October 23, 2009
DEA Announces Unprecedented Strike Against Mexican Drug Cartels
DEA Acting Administrator Michele M. Leonhart joined Attorney General Eric Holder and other federal officials on October 22 to announce the results of Project Coronado, a 44-month multi-agency investigation which targeted the Mexico-based La Familia Michoacana drug cartel. It represents the largest such operation in law enforcement history.
La Familia is a violent drug trafficking cartel based in the state of Michoacan, in southwestern Mexico . It controls drug manufacturing and distribution in and around Michoacan, including the smuggling of vast quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine from Mexico into the United States . La Familia is philosophically opposed to the sale of methamphetamine to Mexicans, but readily sends it to the United States for consumption by Americans. La Familia is a heavily armed cartel that supports its narcotics trafficking business with murders, kidnappings, and assaults.
To date, Project Coronado has led to the arrest of 1,186 individuals, and the seizure of approximately $33 million in U.S. currency; 1,999 kilograms of cocaine; 2,730 pounds of methamphetamine; 29 pounds of heroin; 16,390 pounds of marijuana; 389 weapons; 269 vehicles; and two clandestine drug labs.
Click Here to Read the DEA Press Release
DEA Statement on New Department of Justice Marijuana Guidelines
The Department of Justice recently issued guidelines regarding the use of federal resources in investigations and prosecutions in states that have passed laws authorizing the use of marijuana for medical purposes and DEA issued the following statement on these guidelines:
“DEA welcomes the issuance of these clarifying guidelines pertaining to the use of federal investigative and prosecutorial resources in states that have enacted laws authorizing the use of marijuana for medical purposes. These guidelines do not legalize marijuana. It is not the practice or policy of DEA to target individuals with serious medical conditions who comply with state laws authorizing the use of marijuana for medical purposes. Consistent with the DOJ guidelines, we will continue to identify and investigate any criminal organization or individual who unlawfully grows, markets, or distributes marijuana, or other dangerous drugs. Those who unlawfully possess firearms, commit acts of violence, provide drugs to minors, or have ties to other criminal organizations may also be subject to arrest.”
Click Here to Read the Department of Justice Press Release
Underground California Steroid Manufacturing Ring Busted
A ten-month undercover investigation into an illegal anabolic steroid manufacturing ring was announced October 15. The investigation led to three arrests, and the serving of three state search warrants in Sacramento and El Dorado Counties in California . As a result of this investigation, agents seized a large anabolic steroid lab in Elverta , California , more than 500 vials of steroids, and 1,850 capsules of anabolic steroid pills.
In January 2009, the West El Dorado Narcotics Enforcement Team (WENET) began this investigation, and in February, a WENET undercover officer purchased two vials of anabolic steroids from a dealer. During this meeting, the undercover officer learned where the supply of anabolic steroids has been purchased by the dealer for more than a decade. Between February and September 2009, the undercover officer purchased anabolic steroids on multiple occasions and visited the residence of the source of the supply. This case culminated on October 14, when 100 vials of anabolic steroids were delivered to the undercover officer, and three state search warrants were executed which resulted in the seizure of the large clandestine anabolic steroid lab.
Click Here to Read the DEA Press Release
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DID YOU KNOW?
Between last year’s Project Reckoning, which targeted the Gulf Cartel; this year’s Operation Xcellerator that focused on the Sinaloa Cartel, and this week’s Project Coronado which made major inroads into La Familia Michoacana, DEA and our law enforcement partners arrested more than 2300 individuals, and seized $152 million in cash; 29 tons of cocaine; nearly 5,000 pounds of methamphetamine; more than 80,000 pounds of marijuana; and nearly 600 vehicles. These massive operations against the Mexico-based cartels have helped DEA deny drug traffickers $12 billion over the past four years. For more information on these operations, click here, here, and here.
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