Austin drug bust hits 7 members of Zeta cartel
Austin American-Statesman:
This is a reflection of just how bold the drug cartels have become in operating in the US. Having inland transit points on the way to big cities in the Midwest suggest a sophisticated export operation on the part of the Zetas.
In recent weeks the US convicted several members of the cartel in a money laundering scheme involving quarter horse racing. Obviously, the gang persists in its Texas operations.
This is also an indication of just how porous the Mexican border still is.
Law enforcement officials said Thursday that key figures linked to the Zetas drug cartel were among those arrested when a pair of drug-trafficking rings were targeted in separate busts.There is more.
Seven people were arrested and charged in the unrelated busts, which officials said also netted more than $1 million in drug-related funds, weapons and illegal narcotics.
“We have taken some really bad characters off the street,” Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo said in a news conference while flanked by federal and local police officials. Also involved in the investigation were the FBI, the U.S. Attorney’s office and the Bastrop County sheriff’s office.
Six men and one woman were arrested in recent weeks at homes from Austin to Bastrop County. Federal court records show at least five of the suspects are facing federal drug charges. If convicted, the defendants could face between 10 years to life in prison. Officials said the operation targeted high to midlevel dealers.
“These are two separate and unrelated cases, but they do represent a significant inroad in two instances into major drug trafficking in the Austin area,” said U.S. Attorney Robert Pitman.
Pitman said with Austin operating as a hub, the busts help stop drugs from reaching other major cities, such as Dallas and Chicago.
Austin “is a transit point,” Pitman said. “When you take down an organization like this, when you disrupt it and you take these people off the streets and you put them in federal prison … then you are benefiting everyone who is upstream.”
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This is a reflection of just how bold the drug cartels have become in operating in the US. Having inland transit points on the way to big cities in the Midwest suggest a sophisticated export operation on the part of the Zetas.
In recent weeks the US convicted several members of the cartel in a money laundering scheme involving quarter horse racing. Obviously, the gang persists in its Texas operations.
This is also an indication of just how porous the Mexican border still is.
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