US busts Mexican drug cartel

Latest Editions

US busts Mexican drug cartel

By The World ⋅ October 22, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3
The World’s Katy Clark reports that US officials today announced that they’ve arrested more than 300 members of a major Mexican drug cartel. The arrests follow a massive crackdown in several US states.

Read the Transcript
This text below is a phonetic transcript of a radio story broadcast by PRI’s THE WORLD. It has been created on deadline by a contractor for PRI. The transcript is included here to facilitate internet searches for audio content. Please report any transcribing errors to theworld@pri.org. This transcript may not be in its final form, and it may be updated. Please be aware that the authoritative record of material distributed by PRI’s THE WORLD is the program audio.

MARCO WERMAN: I’m Marco Werman. This is The World. There’s no question that Mexico is struggling to cope with a wave of drug-related violence. There are daily reports of killings, kidnappings and shoot-outs involving Mexico’s drug cartels. But if you think the cartels stop at the US border, listen to this. Today, US Attorney General Eric Holder announced the arrest, on American soil, of more than 300 alleged members of a major Mexican drug cartel. It’s the one known as “La Familia”, the family. The arrests occurred over the past two days, and involved law enforcement in 19 US states. The World’s Katy Clark has more, and a warning, her report includes some graphic descriptions.

KATY CLARK: Attorney General Holder says the arrests were part of a nearly 4-year-long investigation known as “Project Coronado.” He says that with the arrests announced today, nearly 1,200 people have been seized in the operation, along with more than eleven tons of illegal narcotics and a large number of weapons.

ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC HOLDER: This unprecedented coordinated United States law enforcement action is the largest ever undertaken against a Mexican drug cartel.

CLARK: Holder went on to say that the operation dealt a significant blow to “La Familia’s” supply chain of illegal drugs, weapons, and cash flowing between Mexico and the United States. But Holder acknowledges, it wasn’t an easy operation by any stretch.

HOLDER: The La Familia Cartel demonstrated an incredible level of sophistication and ruthlessness. To combat this violent criminal enterprise, we must be coordinated at all levels of law enforcement. That coordinated approach is what today’s take-down is all about.

CLARK: Holder says it’s also about introducing those unfamiliar with “La Familia” to the group which he describes as one of the newest and most violent of Mexico’s five drug cartels.

HOLDER: The sheer level and depravity of violence that this cartel has exhibited thus far exceeds what we unfortunately have become accustomed to from other cartels.

CLARK: That’s an assessment shared by George Grayson, author of “Mexico: Narco-Violence and a Failed State?” Grayson has tracked the rise of “La Familia” from its origins as a vigilante group in 2006 in the central Mexican state of Michoacán.

GEORGE GRAYSON: The first time they appeared in public was when they tossed five heads of their foes onto a dance floor. They accompanied this gruesome action by saying they were carrying out divine justice because they believe that the Lord tells them to undertake their various nefarious activities.

CLARK: Grayson says the group favors executions over negotiations, and is known to hand out bibles while professing that they’re out to protect women and young people from the ravages of drugs. Asked whether he thought today’s announcement of 300-plus arrests really was a significant blow to “La Familia’s” operations, Grayson says it depends on who the people arrested actually are.

GRAYSON: If they’re actual chiefs in organization, yes, but if they’re merely part-time operatives, and there are lots of those in the United States that work for all of the Mexican cartels, then I think the damage less severe to “La Familia.”

CLARK: Still, George Grayson says that when you have members locked up of an organization that uses chainsaws to decapitate their foes, and then parade the heads in public places, that’s a step in the right direction. For The World, this is Katy Clark.

Copyright ©2009 PRI’s THE WORLD. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to PRI’s THE WORLD. This transcript may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without prior written permission. For further information, please email The World’s Permissions Coordinator at theworld@pri.org.

Discussion

2 comments for “US busts Mexican drug cartel”

G.A.

Americans are ignorant thanks to the media, what they want to hear and Embarrassment. “STOP CALLING AMERICAN MEXICANS”

Here are some facts:

Most of these so-called Mexicans including your Gang Bangers are not from Mexico their American. Must of the smuggling at the border crossing are Americans and Legal residence, not illegal Aliens Americans are also involves in Crime in Mexico. The U.S. Has meth labs all over the U.S. Is that Mexico fault? The U.S. Is the biggest supplier to the U.S. market for both Meth and Marijuana not Mexico? Hawaii is the Meth/Ice Capital of the world. Where does that come from Mexico? and for People who think Mexico is Dangerous? The fact is Mexicans are in more danger in the U.S. then Americans are in Mexico. Because of the media. Racism, misinformation and slander, like illegals don’t pay taxes. Illegal are Gang Bangers. Want to clean up the streets, start deporting American, why blame a Mexican because they do the work of a lazy drug addict in the U.S. According to the FBI and the United Nations the U.S. has almost 4 times the murder rate of Mexico. I will tell you whats dangerous, New Orleans, Chicago, Detroit, and L.A. That’s what you call dangerous. The joke of the century is the Swine flu came from Mexico. Mexico has no were near the cases of flu. The U.S. Wishes they only had their cases the weather does not support wide speed flu’s. In the U.S. the flu kills 36,000 per year 200.000 Hospitalized how many in bed sick OH MY GOOD THE SWINE FLU now were near not even in your imagination does it come close to Americas seasonal flu.
G.A.

Here is something else, for people to chew on. The MS-13, so-called El Salvador Gang Bangers. The concept was not born in El Salvador. These Frankenstein’s are from the streets of the U.S. (L.A.) Just because some of those people were born in El Salvador “does not mean they’re from El Salvador” in fact its Americas export to El Salvador. That’s why if you go to the Prisons in El Salvador, the Speak English. I wonder why?????

Search

Latest Editions