WASHINGTON – US law enforcement agencies have arrested 303 people in 19 states over the past two days as it seeks to unravel the distribution network of a major Mexican drug trafficking cartel, US officials said yesterday.
“We have all taken a step forward to disrupt a group that hides behind a shield of ideology while terrorising communities in Mexico and peddling drugs in our neighbourhoods here in the US,” FBI director Robert Mueller said.
The cartel, La Familia, has transformed in recent years “from a drug cartel to a sophisticated criminal organisation”, he said.
US attorney general Eric Holder said the arrests were part of a 44-month investigation known as “Project Coronado”, which has led to the arrest of almost 1,200 people on drug-related charges and the seizure of more than 11.7 tonnes of illegal narcotics since its inception.
La Familia is a violent drug trafficking cartel based in the state of Michoacán, in southwestern Mexico, the US justice department said.
According to court documents, it said, La Familia controls drug manufacturing and distribution in and around Michoacán, including the importation of vast quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine from Mexico into the US. – (Reuters)