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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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