Chicago feds indict Mexican drug cartel leaders

Chicago feds indict Mexican drug cartel leaders
By Jeff Coen
Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune
August 20, 2009 11:09 AM
http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/08/feds-to-announce-major-drug-investigation-here.html

Calling it the most significant narcotics conspiracy case of its kind ever in Chicago, authorities today announced indictments against leaders of warring Mexican drug cartels blamed for increasing violence south of the border and for bringing up to four tons of cocaine to the city each month for national distribution.

Authorities said 36 individuals, including three cartel leaders, were charged in eight indictments unsealed in Chicago, and additional defendants are expected to be indicted in New York. The three most significant defendants in the cases are leaders of two feuding cartels, authorities said.

"These are the most significant drug importation conspiracies ever charged in Chicago," Chicago's U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald said in a statement. "The indictments charge two major international supply organizations with importing many tons of cocaine and quantities of heroin into the United States."

Fitzgerald is in Washington this morning with U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric Holder to announce the effort, and a local briefing in Chicago is expected at 11:15 a.m.

The leaders indicted were Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman-Loera, reportedly one of the world's richest men, and Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada-Garcia of the Sinaloa cartel as well as Arturo Beltran-Leyva, who allegedly is running a faction that split from the main group.

Earlier this year, Forbes.com listed Guzman-Loera at #701 on its list of the world's billionaires.

At the press conference this morning in Washington, D.C., Holder said authorities also have issued in New York. In total they have issued 12 indictments for 43 people.

The indictments "outline two decades of criminal activity" by groups that are not operating in far away cities, but here in the U.S., "funneling drugs onto our streets."

Fitzgerald said the cases trace tons of cocaine that made their way to Chicago through Mexico "by plane, by boat, by submarine" before being distributed, "with hundreds of millions of dollars going in the other direction."

Holder acknowledged that some of the leaders targeted this week have been indicted before, but said authorities are hopeful the new indictments will land cartel leaders in jail. A $5 million reward has been posted for information leading to their capture.

The indictments are not meant as symbols of the war on drugs. "This is not simply an expression of displeasure by the U.S. government," Holder said.

Court documents alleged the Sinaloa cartel split in early 2008, resulting in the former allies fighting a violent war in Mexico for control of their operations. The feuding organizations threatened acts of violence against distributors who worked with their competitors, according to the indictments.
Among those threatened were twin brothers Pedro and Margarito Flores, heads of the Chicago importation arm, authorities alleged. They have been indicted and are in federal custody, authorities said, while the cartel leaders remain at large in Mexico.

The indictments in Chicago and New York allege that between 1990 and 2008, the cartels distributed nearly 200 metric tons of cocaine and heroin. Prosecutors are seeking the forfeiture of up to $1.8 billion in cash.
Some 3,000 kilograms of cocaine have been seized in the Chicago area as part of the investigation as well as $20 million in cash.
The Chicago investigation was led by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the IRS Criminal Investigation Division. Heads of those agencies were expected at a Chicago briefing this morning.