Cartel bust details unfolding
Cartel bust details unfolding
By Mike Ward | Thursday, October 22, 2009, 10:31 AM An Austin press conference is scheduled this afternoon to announce area arrests in a nationwide roundup of more than 300 suspected gang members in what law enforcement authorities say is the largest crackdown against a Mexican drug cartel operating in the United States. The only Austin info so far: Multiple search warrants and apprehensions have been carried out, a “significant amount” of cocaine and cash has been seized in the bust of the La Familia drug gang. Officials so far are declining comment publicly, saying an afternoon announcement of the crackdown will provide further details. In Washington, federal officials late this morning announced that 303 people in 19 states — including Texas — have been apprehended as part of the crackdown. More than 3,000 agents and officers made the arrests in a two-day sweep that netted 62 kilograms of cocaine, 729 pounds of methamphetamine, 967 pounds of marijuana, 144 weapons, 109 vehicles and two clandestine drug labs. “Project Coronado, our massive assault on the La Familia Cartel, is part of our continued fight against all of the powerful Mexico-based drug cartels,” said Michele Leonhart, acting administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. “This organization, the newest of Mexican cartels, is directly responsible for a vast majority of the methamphetamine pouring into our country across our Southwest Border, and has had a hand in fueling the cycle of violence that is wracking Mexico today.” Authorities said the massive bust is the product of a 44-month, multi-agency operation called “Project Coronado,” targeting illicit drug and crime operations of the cartel that has gained in strength since it split off from the Gulf cartel in 2006. It was formed in the 1980s in the southwestern Mexican state of Michoacan and is involved in drug trafficking, bribery, contract killings, human smuggling, extortion, murders, torture and arms trafficking, according to several U.S. investigators who are familiar with the group. According to federal officials, a New York grand jury has indicted alleged cartel leader and founder Servando Gomez-Martinez. In July, after a dozen Mexican law enforcement officers were found murdered, officials say Gomez-Martinez publicly announced his membership in La Familia and said the cartel was locked in a battle with Mexican police, according to press reports at the time. According to one federal indictment unsealed in New York, associates of La Familia based in the United States have acquired military-grade weapons, including assault weapons and ammunition, and have arranged for them to be smuggled back into Mexico for use by La Familia. Officials said suspects indicted in the crackdown face charges ranging from conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana to trafficking in illicit drugs to money laundering; and other violations of federal law In addition to Texas, states where arrests have been made or charges filed include California, Colorado, Georgia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Washington state, according to federal officials. “This unprecedented, coordinated U.S. law enforcement action - the largest ever undertaken against a Mexican drug cartel - has dealt a significant blow to La Familia’s supply chain of illegal drugs, weapons, and cash flowing between Mexico and the United States,” said U.S. Attorney General Holder. “We will not allow these cartels to operate unfettered in our country, and with the increases in cooperation between U.S. and Mexican authorities in recent years, we are taking the fight to our adversaries. We will continue to stand strong with our partners in Mexico as we work to disrupt and dismantle cartel operations on both sides of the border.” http://www.statesman.com/blogs/conte...unfolding.html |
Mammoth Takedown' of Violent Mexican Drug Gang
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Inside the U.S. Mexican Drug Ring Raids
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More than 1,100 feds, LA police conduct gang sweep
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from Drug War Chronicle, Issue #605, 10/23/09
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from Drug War Chronicle, Issue #605, 10/23/09
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Mexican Drug Hit Men Behead 10, Chop Up Bodies
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U.S. crackdown on Mexican drug cartel has Inland link
By PAUL LAROCCO The Press-Enterprise SAN BERNARDINO - Once arguably the nation's methamphetamine production capital, the Inland region has transformed into one of its most vital distribution points. That, authorities said Thursday, became even clearer with the results of this week's multi-agency "takedown" targeting one of the largest Mexican drug cartels operating in the U.S. Wednesday's coordinated strike against La Familia -- called the country's largest single-day operation targeting a Mexican cartel -- seized 728 pounds of meth during early-morning raids from Georgia to Washington. More than a fifth of it -- 156 pounds -- came from in and around the Inland region. "The area's a staging point, a flashpoint, whatever you want to call it," said Stephen Azzam, the assistant special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration's Riverside district office. "You see it all the time." The reasons, officials said at a Thursday news conference at the San Bernardino County sheriff's headquarters, range from the area's proximity to the border to its multiple interstate crossings. In all, 300 trafficking suspects were arrested by federal and local agents who fanned out from 38 cities. Locally, there were 25 arrests. Some of the Inland men and women suspected of trafficking drugs were jailed in lieu of $5 million bail. The local portion of the investigation, dubbed "Operation Tecate," began in June 2008, and in those 16 months netted about 500 pounds of meth, 128 pounds of cocaine and $531,000 in cash. "We think we've made a significant impact," said San Bernardino County sheriff's Lt. Hector Guerra, a member of the Inland Regional Narcotics Enforcement Team, which led the local operation. On display as officials announced the operation were tightly wrapped plastic packages of meth, some up to 10 pounds each. A photograph showed a children's backpack filled with drugs. As the majority of large-scale meth production has moved outside of U.S. borders, La Familia is believed to have become one of the top suppliers of the drug to the United States, authorities said, and is increasingly dealing in other narcotics. Over 44 months, the totals for the nationwide effort include 1,178 arrests, and seizures of 2,729 pounds of meth, 4,409 pounds of cocaine, 29 pounds of heroin and 16,390 pounds of marijuana. Nearly 400 weapons, from semi-automatic handguns to high-powered rifles, and $32.9 million in cash also were seized. VIOLENT CARTEL La Familia, based in Michoacan, Mexico, has earned a reputation as one of the most violent cartels, officials said, using military-grade weapons to carry out kidnappings and killings of Mexican law enforcement. There has been no reported violence attributed to the cartel in the Inland region, Guerra said. "Fortunately, most of that stuff has stayed down south," Guerra said after the news conference. The cartel likes to think of itself as a "Robin Hood" for its home state, Azzam said. It doesn't believe in providing meth to Mexicans. But funneling the drug to U.S. users and having only cartel leaders reap the profits doesn't qualify as altruism, he said. "They're not taking from the rich," Azzam said. "It's just greed." The cartel's tentacles extend coast to coast and deep into America's heartland, with arrests announced Thursday from Boston to Seattle and from St. Paul, Minn., to Raleigh, N.C. Drug deals went down in Oklahoma parking lots, suppliers were advised to weld drugs into tire rims for transport, and in the Dallas and Seattle areas, dozens of children were removed from houses where authorities found drugs, guns or cash derived from drug sales. INLAND INVESTIGATION The Inland narcotics task force is made up of members of both San Bernardino and Riverside counties' sheriff's departments, San Bernardino and Redlands police, the DEA and the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. The teams served 32 search warrants Wednesday. Leads developed in the local investigation led to arrests and seizures in San Jose, the Central Valley and Washington state, among other areas. The cartel's two largest bases of operations were Southern California and Dallas, Azzam said. "Information we put forward was instrumental in a lot of the stuff that took place across the country," he said. Many details of the operation were withheld, such as the intelligence methods used and the specific locations targeted, with officials citing an ongoing probe. |
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