Verdict with Ted Cruz - May 08, 2025


BONUS POD： Operation Restore Justice Exposes Child Predators plus Largest Drug Seizure in US History


Episode Stats

Length

13 minutes

Words per Minute

146.28154

Word Count

1,965

Sentence Count

149


Summary


Transcript

00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.
00:00:02.500 Guaranteed human.
00:00:05.660 You can't comprehend that cities and states would be so demented to do something like this,
00:00:13.360 to let these violent criminals.
00:00:15.260 Trende Agua is a terrorist organization.
00:00:17.380 Sinaloa is a terrorist organization.
00:00:19.080 MS-13 is a terrorist organization.
00:00:21.520 You're listening to the 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson.
00:00:25.460 Good Thursday morning.
00:00:26.660 Nice to have you with us on the 47 Morning Update.
00:00:29.220 Ben Ferguson with you, and we have two major stories for you this morning
00:00:33.520 coming from the Trump administration.
00:00:35.920 The Attorney General Pam Bondi and the FBI Director Cash Patel
00:00:39.720 announcing the results of Operation Restore Justice,
00:00:43.360 a nationwide initiative targeting sex child predators.
00:00:48.160 And the big question is, how were there so many people to catch,
00:00:51.340 and why did the Democrats do nothing to stop this when they were in charge?
00:00:55.480 We'll have the details on that story for you first.
00:00:58.040 Also, in another massive win, the Sinaloa Cartel was behind the largest fentanyl seizure in U.S. history.
00:01:07.200 And the Trump administration is letting Americans know to be careful of the pills on the black market,
00:01:14.340 as the Sinaloa Cartel is flooding America at record rates with drugs that are killing Americans.
00:01:21.540 It's the 47 Morning Update, and it starts right now.
00:01:25.280 Story number one.
00:01:26.380 The question every American should be asking themselves right now is this.
00:01:31.380 Why did our federal government not act sooner?
00:01:35.220 Why did the Biden administration turn a blind eye on purpose to the horrific activities that were happening in this country that they knew about?
00:01:45.220 Well, thank goodness, with Donald Trump's leadership and the Attorney General Pam Bondi and the FBI Director Cash Patel,
00:01:51.580 they have announced the results of Operation Restore Justice,
00:01:55.800 something that could have been done under the last administration.
00:01:59.540 It's a nationwide initiative targeting child sex predators.
00:02:04.400 And over a five-day period, the operation led to the arrest of 205 individuals.
00:02:10.300 And the most heartbreaking part of all is the rescue of 115 children across the United States of America.
00:02:18.860 The scope of the operation was incredible.
00:02:21.720 The operation involved all 55 FBI-filled offices, the Department of Justice Child Exploitation Section,
00:02:30.620 and the U.S. Attorney's offices nationwide.
00:02:34.000 Again, why did the Democrats and the Biden administration not protect these children?
00:02:38.820 There was also some shocking arrests, including a Minnesota state trooper and an Army reservist
00:02:44.800 that was arrested for allegedly producing child sexual abuse material while in uniform.
00:02:51.340 Also, a former Metropolitan Police Department officer in Washington, D.C.,
00:02:56.500 previously convicted of sex offenses,
00:02:59.340 was charged with exploiting additional victims while unsupervised released.
00:03:04.620 And that's not all.
00:03:05.560 An undocumented individual from Mexico was arrested in Virginia
00:03:09.580 for allegedly transporting a minor across state lines for sexual purposes.
00:03:14.940 I go back to the original question.
00:03:16.980 Why did our federal government and the Biden administration purposely look the other way
00:03:21.760 while they knew this was going on?
00:03:24.120 Luckily, Pam Bonney, the attorney general, had this to say about the operation.
00:03:28.440 What I will tell you is these depraved human beings,
00:03:31.960 if convicted, will face the maximum penalty in prison, some life.
00:03:38.900 We will find you, we will arrest you, and we will charge you.
00:03:42.660 If you are online targeting a child, you will not escape us.
00:03:48.140 The FBI and the Department of Justice will come after you, and we will prosecute you.
00:03:53.600 Parents, you have to know.
00:03:56.180 This is so serious.
00:03:57.400 Parents, your child has no right to privacy on the Internet.
00:04:01.080 None.
00:04:01.560 You have to monitor what your kids are doing,
00:04:05.100 whether they're playing games on the Internet, on social media,
