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18 individuals with ties to Mexican drug cartel indicted

DETROIT (Tell Us USA) - Eighteen individuals have been charged in a second superseding indictment with violating various federal drug law which include conspiracy to distribute in excess of 800 kilograms of cocaine, announced United States Attorney Barbara L. McQuade. Ms. McQuade was joined in the announcement by Special Agent in Charge Robert L. Corso, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on Thursday, March 1, 2012.

The newly indicted were Jose Roberto Lucero-Bustamante,34, Armando Dias-Lucero, 28, Pedro Delgado-Sanchez, 44, Octavio Humberto Gamez, 38, Moises Osuna Licona, 43, Theodore J. Czach, 35, Alejandro Aparicio Vargas, 38, Antonio Simmons, 38, Sergio Cordova Alvarado, 31, Nicholas Dominick Simmons, 24, Kenneth Dwayne Jenkins, 53, David Felix Jurado, 30, Oscar Enriquez Martinez, 33, Reymoyne Thornton, 39, Walter Ogden, 55, Mark George Bailey, 38, and Martin Najjar, 36.

The second superseding indictment, which was returned on February 29, 2012, is part of a previous indictment returned last year that alleges that Leo Earl Sharp possessed with intent to distribute multi-kilo quantities of cocaine in the Detroit metropolitan area.

It is alleged that Jose Roberto Lucero-Bustamante and Armando Dias-Lucero led a drug trafficking organization responsible for the shipment and distribution of cocaine on regular basis from Mexico to Michigan. This drug organization is a part of the Joquin Guzman Lorea a/k/a "Chapo" Guzaman Sinaloa Cartel based in Sinaloa, Mexico. The organization distributed between 100 and 300 kilograms of cocaine per month in the
Detroit metropolitan area from July 2008 through 2011.

Since 2011, DEA agents and other law enforcement officers including agents from ICE and across the country, have seized over 200 kilograms of cocaine destined for distribution by this organization. More than $2.5 million in cash was seized by law enforcement officers between July, 2011 and February 2012.

Members of the organization resided in Mexico, Florida, California and Michigan. Shipments of cocaine would be received at the Arizona Mexico border, and then driven to Michigan. Members would meet at a warehouse in Wyandotte, MI, where multi-kilo quantities of cocaine would be unloaded and distributed to individual members, with some members receiving as much as 100 kilograms of cocaine per shipment. At the warehouse, drug proceeds would be packaged and loaded into vehicles, including a recreational vehicle that would be driven by drug couriers to the Mexican border.

U.S. Attorney Barbara L. McQuade stated, “Our drug prosecution efforts are focused on large drug trafficking organizations like this one, which pour huge quantities of dangerous drugs into our community.”

DEA Special Agent in Charge Robert L. Corso stated "This investigation exemplifies how DEA uses its resources to attack large, international drug trafficking organizations operating in the United States. Shedding light on this conspiracy makes it quite clear that the Mexican drug cartels are open for business right here in our
backyard. The successful dismantling of this organization is a testament to the dedication, hard work and strong cooperative efforts of not just our federal, state, local law enforcement partners, but our Mexican law enforcement partners as well. The DEA is committed to the elimination of all drug trafficking groups, especially those organizations whose reach extends beyond international boundaries and into our community."

This case was investigated by special agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration with the assistance of the Michigan State Police, Hamtramck Police Department, Northfield Police Department and Washtenaw County Sheriff's Department.

An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. Every defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government's burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
 

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