Pubdate: Wed, 05 Dec 2001 Source: Salt Lake Tribune (UT) Copyright: 2001 The Salt Lake Tribune Contact: http://www.sltrib.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/383 Author: Kevin G. Hall, Knight Ridder News Service HEROIN IS SMUGGLERS' NEW DRUG OF CHOICE MEXICO CITY -- The heroin trade is a growing concern along the porous U.S.-Mexico border, where cocaine has been dominant. In place of the relatively small volumes of heroin smuggled across the border, traditionally in packets under 5 pounds, authorities say they are discovering larger and larger shipments -- a trend that indicates that drug smugglers are increasingly cocky about getting the highly priced heroin past border points. Mexican drug cartels already specializing in cocaine and marijuana are extending into heroin trafficking. A joint U.S.-Mexico investigation, recently disclosed, resulted in the seizure of 782 pounds of heroin, a quantity that some officials believe indicates Mexican traffickers are preparing to challenge Colombian gangs who distribute on the U.S. East Coast. "Seven hundred pounds of heroin is a lot of heroin," said a U.S. official in Mexico who participated in Operation Landslide, as the U.S.-Mexico investigation was dubbed. Operation Landslide resulted in 42 arrests and broke up an alleged heroin distribution ring that trafficked from the Mexican states of Michoacan and Baja California to 37 U.S. cities, ranging from San Jose, Calif., to St. Louis, Mo. The core distribution cells were in Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Jose, Calif. Operation Landslide began almost three years ago with a suspicious seizure of more than 253 pounds of heroin at the southwest border with Mexico, an extraordinarily high-volume bust. Over the course of the probe, there were other big seizures -- 100 pounds of heroin in San Luis, Ariz.; 59 pounds in Laredo, Texas; and 92 pounds in Del Rio, Texas. "We've seized more. Does that mean more is coming across? Probably. But what is clear is the loads are larger from Mexico and the traffickers are pretty bold," said Dean Boyd, a spokesman at U.S. Customs Service headquarters in Washington. He added, "These guys could be characterized as very audacious." The volumes are even more troubling in light of a similar action last year called Operation Tar Pit. That operation, unveiled June 15, 2000, broke a heroin ring in the state of Nayarit and documented that Mexican drug organizations were stepping up heroin smuggling to new markets like Detroit, where Colombians have traditionally dominated. - --- MAP posted-by: Rebel