The Mexican Mafia Quietly Persists In Our Backyard

Last month's "Project Deliverance" federal drug-trafficking sweep netted arrests and drug seizures across the country - but not in the Alamo City. In the Western District, administered from San Antonio, the operation produced arrests in El Paso, Midland, and Alpine, charging defendants with links to Mexican drug-trafficking organizations out of Ciudad Juarez. Following the sweep, authorities trotted out more ominous assessments. "Drug trafficking across the Southwest border has led to a surge of drugs in neighborhoods across the U.S.," said Kevin Perkins, assistant director of the FBI Criminal Investigative Division.

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