00:04:09.780 any other websites that children, teenagers frequent.
00:04:14.180 An online predator can find them.
00:04:17.180 I always say it's from instant message to instant nightmare.
00:04:21.220 Parents, they're talking to your kids like they're other children, and they're not.
00:04:25.880 They're predators.
00:04:26.640 They pose as children.
00:04:28.580 They get them sometimes to post explicit pictures of themselves after they talk to them.
00:04:34.320 And then, in some cases, they even try to blackmail the children.
00:04:37.900 The suicide rate among teens ages 14 to 17 has increased as a result of this as well,
00:04:46.960 because teens are taken advantage of, and they're manipulated online by child predators.
00:04:52.880 So, all of you being here today and covering this is so important, because parents need to know.
00:04:59.620 You've got to talk to your kids.
00:05:01.100 They think they're talking to other children, but most of the time, they're not.
00:05:05.500 And that's not all.
00:05:06.820 A major warning coming from the FBI Director, Kash Patel.
00:05:11.220 As he highlighted the operations message, making it clear,
00:05:14.900 we're coming for you if you are harming children.
00:05:18.000 Here's what he had to say as well.
00:05:20.100 As the FBI Director, I'm humbled to leave some of the greatest men and women in law enforcement,
00:05:25.740 and I want to thank our 55 field offices, our 90-plus United States Attorneys offices,
00:05:30.980 our CIOS section, our CRIM division here at the Department of Justice,
00:05:34.580 and our field offices throughout the country with lawyers and prosecutors and agents
00:05:38.820 working tirelessly on some of the harshest criminality we've ever seen.
00:05:42.960 They don't take breaks because our children deserve a free and open society.
00:05:49.300 I also want to just take a moment to emphasize the priority of this Department of Justice and this FBI.
00:05:58.440 Our children.
00:05:59.560 If you harm our children, you will be given no sanctuary.
00:06:03.780 There is no place we will not come to hunt you down.
00:06:06.820 There is no place we will not look for you.
00:06:08.900 And there is no cage we will not put you in should you do harm to our children.
00:06:14.460 The prioritization of this administration and General Bondi has made it abundantly clear to child predators.
00:06:20.780 You will be hunted down and you will be prosecuted.
00:06:24.320 And that is a refreshing thing to hear for the men and women who do this work tirelessly.
00:06:29.620 And it's also an acknowledgment of the safety that we look forward to bringing America.
00:06:34.240 As the Attorney General mentioned, there are a couple of cases worth highlighting.
00:06:40.800 People in places of public trust have violated not only the law, but that public trust.
00:06:48.060 To include teachers, law enforcement personnel, and other professionals.
00:06:53.860 That we look to safeguard our children have not only violated the law, but violated the trust.
00:06:59.480 First, in Minneapolis, defendant Jeremy Francis Plonsky, a Minneapolis state trooper and former Army Reservedist,
00:07:06.460 was arrested for producing child sexual abuse material while in uniform.
00:07:11.280 Not anymore.
00:07:12.080 In Norfolk, Virginia, defendant Jose Alexis Valdez Sosa, an illegal immigrant from Mexico,
00:07:18.080 again, allegedly arrested for transporting a minor across state lines.
00:07:22.980 No more.
00:07:23.400 Another example, right here in Washington, D.C., in the Metropolitan Police Department,
00:07:28.960 Officer Linwood Barnhill, a former already convicted sex offender,
00:07:33.520 was arrested again for exploiting more victims, more children, while on supervised release.
00:07:40.260 These are just three examples that show you the extent and the depravity of these horrific crimes.
00:07:47.040 And we need to team up together with the American public to find the rest.
00:07:51.200 I want to give a special thanks to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children for the tireless work they do in partnering with us.
00:07:57.900 And again, I want to thank the Department of Justice and all these folks here.
00:08:01.180 And Pam, thank you for never wavering to defend our children.
00:08:04.840 Now, this operation is not over.
00:08:07.180 It is part of Project Safe Childhood.
00:08:09.880 It's a DOJ initiative launched to make sure that we combat child sexual exportation and abuse.
00:08:16.240 The DOJ is collaborating with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
00:08:21.960 And they are encouraging you, the public, to report suspected exploitation through established hotlines and online reporting tools.
