Out of State Cartels Move In
 


San Felipe, Baja, Mexico

Tuesday May 11, 2010

Tijuana, BC .- Francisco Javier Cossio Gutierrez of the Attorney General of the Republic (PGR) in Baja California, announced that the recent seizures of drugs in the region, mainly marijuana, come from at least two different cartels other than the Arellano Félix, which continues its operations.

The federal official said that some of the past seizures of the drug came from the states of Michoacan and Sinaloa, specifically, the organization "La Familia Michoacana" and the cartel led by Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.

He noted that this is an indication that other criminal groups intend to take over the state's drug trade, especially after the capture of Teodoro Garcia Simental, "El Teo" and Raydel Lopez Uriarte, "The Crutches" last February in La Paz, Baja California Sur.

For its part, the Commander of the Second Military Zone, General Alfonso Duarte Mugica, said that with military deployment in the state, in coordination with civil authorities, there have been historic drug seizures, regardless of their merits in the overall picture.

He added that most of these seizures were made in military checkpoints"The Sentinel", located in Mexicali-Tijuana highway, as well as "The Curio" of the Mexicali-San Felipe road.

Both officials on Tuesday oversaw the incineration of more than 46 tons of marijuana, marking a historical precedent in regard to drug quantity destroyed by civil and military authorities.

In total, 46,354 kilos of marijuana were destroyed, 12 kilos of cocaine, 3 kilos of heroin, 321 kilos of methamphetamine, 10 psychotropic pills, and 32 marijuana farms.

Gutierrez Cossio said that part of the conetents of the incineration were drugs that had been seized since 1994 and were stored by the federal gov ernemtn as part of an investigation. Their destruction was carried out under a court order.

TijuanaHOY