speaks fairly regularly, but these were his hardest-hitting remarks since the war in Gaza began last October, not just in rhetoric, but in what he was laying out.

He said Hezbollah did not want to go to war, but he warned there was a possibility that that's what the current fighting could slide into. We have to remember the Lebanese state is extremely weak, and Hezbollah was created with the help of Iran, largely to fight Israel after the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982. Nasrallah said his group is much better armed now, and as an example, he noted drone footage released this week with detailed images of potential targets in Haifa, Israel's major port city. Jane, say more about that drone footage and what's been the reaction so far in Israel. Well, Hezbollah said the video was taken by an Iranian-made surveillance drone.

It's nine minutes long and set to music. It shows high-resolution images of the port of Haifa and even individual vessels. And there are maps showing other potential target cities. Nasrallah last night said that was just a small part of what he called hours of surveillance footage they had from Israel. He gloated that with all of Israel's air defenses, the drone was able to slip through them. And he said that if there were war, Hezbollah would fight with what he said were no rules. As for reaction, Israel's foreign minister dismissed Nasrallah's remarks, saying that if

it came to war, Hezbollah would be destroyed and Lebanon severely hit. Now, Nasrallah didn't limit his remarks only to Israel. He also widened out to the Mediterranean region and specifically threatened Cyprus. What was that about? Nasrallah said Cyprus, part of the European Union, was hosting Israeli military training in its mountains, which are much like the mountains of Lebanon, and that Israeli fighter jets were using Cypriot air bases. He said this made Cyprus part of the war. Israeli officials have acknowledged in the past Israeli military training in Cyprus. Cyprus, after the speech, said it was not involved in military operations and that it was playing a humanitarian role.

But Nasrallah also made a wider point about the Mediterranean Sea. Here he is with interpretation from Iranian state TV. If they open a war in Lebanon, the situation in the Mediterranean Sea would become completely different. All of the coastline, all of the ships. And Israel also has interests in a gas field off the coast of Lebanon. So how are things likely to play out now? Analysts point out that speeches like this one on both sides are meant to act as a deterrent to escalation, and that the likelihood of that nightmare scenario Nasrallah laid out

remains low, but not impossible. As has been the case since October, though, Hezbollah has made clear that until the conflict in Gaza is solved, its conflict with Israel won't be either. That is NPS Jane Araf and Beirut Jane. Thank you. Thank you. Now, I need to tell you that this next story is one that may be upsetting to hear. It involves suicide, but it's also something parents should probably pay attention to if their kids are online. This is about sextortion, a form of online blackmail that is targeting a rapidly growing number of children in the U.S. Many of the cyber criminals are based

abroad, particularly in Nigeria, where NPR's Emmanuel Akinwotu joins us now from Lagos. Hello, Emmanuel. Hi, Michelle. Okay, so even though Leila just told us a little bit, some people may not know what sextortion is. So why don't you just start by explaining it? Well, it's a form of online extortion where people blackmail targets, either for money or other demands. And the perpetrators typically use fake profiles or AI-generated profiles even on social media. They present as potential love interests to extort explicit pictures.

And then they demand money, essentially, and threaten to share those pictures. Actually, even when the money's paid, the criminals demand more. And tragically, this is having fatal consequences. Thousands of children have been targeted in the US in the last few years and dozens have died, like 17-year-old Jordan Demay. consequences. Thousands of children have been targeted in the U.S. in the last few years, and dozens have died, like 17-year-old Jordan Demay. Can you tell us more about Jordan? Jordan was a popular high school senior in Michigan. He was just about to graduate, and he wanted to be an athlete. I spoke to Jordan's mother, Jennifer Demay-Buta,

and she told me about the day he died in March 2022. I got up for work and had seen that Jordan sent me a text message at 3.41 in the morning. It just said, Mother, I love you. I texted him back. He did not respond. He was later found dead by suicide. Initially, Jennifer was confused, but then she received a transcript of the last messages that he'd sent on Instagram. What happened was there was a group of young men based here in Lagos who pretended to be a girl based in the US and had begun messaging Jordan. Then they threatened to release the pictures of him that they'd gotten unless he sent them money. He sent them about $300 but then they wanted more. The tragic thing about the transcript is it shows how desperate he was just before he died.

He told them that he was going to kill himself, and they told him to just do it then. This all happened actually within the space of just six hours before he died. That's just awful. But Emmanuel, what's the Nigeria connection here? Why is it there, and are the authorities there doing anything about it? Well, unfortunately, there's this long history of online scams committed from here in Nigeria. This is a big, complicated issue.

Clearly, it's a major problem, but not just for victims in the US, also in Nigeria too. And it plays out in really complicated, brutal ways, especially for young men that are targeted by police. At the same time, the rise of sextortion attacks in the U.S. committed from here is a big concern. And it's partly why the director of the FBI, Chris Wray, came to Nigeria last week. He told me actually he's the first FBI director to visit here and that this issue was at the forefront of his talks with law enforcement agencies and President Bolatinubu. We're talking about kids between 10 and 17 years old typically, but we've even seen victims as young as 7 years old.

And one of the things that makes this crime so heartbreaking and difficult to detect is the victims are afraid and embarrassed. The perpetrators in this case were two brothers from Lagos who've been extradited to the U.S., have pled guilty to child sexploitation charges, and now they're awaiting sentencing. That's Emmanuel Akinwotu in Lagos. Emmanuel, thank you. Thanks, Michelle. And if you or someone you know may be considering suicide or is in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. And we have an update on a story we reported on earlier this week. During his visit to Pyongyang, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a pact with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un

to give all available military help if either is attacked. It's unclear how the agreement will affect Russia's war in Ukraine, but there have been growing concerns of weapon sales between the two nations, an allegation both sides have denied. Putin is now in Vietnam, where he's looking to boost economic ties with a communist-led government in Hanoi. Vietnam has so far avoided condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine. And that's up first for Thursday, June 20th. I'm Michelle Martin.

And I'm Leila Faldin. For your next listen, tune in to Consider This from NPR. We're just a couple of months away from the start of a new academic year. Yet many of the college-bound students who rely on federal financial aid still don't know how much money they're getting. What does that mean for their college prospects? Listen to consider this. Today's episode of Up First was edited by Catherine Laidlaw, Tara Neal, John Helton, Hannah Block, Mohamed El-Bardisi, and Alice Wolfley. It was produced by Ziad Budge, Christopher Thomas, and Taylor Haney.

We get engineering support from Carly Strange and our technical director is Zach Coleman. We hope you'll join us again tomorrow.