00:08:31.300 One thing is for sure, the Trump administration is not going to turn a blind eye to this.
00:08:36.220 And they are going after these predators wherever they are.
00:08:39.600 Next, story number two.
00:08:40.860 The White House has made it very clear that when it comes to law and order, they are a full court press and a team that is working together.
00:08:49.000 Whether it's the Attorney General's office, the FBI, and local law enforcement.
00:08:53.620 And now we have the largest fentanyl seizure in U.S. history tied to the Sinaloa Drug Cartel.
00:09:02.160 The Attorney General coming out and saying a cell of the Sinaloa cartel operated in four major U.S. cities.
00:09:08.600 The cartel conducted a large-scale drug distribution operation throughout the western part of the country that led federal authorities to the largest fentanyl seizure ever.
00:09:19.780 There was an illegal alien from Mexico that led the group in the U.S.
00:09:23.980 And the group ran one of the largest fentanyl and drug distribution networks the country has ever seen.
00:09:29.740 Documents from the U.S. Department of Justice are now revealing.
00:09:32.620 The Sinaloa cartel boss running this fentanyl empire, as it was described today, from Oregon.
00:09:40.300 That should tell you everything you need to know.
00:09:43.140 Oregon's sanctuary policies kept this man safe.
00:09:47.560 Pam Bondi making it clear in her statements that this is a problem and it's taking the lives of countless Americans.
00:09:55.660 The number one killer of fentanyl in this country is those between the ages of 18 and 34.
00:10:01.300 And she had a warning for the American people to tell your kids and your grandkids about fake pills that are hitting the markets at record pace.
00:10:11.740 The DEA seized 11.5 kilos of fentanyl, including an astounding approximately 3 million fentanyl pills.
00:10:24.080 The largest seizure in our nation's history.
00:10:27.860 These are the pills in the bags right there.
00:10:30.260 The main, bottom right, the head of this organization, Sinaloa organization, here in the country illegally, six of these guys and women here in the country illegally.
00:10:42.440 His name is Alberto Salazar Amaya.
00:10:45.580 He is the leader and he was living in Salem, Oregon.
00:10:49.500 With him, they got millions of dollars, cash, cars, but the drugs were in Albuquerque, Phoenix, and Utah.
00:10:57.440 That's how insulated these drug dealer cartel leaders make themselves.
00:11:04.700 This was an incredible operation and that's why I wanted all of you here behind me.
00:11:10.620 It took months and months of work, investigation, leading up to smaller buys, smaller cases, to get this massive amount of drugs and guns off our streets.
00:11:23.760 Five million dollars, five million dollars approximately in cash, 35 kilos of methamphetamine, 35 kilos of meth, 7.5 kilos of cocaine, 4.5 kilos of heroin, 49 rifles and pistols, all shown in the pictures.
00:11:41.680 And then, of course, the three million dollars, these pills were stamped as oxycodone.
00:11:49.940 Let that sink in.
00:11:51.100 Three million pills going on our streets.
00:11:55.240 Three million pills, the streets of our country, laced with fentanyl, labeled as oxycodone.
00:12:00.680 And they were in all different strengths of fentanyl within them.
00:12:06.460 This operation was made possible by over 55,000 hours of law enforcement investigation.
00:12:15.580 And this is a really dangerous job that these DEA agents face every day.
00:12:20.640 But they are getting very dangerous drugs off of our streets each day.
00:12:27.000 As Pam Bondi said, this historic drug seizure led by the DEA is a significant blow against the Sinaloa cartel.
00:12:34.680 That removes poison from our streets and protects American citizens from the scourge of fentanyl.
00:12:41.320 The Attorney General also making it clear that she has the Trump administration behind her, saying that we must continue to fight these cartels that have been declared by Donald Trump a terrorist organization.
00:12:54.400 A designation that should have been done years ago by the Biden administration.
00:12:58.860 But instead, Democrats are giving them sanctuary in their cities.
00:13:04.260 Thank you for listening to the 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson.
00:13:08.000 Please make sure you hit subscribe wherever you're listening to this podcast right now.
00:13:13.780 And for more in-depth news, also subscribe to the Ben Ferguson podcast.
00:13:18.240 And we will see you back here tomorrow.
00:13:22.260 This is an iHeart Podcast.
00:13:25.120 Guaranteed Human.