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 News from Around the Americas | September 2007 
Drug Smuggling Probe Yields Dozens of Arrests
 Dana Littlefield - San Diego Union-Tribune
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 |  | We went after several major players, high-level traffickers.
- District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis |  | |
San Diego, CA – More than 40 people accused of smuggling illegal drugs across the U.S.-Mexico border have been arrested as a result of a multiagency sweep, authorities announced yesterday.
The suspects, most of whom are Mexican nationals, were arrested after a six-month undercover investigation targeting a drug ring that originated in Tijuana. The suspects are believed to be “independent contractors” who bought drugs from larger cartels to sell throughout San Diego County.
The organization's leaders used proceeds from drug sales to buy land and build expensive homes in Acapulco, authorities said. The suspects now face charges in state and federal court, including drug smuggling, drug trafficking and conspiracy.
Several people arrested pleaded not guilty to felony charges yesterday in San Diego Superior Court. If convicted, they could be sent to prison for up to 12 years.
More than a dozen warrants were served from San Ysidro to Ramona, prosecutors said, resulting in the seizure of 15 pounds of heroin, 3 pounds of cocaine and 30 pounds of methamphetamine.
Law enforcement officials also seized weapons and vehicles, as well as $510,000 cash.
“We went after several major players, high-level traffickers,” District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis said at a news conference yesterday.
Dumanis' office participated in the undercover operation, dubbed “Trapped Under ICE,” along with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Chula Vista Police Department. The investigation began in March.
Prosecutors said 44 people were identified as a result of the sweep, most of whom have been arrested. About five suspects remain at large.
Eighty percent of the methamphetamine that enters the United States comes from Mexico, Frank Marwood, an assistant special agent with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said during the news conference.
Although the suspects are not considered to be members of larger drug cartels, they “were no mom and pop organization,” Marwood said. He said the suspects brought drugs across the border “ any way they could,” including strapped to their bodies and hidden in vehicles.
go to originalDana Littlefield: (619) 542-4590; dana.littlefield@uniontrib.com |
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