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ByAliciaA.Caldwell The Associated Press WASHINGTON TheDrugEnforce- ment Administration is trying to stay one step ahead of synthetic drug makers, wholesalers and re- tailers as it broadens its crack- down on the growing black mar- ket product. DEA agents fanned out across the country Wednesday and made more than 150 arrests and served about 200 warrants, DEA spokes- man Rusty Payne said. The largest single operation was a statewide effort in Alabama, though agents also were active in 28 other states. Authorities also seized more than $20 million in cash and assets, the DEA said. The Treasury Department also announced the first financial sanctions against people accused of dealing in synthetic drugs. The government formally sanctioned four people it identified as Daniel Maurice Louie, Kevin Kim Louie and Francine Denise Louie — all of Canada — and Tramayne Pri- mus from Barbados. The group did not immediately respond to a request for comment submitted on one of their company websites. The government's decision to identify and sanction the four, along with four foreign companies that authorities said were used to buy and sell significant quantities of the chemicals used in many pop- ular synthetic drugs, mean U.S. citizens cannot do business with them. The Office of Foreign As- sets Control designation under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Desig- nation Act also allows the govern- ment to seize U.S. assets tied to the group and the companies. The Kingpin Act is a tool typ- ically reserved for some of the most serious players in the inter- national drug trade, including the likes of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guz- man Loera, formerly the head of Mexico's powerful and ruthless Sinaloa Cartel. The DEA has been cracking down on synthetic drugs, includ- ing Spice, Molly and so-called bath salts, since the drugs first gained widespread popularity years ago. Chemicalbans In late 2010, the agency respon- sible for enforcing federal drug laws moved to ban five chemi- cals used to make synthetic mar- ijuana blends, including K2, Spice and Blaze. Since then, drug man- ufacturers have continued to mod- ify their formulas and develop new chemical mixtures. And ev- ery time a new drug is identified by the government, foreign chem- ists are ready with a slightly modi- fied version often with a new brand name, Ferdinand Large, staff co- ordinator for DEA's Special Oper- ations Division, said. "It's an unbelievable amount of resources that these illicit chem- ists are putting into this," he added. Large said the agency was now broadly focused on Chinese chemi- cal manufacturers and the distrib- utors, wholesalers and retailers in the United States. One of the companies sanc- tioned by the Treasury Depart- ment is a Chinese pharmaceuti- cal company accused of supply- ing chemicals needed to make the drugs. There is also growing concern about where the money is going. Investigators have tracked hundreds of millions of dollars in drug proceeds being sent to Ye- men, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, Large said. "The money is going there. Where it stops we don't know," Large said. Large said it also was unclear which criminal organiza- tions may be profiting from the drug proceeds. DRUG ENFORCEMENT DEAagentstarget synthetic drugs, sellers More than 150 arrests, 200 warrants served EDANDRIESKI—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Confiscated synthetic drugs are on display at a news conference at the DEA offices in Centennial, Colo. Federal agents in 29states made more than 150arrests and served 200warrants in a nationwide crackdown on synthetic drugs. News feed WASHINGTON Within weeks, President Barack Obama's administration is set to unveil unprecedented emissions limits on power plants across the U.S., much to the dismay of many Dem- ocratic candidates who are running for election in en- ergy-producing states. Fear- ful of a political backlash, they wish their fellow Dem- ocrat in the White House would hold off until after the voting. Obama can't wait that long. Unlike the Keystone XL oil pipeline, whose review the administration has delayed, probably until after Novem- ber's elections, the clock is ticking for the power plant rules — the cornerstone of Obama's campaign to curb climate change. Unless he starts now, the rules won't be in place before he leaves office, making it easier for his successor to stop them. So even though the ac- tion could bolster Republi- can attacks against some of this year's most vulnera- ble Democrats, the adminis- tration is proceeding at full speed. Obama's counselor on climate issues, John Podesta, affirmed that the proposal will be unveiled in early June — just as this year's general election is heating up. CLIMATE CHANGE Obama to implement new emissions rules WASHINGTON President Barack Obama is remov- ing special trade benefits for Russia because the coun- try is too economically ad- vanced to need them and Moscow's involvement in Ukraine made it an appro- priate time to take the step, the White House announced Wednesday. Obama notified Congress that he plans to remove Rus- sia from the Generalized System of Preferences pro- gram, which gave Moscow a $544 million break on im- port taxes in 2012 on prod- ucts ranging from metals and minerals to tires and ce- ramic wares. The program, which al- lowed $19.9 billion in im- ports to enter the U.S. duty- free in 2012, is designed to help developing coun- tries boost their economy through trade. The program expired in July 2013, but the Obama administration sup- ports legislation under con- sideration in Congress to extend