From the Arizona Republic:
A nationwide crackdown on a Mexican drug cartel included dozens of indictments in two major Arizona investigations, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced Wednesday that the probe known as Operation Xcellerator tallied more than 750 arrests and the seizure of 23 tons of narcotics from the Mexican border to Canada, and from Arizona to Maryland.
Special agent Ramona Sanchez of the DEA in Phoenix said the two Maricopa County investigations broke last year and involved a total of 144 indicted suspects.
Sanchez said one of the probes involved a methamphetamine operation that stretched from Tempe to Sinaloa. "We went from the small dealer to the mid-supplier all the way back to the drug-trafficking organization in Mexico," she said.
In all, the Justice Department reported seizures of $59 million in cash, 12,000 kilograms of cocaine, 1,200 pounds of methamphetamine, and 16,000 pounds of marijuana. Holder described the Mexican narcotics syndicates as "a sustained, serious threat to the safety and security of our communities."
Michele Leonhart DEA's acting administrator, said the 21-month probe represents the "largest and hardest-hitting operation to ever target the very violent and dangerously powerful Sinaloa cartel. From Washington to Maine, we have disrupted this cartel's domestic operations."
Charges in the Xcellerator case include drug trafficking, money laundering and operating a criminal enterprise.
Full article here.
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