FEDERAL
AGENTS DISMANTLE INTERNATIONAL DRUG TRAFFICKING ORGANIZATION
$2
MILLION REWARD OFFERED LEADING TO THE
ARREST OR CONVICTION OF DRUG TRAFFICKERS
WASHINGTON,
D.C. - Attorney General Janet Reno, DEA Administrator Donnie Marshall,
U.S. Customs Service Commissioner Raymond Kelly, and FBI Director Louis
Freeh today announced the arrest of over fifty individuals in ten cities
as the result of "Operation Impunity II," a nationwide investigation
targeting cocaine and marijuana trafficking between Mexico and the United
States.
Prior
to today's arrests, Operation Impunity II had resulted in 82 arrests
and the seizure of 5,266 kilograms of cocaine, 9,708 pounds of marijuana,
and approximately $10,890,295 in U.S. currency.
"The
success of Operation Impunity II - as well as the earlier successes
in Operation Limelight and Operation Impunity I - was largely the result
of the outstanding coordination between federal, state, and local law
enforcement officials and prosecutors across the country," said Attorney
General Janet Reno.
Principal
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Wendy Chamberlin also announced
a reward of up to two-million dollars for the arrest or conviction of
Mexican drug trafficker Osiel Cardenas-Guillen or his two lieutenants,
Juan Manuel Garza Rendon and Adan Medrano. U.S. Attorney Mervyn Mosbacher
in Brownsville, Texas, today unsealed an indictment charging, Cardenas-Guillen
and seven other members of his organization with conspiracy to distribute
drugs and assault on federal agents as a result of the Organized Crime
Drug Enforcement Task Force's (OCDETF) investigation "Operation Cazadores."
"Through
our worldwide counter narcotics program, and by working closely with
our friends and colleagues in the law enforcement community we plan
to win the fight against drugs," said Assistant Secretary of State Wendy
Chamberlin.
Operation
Impunity 11 was coordinated by the Special Operations Division, a multi
agency law enforcement program comprised of attorneys from the Department
of Justice's Criminal Division, and agents and analysts from the Drug
Enforcement Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation, United
States Customs Service, and the Internal Revenue Service.
Federal
agents, supported by local and state police agencies, carried out the
arrests early this morning in Brownsville, McAllen, Houston, Chicago,
Columbus (Ohio), Louisville (Mississippi), Memphis, and New York.
The
individuals arrested face a variety of federal charges for their involvement
in a wide ranging conspiracy to smuggle thousands of pounds of cocaine
and marijuana from Mexico, across the southwest border into Texas, for
distribution throughout the United States.
Operation
Impunity 11 is the third phase of an investigation that began in August
1996, under the code name Operation Limelight. The original investigation
focused on the Amado Carrillo-Fuentes organization, and resulted in
43 arrests and the seizure of $7,395,579 in U.S. currency, 4,012 kilograms
of cocaine, and 10,846 pounds of marijuana.
At
the conclusion of Operation Limelight, the Special Operations Division
initiated "Operation Impunity I, which targeted the remnants of the
Carrillo-Fuentes organization by focusing on several major Mexican traffickers
who were controlling cocaine and marijuana transportation routes into
the United States. That investigation also sought to identify the Colombian
sources of supply who were using the Mexican transporters to ship their
cocaine into the United States through the Reynosa corridor in South
Texas. Operation Impunity I resulted in 123 arrests and the seizure
of 12,434 kilograms of cocaine, 6,177 pounds of marijuana, and approximately
$19,031,751 in U.S. currency.
In
late 1999, federal investigators obtained evidence that the same organization
had reorganized itself with new distribution cell managers in the United
States and organizational command and control elements in Mexico. In
addition to remnants from the Carrillo-Fuentes organization, agents
learned that some members of the Mexican Gulf Cartel had also become
associated with the organization, including Osiel Cardenas-Guillen,
allegedly a former Gulf Cartel lieutenant.
Cardenas-Guillen
is reputed to be a leading figure in the Matamoros drug trade. He is
charged with direct responsibility for a June 9, 1999, assault on a
Cameron County Texas Sheriff s investigator working undercover for the
U.S. Customs Service in Brownsville, Texas. Cardenas-Guillen is also
charged with assault on an FBI agent and a DEA agent in Matamoros, Mexico,
on November 9, 1999.
"We
are sending a clear and strong message that no one can threaten or harm
a federal agent with impunity," said DEA Administrator Donnie Marshall.
"Make no mistake, if you harm a special agent, we will spare no effort
to ensure that you are brought to justice."
On
March 14, 2000, a federal grand jury in Brownsville, Texas, returned
a sealed indictment charging Cardenas-Guillen and his closest associates
with two drug-related offenses and with the June 1999 and November 1999
assaults. The indictment of Cardenas-Guillen was the result of Operation
Cazadores, a two-year investigation conducted by the U.S. Customs Service,
the Federal Bureau of Investigation, along with the Drug Enforcement
Administration, the Cameron County Sheriffs Office, the Brownsville
Police Department and the Texas Department of Public Safety. Federal
agents have been working closely with the Procuraderia General de la
Republica (PGR), the Mexican Attorney General's Office, in their efforts
to capture Cardenas-Guillen and his associates.
"Through
the indictment and $2 million dollar reward announced today, we are
turning the tables on a predator who has terrorized the public and targeted
the police," said U.S. Customs Service Commissioner Raymond Kelly.
"Today's
arrests represent a major blow to a violent international drug trafficking
operation," said FBI Director Louis Freeh. "Moreover, these charges
send a strong message to those that would try to intimidate law enforcement
officers carrying out their duties."
In
addition to the domestic enforcement activity, the United States Government
today presented provisional arrest warrants for extradition in Mexico
and the Dominican Republic requesting the arrest of eight Mexican nationals
in Mexico, and one Dominican national in the Dominican Republic. Three
of the eight Mexica nationals being sought were directly involved in
the assault of the federal agents in Matamoros, Mexico.
Federal
indictments have been returned in connection with Operation Impunity
11 in the Southern District of Texas (Houston, Brownsville, and McAllen);
Northern District of Illinois (Chicago); Southern District of Ohio (Columbus);
Western District of Tennessee (Memphis); and Eastern District of New
York (Brooklyn).