From: U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration <dea@govdelivery.com>
Subject: U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Dateline DEA Update
To: guyperea@rocketmail.com
Date: Friday, May 6, 2011, 4:33 PM
DEA's Biweekly E-mail Informant
May 6, 2011
Top Stories from the Drug Enforcement Administration, April 23 to May 6, 2011 __________________________________________________________________________
Alleged Leader of Mexican Drug Cartel Benjamin Arellano-Felix Extradited To U.S.
On April 29 Alberto Benjamin Arellano-Felix, an alleged leader of the Arellano-Felix Organization (AFO), was extradited by the Mexican government to the United States to face racketeering, money laundering, and narcotics trafficking charges. Arellano-Felix was taken into custody by Mexican authorities in 2002. Long-reputed to be one of the most notorious drug trafficking organizations, AFO controlled massive flows of cocaine, marijuana, and other drugs through the Mexican border cities of Tijuana and Mexicali into the United States. In addition, Arellano-Felix is charged with negotiating directly with Colombian cocaine trafficking organizations, purchasing multi-ton shipments of cocaine, receiving those shipments in Mexico, and arranging for the cocaine to be smuggled and distributed into the United States, with the proceeds smuggled back into Mexico. The indictment also alleges that AFO recruited, trained and armed groups of bodyguards and assassins and for conducting assassinations of rival drug traffickers, suspected cooperators, uncooperative Mexican law enforcement and military personnel, and members of the Mexican news media.
Puerto Rican Drug Lord, Brother Convicted on Drug Charges
On April 26 Ángel Ayala-Vázquez, aka "El Negro," and his brother Luis X. Cruz-Vázquez, aka "El Mono," were found guilty of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin, crack, cocaine, marijuana, Percocet, and Xanax. For the past 15 years, Ayala-Vázquez was the notorious leader of a violent and pervasive drug trafficking organization responsible for the importation of thousands of kilograms of narcotics to Puerto Rico; the transshipment of narcotics from Puerto Rico to several eastern seaboard states, including New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Florida; the distribution of kilogram quantities of narcotics to other drug trafficking organizations operating in Puerto Rico; and the street level distribution of the drugs in Bayamón, Puerto Rico.
Members of this drug trafficking organization employed violence and even murder to maintain control of their drug trafficking activities, and to eliminate rival organizations. Cruz-Vázquez was an administrator who was tasked with supervising the day-to-day operations of the various narcotics distribution points throughout Puerto Rico. Included in the indictment are forfeiture allegations for a $100 million money judgment.
Former Medellin Cartel Associate Pleads Guilty to Drug Trafficking Conspiracy
On May 3 in Miami, Florida, Sigifredo Maya of Medellin, Colombia, pled guilty to a conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute large quantities of cocaine. In 1994 Maya was indicted with his three brothers on charges related to drug trafficking on behalf of the late Pablo Escobar and the now-defunct Medellin cocaine cartel. On March 18, 2011, Maya was detained by Panamanian authorities while attempting to travel to Mexico, and then flown to Miami, Florida, where he was arrested by DEA.
Court records indicate that between 1979 and 1994, Maya and his brothers, under the instruction of Pablo Escobar, were dispatched to Miami to direct the Medellin cartel's efforts in the importation and distribution of multiple-thousand ton shipments of cocaine throughout the United States. The Maya brothers also served as enforcers for Pablo Escobar in the United States. This was demonstrated in December 1988 when an associate who was tasked with guarding a warehouse in Miami that contained more than 500 kilograms of cocaine claimed the shipment was stolen by a rival drug gang. The Maya brothers interrogated this associate and then promptly sent him back to Medellin to personally explain the loss to Pablo Escobar.
10 Arrested on Major Drug, Weapons, Money Laundering Charges in San Diego
On April 25 the arrest and unsealing of a five count indictment against 10 individuals was made on federal narcotics, firearms, and money laundering violations. According to count one of the indictment, the 10 individuals were charged with conspiracy to distribute five kilograms and more of cocaine. Counts two through four are federal firearm charges, including the illegal transportation and importation of two AR-15 assault rifles, one AK-47-style assault rifle, and one 9-mm pistol which were then sold to DEA undercover agents, and the possession by a felon of firearms, including two AR-15 assault rifles, one AK-47-style assault rifle, a 9-mm pistol, and a .22 caliber pistol equipped with a screw-in silencer. The fifth count of the indictment contains allegations that would result in the forfeiture of firearms and any other assets obtained, directly or indirectly, through proceeds derived from the cocaine conspiracy. The charges stem from an investigation conducted by the DEA, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, and the Internal Revenue Service.
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DID YOU KNOW?
All too frequently criminals pose at DEA Special Agents on the phone or via the internet in an attempt to illegally scam innocent individuals. DEA Special Agents will never demand money or any other form of payment over the phone or the internet. Those who engage in these criminal acts are violating federal law, and there are severe penalties for impersonating a federal law enforcement officer. If you are contacted on the phone or via the internet by an individual who claims to be a DEA Special Agent and demands money, do not send it to them—instead, call our extortion scam hotline at 1-877-792-2873, or click here to find out more information. You are subscribed to Dateline DEA for U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. This information has recently been updated, and is now available.
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