North America

A New York police officer who worked an off-duty job as a bodyguard for the wife of drug lord Joaqu´ın “El Chapo” Guzma´ n faces drug charges after he was accused of accepting cash in exchange for police protection in a cocaine operation. Ishmael Bailey, 36, was arraigned on five counts, including criminal sale and possession of a controlled substance, receiving bribes and official misconduct. The 12-year veteran of the force was suspended without pay after his arrest. If convicted, he would face up to 15 years in prison. Prosecutors mentioned his work for Emma Coronel Aispuro, the wife of the Sinaloa Cartel boss, escorting her to and from the Brooklyn federal courthouse in July, when her husband was sentenced. Bailey’s lawyer, Jeffrey Cohen, said his client’s side jobs are “irrelevant”.

The calls started with reports of an unconscious man in the south side of Pittsburgh wearing an orange wristband. He was taken to a hospital. In another call, from about two blocks away in an apartment building on the Monongahela River, a resident reported a man unconscious in a lift. The resident pulled him out and tried CPR before police and paramedics tried to revive the man, who also wore an orange wristband. He was pronounced dead at the scene, Chris Togneri, a city public safety spokesman, said. Then, in the same building, authorities discovered two more dead men and three other victims, all with the same orange wristbands. Police believe the men were at a venue together and gathered at an apartment after-party, where they took drugs.