Pubdate: Tue, 25 Apr 2006 Source: Monitor, The (McAllen, TX) Copyright: 2006 The Monitor Contact: http://www.themonitor.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1250 Author: Brittney Booth, Monitor Staff Writer Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine) Note: MAP archives articles exactly as published, except that our editors may redact the names and addresses of accused persons who have not been convicted of a crime, if those named are not otherwise public figures or officials. ACCUSED MEZA FAMILY MEMBERS PLEAD NOT GUILTY McALLEN -- Accused members of a family run drug-trafficking organization appeared before a federal magistrate Monday, pleading not guilty to nine felony charges in connection with transporting cocaine and marijuana across the Rio Grande. The men -- [Names redacted], all of Mission -- were arrested Wednesday and are charged with a nine-count sealed federal indictment alleging they participated in a smuggling ring that ran drugs across the river south of Mission. The brothers appeared with their defense attorneys in front of U.S. Magistrate Peter Ormsby as federal prosecutors requested that the men be held without bond until their June 6 trial, set in U.S. District Judge Randy 's court. Ormsby granted the government's request to deny bond for Jesus Lorenzo Meza, an Edinburg police officer who was taken into custody while on duty, and his brother [Name redacted]. [Name redacted], 27, of Mission -- one of three non-family members charged in the indictment -- will also remain in federal custody until the trial. Ormsby will continue a detention hearing today for the organization's accused leader, [Name redacted], as well as [Name redacted] and [Name redacted]. Two other men also charged in the indictment -- [Name redacted], 41 and [Name redacted], 24, also of Mission -- appeared in front of Ormsby as well, but had not obtained an attorney. They are scheduled to reappear on Wednesday. During the detention hearing, Drug Enforcement Agent Special Agent Anthony Dominguez, who began investigating the organization in 1996, testified the men worked closely with their associates in Mexico to transport about 15,000 pounds of marijuana and 500 kilos of cocaine since July 1998. Agents conducted surveillance on the group and recorded more than 2,000 telephone conversations in the course of their investigation. "This investigation involved a group that was primarily responsible for smuggling marijuana and cocaine across the Rio Grande, south of Mission," he said. Those contacts in Mexico could provide them protection if released, he said. Jesus Meza provided "counter surveillance." alerting his brothers when law enforcement approached, Dominguez testified. The organization used tubes, rafts, floating devices and boats to cross the drugs across the river, while some of the men acted as lookouts. When needed, the group used "agressive" interference tactics to steer law enforcement away from following vehicles carrying the drugs, even running them off the road, Dominguez said. Dominguez also told the court two men came to the Edinburg Police Department's municipal jail on Sunday looking for Jesus Meza and his brother in a restricted area. Edinburg Police Chief Quirino Munoz confirmed that two men had questioned a jailer, but left after they were informed Jesus Meza was not at the department. "They weren't here in a threatening matter," Munoz said. The indictment returned by a grand jury in November 2005 remains sealed by court order. According to a U.S. attorney's press release, the men are all charged with conspiring to import drugs into the United States and to possess with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine and more than 1,000 kilograms of marijuana over a seven-year period beginning around July 1998. If convicted of the conspiracy offenses, the men face 10 years to life imprisonment without parole and a $4 million fine. In the remaining eight counts of the indictment, they are accused of possessing with intent to distribute hundreds of kilograms of marijuana on eight separate instances from June 2001 through November 2003. The alleged marijuana loads varied in size from approximately 271 kilograms in January 2001 to as large as 1,485 kilograms in October 2003, the press release states. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman