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DEA sweep targets cartel figures in Arizona, U.S.

by Dennis Wagner - Feb. 24, 2011 12:44 PM

The Arizona Republic

Hundreds of DEA agents fanned out across Arizona and the nation Wednesday and Thursday, targeting suspected narcotics cartel figures in retaliation for the murder of a U.S. agent in Mexico last week.

In Arizona, acting Special Agent in Charge Doug Coleman said several hundred agents from the Drug Enforcement Agency joined hundreds of other federal and local officers in operations that have resulted in 31 arrests, mostly on narcotics charges.

"The overall message here is that we as U.S. law enforcement are going to do something when we see that a cartel in Mexico is going to target U.S. agents," Coleman said.

The Arizona effort was tied to an international campaign by federal agents in response to the slaying of Jaime Zapata, a Customs and Immigration Enforcement agent who was murdered last week in by suspected members of a cartel known as the Zetas.

Carl Pike, assistant special agent in charge of the DEA's special operations division, said the sweep is a direct reaction to the shooting death of Zapata.

"This is personal," added Louie Garcia, deputy special agent in charge for Immigration and Customs Enforcement's special operations unit. "We lost an agent, we lost a good agent. And we have to respond."

By Thursday morning, thousands of law enforcement officers in areas including Atlanta, St. Louis, Denver, Detroit, San Antonio, San Diego, Chicago, Newark and Miami had seized more than $4.5 million in cash and nearly 20 guns, arrested more than 100 people and confiscated about 23 pounds of methamphetamine, 107 kilograms of cocaine, 5 pounds of heroin and 300 pounds of marijuana at several hundred locations.

As of Thursday afternoon, Coleman said investigators in Arizona had seized $420,000 and confiscated about 100 pounds of marijuana, 17 pounds of cocaine, 15 pounds of methamphetamines and 6 weapons.

Coleman said the Zetas are not prevalent in Arizona, so agents went after suspected drug traffickers regardless of what organized criminal network they represented. While law enforcement officers typically conduct raids only when there is sufficient evidence to make arrests, Coleman said agents are visiting suspected traffickers to make a point.

"We're going to keep the pressure on these guys," he said. "The idea is to target anybody that we suspect of being a drug dealer, to talk to them and to put a little heat on them and let them know we won't tolerate what's going on."

Coleman said none of the Arizona suspects resisted arrest.

But an agent involved in a raid in Houston was shot and wounded Thursday, though the injury was not life-threatening, according to a federal official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss the ongoing operation.

Pike said the roundup, which began Wednesday and was expected to continue into Friday, is designed to disrupt drug trafficking operations in the United States. He said the majority of suspects were already targets of other investigations.

The sweep is being mirrored this week in Brazil, El Salvador, Panama, Colombia, and Mexico.

Zapata was killed and fellow ICE agent Victor Avila was wounded Feb. 15 when the Chevy Suburban they were in was run off the road by at least two vehicles loaded with armed men. Authorities have said the agents, who were driving in a fortified sport utility vehicle with diplomatic license plates, identified themselves as U.S. diplomats in the moments before the shooting.

Mexican authorities have arrested one person in connection with the attack.

More than 35,000 people have been killed since Mexican President Felipe Calderón launched a crackdown against drug gangs in December 2006.

Mexican authorities are leading the investigation of Zapata's death and the Justice Department has announced a joint task force, led by the FBI, with the Homeland Security Department.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.