it. The White House says Russia's removal will mean its goods will be subject to normal tariff rates once Obama issues a proclama- tion, which can be no sooner than 60 days from congres- sional notification. TAX BREAKS President removing special trade benefits WASHINGTON House Re- publicans voted Wednes- day to hold a former Inter- nal Revenue Service official in contempt of Congress for refusing to testify at a pair of committee hearings about her role in the agency's tea party controversy. The House also passed a nonbinding resolution call- ing on the Justice Depart- ment to appoint a special counsel to investigate the IRS. Lois Lerner directed the IRS division that processes applications for tax-exempt status. A year ago this week, Lerner publicly disclosed that agents had improperly singled out tea party appli- cations for extra, sometimes burdensome scrutiny. An inspector general's re- port blamed poor manage- ment but found no evidence of a political conspiracy. Many Republicans in Con- gress believe otherwise. "Who's been fired over the targeting of conser- vative groups by the IRS? No one that I'm aware of," House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Wednesday. "Who's gone to jail for violating the law? When is the administration going to tell the American people the truth?" TEA PARTY Ex-IRS official held in contempt WASHINGTON Top health insurance companies told members of Congress on Wednesday that more than 80 percent of people who have signed up under the president's new health care law have gone on to pay their premiums — a necessary step for the enrollment fig- ures touted by the Obama administration to hold up. Aetna reported payment rates in "the low- to mid-80 percent range;" Wellpoint said the rate was as high as 90 percent for those whose premium had come due; the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association said 80 to 85 percent; and the Health Care Service Corporation, which sells Blue Cross Blue Shield plans in five states, pegged the rate at 83 per- cent or above. The figures were in line with what in- dividual insurers have said on earnings calls with an- alysts and elsewhere in re- cent weeks. Democrats seized on the figures disclosed at a House hearing as the latest sign that the health care law has defied its critics and is work- ing. "By any rational, reason- able measure we can call this law a success," said Rep. Di- ana DeGette, D-Colo. ACA Insurers: 80 percent of enrollees pay premiums WASHINGTON House Re- publicans on Wednes- day moved toward an elec- tion-year special investi- gation of the deadly attack on a U.S. diplomatic post in Libya, brushing aside Demo- cratic concerns over the pan- el's scope and composition. The Obama administration, meanwhile, accused Republi- cans of "political motivation" after they issued a fundrais- ing email linked to the Beng- hazi probe. Ahead of a Thursday vote to rubber-stamp the estab- lishment of the Benghazi select committee, House Speaker John Boehner vowed that the examination would be "all about getting to the truth" of the Obama administration's response to the attack and not be a par- tisan, election-year circus. "This is a serious investiga- tion," he said, accusing the president and his team of withholding the true story of how militants killed Am- bassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans on Sept. 11, 2012. Democrats pondered a boy- cott while waiting for Boehner to respond to demand from Minority Leader Nancy Pe- losi that he scrap his plan for a committee of seven Repub- licans and five Democrats. BENGHAZI GOP moves toward establishing probe By Lisa Rathke The Associated Press BURLINGTON, VT. A teenag- er's fatal shooting of a trou- bled Army veteran father who threatened his family then tossed the child a loaded gun was legally justified, a Vermont prosecutor said Wednesday. No charges will be filed against the child of Kryn Miner, 44, a veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury, who was shot and killed inside the family's Essex Junc- tion home last month. Miner had threatened to kill his four children, physically assaulted his wife and threw a loaded handgun to the teen who came to her aid. "Do you want to play the gun game?" Miner — who served in the 82nd Airborne Division and was sniper qualified — asked the teen, according to authorities. The teen said no, but fired six shots when Miner pulled another gun from a bag. Miner was hit five times. "The teenager reason- ably believed the siblings and mother were all in imminent danger of being killed or suf- feringgreatbodilyharm,"Chit- tendenCountyState'sAttorney T.J. Donovan said. Miner was armed, pointed the gun at his wife and child and "acting with an extreme indifference to the value of human life," he said. Miner had served tours of duty in Iraq, Afghanistan and Panama. Hours before he was killed, Miner, a fitness trainer who also worked as a military con- tractor, had begun acting er- ratically after attending a wed- ding with his wife and two of their children, Donovan said. It was his wife's scream that prompted the teen to go to the parents' bedroom, where the final altercation happened. Miner had three daughters and a son, ages 7 to 18. Authori- ties are not releasing the name or age of the child who fired the fatal shots. "We want to protect the pri- vacy of the young person and what we don't want to do is have this young person have to publicly answer for this act for the rest of their lives," Don- ovan said. VERMONT Fatal shooting of vet justified Prosecutor says no charges will be filed NEWS » redbluffdailynews.com Thursday, May 8, 2014 MORE ATFACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B4