Mexican Drug Cartel Busted

By
Chris Furguson
California Attorney General Edmund Gerry Brown announced at a press conference on Wednesday, August 26, that his office secured indictments on 16 individuals within the Sinaloa drug cartel in Mexico, part of the Operation Silver Fox investigation.
The conference, which took place at the Imperial County Law Enforcement Coordination Center in Imperial, also showcased over $19 million in cocaine and marijuana seized, $1.7 million in US currency and 9 firearms, including 7 handguns and 2 assault rifles.
This is a tremendous body blow to the Sinaloa drug cartel said Brown at the conference.
Also at the conference were Imperial County District Attorney Gilbert Otero, Imperial County Sheriff Ray Loera and other local personnel.
The investigation, which began in January 2009, found that drugs were being smuggled into the country through the port of Calexico using compartmentalized vehicles. The drugs would then be distributed into Riverside and other counties in California before going into the rest of the country.
Thanks to the work of undercover agents and 100 surveillance operation, six search warrants were executed, which led to the drugs, firearms and currency confiscated.
The port of Calexico is the #1 port for cocaine and methenphetamine transportation in the country, said Brown. There is a tremendous bottleneck right there and the Sinaloa cartel controls it.
Brown also said that while there arent many people from the Sinaloa cartel in the Imperial Valley, there is still a tremendous amount of drugs and people moving through the area.
Also seized during the course of Operation Silver Fox was a large cargo truck used as a cocaine vault. This vault is believed to have transported over 1000 pounds of cocaine every month into Canada.
Of the 16 people indicted in May of 2009, eight are currently in custody.
Its very difficult to get arrests on some of the suspects, said Heather Trappnell, the Imperial County Deputy District Attorney in charge of the cases. When those who are based in the US get word that the police are after them, they usually move out of town or into Mexico.
While violence is expected, local officials believed it would be more prevalent in Mexico than in the Imperial Valley.
The cartel is going to go after those who lost the drugs more than theyd retaliate against anyone in the US, said Otero.
The Sinaloa cartel, headed by fugitive drug lord Joaquin El Chapo Guzman, is based out of Sinaloa, Mexico and is believed to control the major drug routes through Mexicali and Calexico.
The Sinaloa cartel, in addition to actions taken by the Mexican government, is currently in a violent war with the Gulf Cartel for control of drug routes.

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News & Politics

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• Brown
• DEA
• Drugs
• Mexican
• Cartel

[dimphil]

them injuns beenn growng loco weed way too long and getting away with it. Lock em up and throw in a jug of fire water just for the hell of it.