Pubdate: Tue, 19 Mar 2002
Source: Denver Rocky Mountain News (CO)
Copyright: 2002, Denver Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.rockymountainnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/371
Note: Article ran without headline; headline by MAP editor.
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration)

FBI BREAKS UP ANOTHER POT-SMUGGLING RING

FBI agents seized 3 1/2 tons of marijuana and arrested 12 people around the 
nation Tuesday as they cracked a ring that smuggled the drug from Mexico 
and used a shipping company to distribute it, authorities said.

The marijuana was seized from several "stash houses" in the Los Angeles 
area, most of it from the garage of a home in suburban Downey, said Cheryl 
Mimura, a spokeswoman for the FBI's Los Angeles bureau.

Nearly two dozen locations around the nation were searched. Most arrests 
were made in Southern California but one person was taken into custody in 
Indiana, Mimura said.

The FBI later identified that suspect as Edna Cardenas, 23, of Indianapolis.

Federal indictments were filed against 17 people. Three were fugitives and 
two already had been arrested on unrelated state drug charges, Mimura said.

One of those was Franklin Cardenas, 23, of Indianapolis, the FBI said.

Altogether, more than 10 tons of marijuana, 90 pounds of cocaine and more 
than $1 million in suspected drug earnings were seized during an 
investigation dubbed "Operation Jaguar."

The investigation was sparked in July 2000 when a shipping company in 
Indianapolis reported receiving several suspicious boxes. They turned out 
to contain drugs, Mimura said.

Labels on the boxes showed that they came from a Los Angeles-area shipping 
firm, Mimura said.

The drugs then were sent to New York, Miami and Nashville for distribution 
by local couriers, Mimura said.

It was unclear how long the ring had been operating or how many tons of 
marijuana they had shipped, she added.
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MAP posted-by: Jackl