May
1996
OPERATION
ZORRO II
On May 2, 1996, federal,
state, and local agents successfully completed a unique Organized Crime
Drug Enforcement Task Force operation code-named "Zorro II." It was significant
in that it simultaneously dismantled both the organization that owned
the cocaine, as well as a second organization that ran the transportation
system. It was the first coordinated multi-district enforcement action
taken as part of the Southwest Border Initiative.
Cocaine was being
shipped from Colombia to Mexico, where a transportation and distribution
organization smuggled it across the border. Once in the United States,
the cocaine was stored in the Los Angeles area for distribution by representatives
of the owners from Colombia, who delivered it to wholesale and retail
buyers in such cities as Miami, Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, Richmond,
and Newark. The cash receipts were then shipped to Colombia and Mexico.
Among those taken
into custody were key Cali mafia figures Mauricio Gutierrez and Hernan
Aquilera and Rafael Alapiaco, the alleged organizer of the transportation
network based in Mexico. Authorities also arrested Jorge Valazquez, a
New York City police officer and a sergeant in the National Guard, who
was the alleged leader of a Chicago-based distribution network.
Zorro II was unique
because over 40 state and local police agencies, the DEA, the FBI, U.S.
Attorney's Offices, and seven other federal agencies across the country
combined resources and expertise in this cooperative effort. Operation
Zorro II was also significant because it demonstrated that drug trafficking
is a seamless continuum reaching from Colombia, through Mexico, to the
streets and neighborhoods of the United States.
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