Pubdate: Fri, 1 Aug 2003 Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA) Copyright: 2003 San Jose Mercury News Contact: http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/390 Author: Susana Hayward, Knight Ridder Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Drug+Cartel ARRESTS A SETBACK TO DRUG CARTEL U.S., Mexico Say Raids Caught Network Leaders MEXICO CITY - U.S. and Mexican officials announced Thursday that they had captured the alleged kingpin and many top deputies of a major drug cartel believed to be behind the 1985 torture and slaying of an agent from the Drug Enforcement Administration. In joint news conferences in Mexico City and Washington, Mexican Attorney General Rafael Macedo de la Concha and U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft said agents had virtually dismantled a major cell of the organized-crime group allegedly led by Ismael Zambada Garcia. Cocaine Supply Line They said the cartel had smuggled and distributed large quantities of Colombian cocaine from Sinaloa, Jalisco and Sonora states in Mexico to Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and other U.S. cities. The gang allegedly controlled a cross-border tunnel that was discovered last December in Nogales, in the state of Sonora, bordering Arizona. Macedo de la Concha said the cartel used boats, trucks, planes and cars to smuggle not only cocaine but also heroin, marijuana and methamphetamines into the United States. "The entire cell has practically been captured," said Macedo de la Concha, saying the cartel had links with Colombian traffickers who provided them in the past 18 months with more than 60 tons of cocaine destined for the United States. "I don't intend to say that we've destroyed the entire cartel . . . but it means a severe hit to this organization." The bilateral action, called Operation Trifecta, has arrested more than 240 people since it began in December 2001 with the seizure off Mexico's Pacific coast of a vessel carrying 10 tons of cocaine. This led to more than 80 investigations into U.S. distributors, Colombian cocaine providers and Mexican smugglers. Thursday, U.S. officials arrested 63 people, and Mexican police arrested four. Among the four detained in Mexico were the cartel's alleged leader and Manuel Medina Campos, said to have been in charge of transporting and distributing drugs in the United States. U.S. arrests were in New York City; Buffalo, N.Y.; Youngstown, Ohio; Phoenix; Nogales, Ariz.; Los Angeles; Salt Lake City; Miami; and Providence, R.I. "Today, the United States and Mexico, working together, have achieved a significant victory against the purveyors of illegal drugs, death and violence," Ashcroft said in Washington. Linked to Slaying The cartel was on a U.S. list of the world's most dangerous traffickers and was linked to the slaying of DEA agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena, who was kidnapped in Guadalajara, the capital of Jalisco, and tortured and killed. Ashcroft said the investigation, still ongoing, was part of a Bush administration drive "to not only work on things from the demand side, but also to try to dismantle organizations." Ashcroft said the investigation was aided by the use of 200 telephone wiretaps and other eavesdropping techniques. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake