Feds announce nationwide raid on Mexican drug cartel

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On Thursday, Attorney General Eric Holder, as well officials from the DEA and other federal agencies announced the results of a multi-state raid on the powerful La Familia Cartel.

Federal, state, and local law enforcement made 303 arrests, seized 729 pounds of methamphetamine, 967 pounds of marijuana, 62 kilograms of cocaine, 144 weapons, and 109 vehicles. Two methamphetamine labs were also discovered during the operation.

DEA Acting Administrator Michele M. Leonhart told reporters: Project Coronado, our massive assault on the La Familia Cartel is part of our continued fight against all of the powerful Mexico-based drug cartels. This organization, the newest of Mexican cartels, is directly responsible for a vast majority of the methamphetamine pouring into our country across our Southwest border, and has had a hand in fueling the cycle of violence that is wracking Mexico today.”

Raids on La Familia operations took place in the following U.S. cities:

-Atlanta, GA
-Austin, TX
-Bakersfield, CA
-Boston, MA
-Carlsbad, CA
-Charleston, SC
-Chicago, IL
-Dallas, TX
-Detroit, MI
-Fort Worth, TX
-Fresno, CA
-Grand Junction, CO
-Grand Prairie, TX
-Greensboro, NC
-Houston, TX
-Jackson, MS
-Kansas City, KS
-Las Vegas, NV
-Laredo, TX
-Lilburn, GA
-Los Angeles, CA
-McAllen, TX
-Mesquite, TX
-Minneapolis, MN
-Orange County, CA
-Phoenix, AZ
-Raleigh, NC
-Reno, NV
-Riverside, CA
-St. Paul, MN
-San Diego, CA
-San Jose, CA
-Seattle, WA
-Syracuse, NY
-Tampa, FL
-Tucson, AZ
-Tulsa, OK

The La Familia Cartel began in 2004, and has emerged as the top U.S. methamphetamine distributor. The cartel oddly mixes religion with drug sales, while stating a moral obligation to never sell the very destructive methamphetamine in Mexico.

La Familia, through incredible violence and bribery is becoming the most influential cartel in Mexico.

In May 2009, Mexican authorities arrested 10 mayors and 20 local officials after they were implicated through an investigation into the powerful organized crime ring known as La Familia Michoacana.

If La Familia cannot buy-off a politician (Often because they have already accepted bribes from a rival organization.), they simply kill him.

In April 2009, congressional candidate Gustavo Bucio Rodriguez was shot to death at the gas station he owned. Only days earlier, the body of Lazaro Cardenas Mayor Nicolas Leon was discovered. Leon had been tortured and shot to death, the initials “FM” (Familia Michoacana) left on his body.

German Tena, president of the Michoacan chapter of Mexico’s National Action Party, recently spoke to the LA Times about the deadly tactics being used by La Familia. Tena said: "It is a way to win power with fear, where the authorities either don't have the capability to fight it, or have the capability but not the inclination.”

The head of the Democratic Revolution Party in Michoacan, Fabiola Alanis bluntly added: "If we know or hear that a candidate is mixed up with narcos, we are not going to denounce it. It is not my job. It would put my candidates in danger. There is nothing to guarantee that they would wake up alive."

A high-ranking Michoacan official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, also told the LA Times: "There are mayors and politicians who 'let things happen,' and there are some who have sold their soul to the devil.”

In April 2009, the FBI reported that Mexican drug cartels were operating in 231 U.S. cities.

 

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