Austin Texas. The Capitol of Texas. The live music capitol of the world.
If you are going to play music there now, you better polish up on your Mariachi licks, or learn some corridos. Austin Texas has become a haven for Mexican drug cartels to silently build their operations and spread their deadly tentacles all over the US.
Brutal Mexican drug gangs are quickly flocking to cities like Austin, Dallas and San Antonio.
In fact, all of Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and California are now under siege by the largest, most brutal cartels the world has ever known.
The evidence is overwhelming. Only a blind person, or someone who is complicit would say otherwise.
This week in Austin gives us a small clue as to how bad things really are.
On Wednesday, several hundred officers across Austin acted on 11 search warrants resulting in the arrests of 35 people.
Those arrested in the citywide sting are associated with the La Familia cartel.
Drug Enforcement Administration officials say the cartel was using Austin for several purposes. Cells here served as distribution centers as well as the cartel’s “command-and-control” hub.
“It’s a classic example, really, of how the Mexican cartels have exploded into different markets around the United States that we once deemed really improbable or impenetrable,” Greg Thrash with the DEA said.
La Familia is one of seven drug cartels recognized by the DEA.
Nationwide, the investigations netted more than 1,900 arrests and seized several thousand pounds of methamphetamine and cocaine.
Police say the cell operating in the Austin-area served as a distribution hub for drugs going into the United States and money going back to Mexico. The Cartels is one of the largest drug operations in Mexico and responsible for much of the violence along the U.S.-Mexican border.
Thirty-Five Arrested in Austin Portion of Project Delirium
Arrests Were Part of Nationwide Takedown of Members and Associates of the La Familia Michoacana Drug Cartel U.S. Attorney’s Office
July 21, 2011 Western District of Texas
(210) 384-7100
United States Attorney John E. Murphy and DEA Special Agent in Charge Thomas E. Hinojosa announced that 35 individuals believed to have ties to the La Familia Michoacana drug cartel are in custody based on federal charges filed in Austin this week.
In addition to making these arrests over the past two days, authorities have seized approximately four kilograms of cocaine, 21 pounds of methamphetamine as well as $150,000 in U.S. currency. Overall, the Austin portion of Project Delirium has resulted in the seizure of approximately 20 kilograms of cocaine, 100 pounds of methamphetamine as well as an estimated $750,000 in U.S. currency and other assets.
All of the defendants are charged in a federal grand jury indictment returned on Tuesday with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and cocaine as well as conspiracy to commit money laundering. Each defendant remains in federal custody pending detention hearings in U.S. Magistrate Court in Austin beginning next week. The indictment alleges that the defendants conspired since January 2008 to distribute narcotics in Hays, Williamson and Travis counties in Texas as well as in and around Foley, Alabama. The indictment further alleges that the defendants conspired to launder and transport the proceeds from the drug distribution activity ultimately to the source of the narcotics in the Republic of Mexico. Finally, the indictment seeks a $15 million monetary judgment against the defendants representing the amount of money involved in the drug and money laundering conspiracies.
Upon conviction, each defendant faces a minimum of 10 years and up to life in federal prison on the drug conspiracy charge and a maximum 20 years in federal prison on the money laundering conspiracy charge.
It is important to note that an indictment is merely a charge and should not be considered as evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Project Delirium is the result of information gathered during the course of a previous effort targeting La Familia, known as Project Coronado. To date, Project Delirium has led to the arrest of 1,985 individuals and the seizure of approximately $62 million in U.S. currency, and approximately 2,773 pounds of methamphetamine, 2,722 kilograms of cocaine, 1,005 pounds of heroin, 14,818 pounds of marijuana and $3.8 million in other assets.
The investigative efforts in Project Delirium were coordinated by the multi-agency Special Operations Division, comprised of agents and analysts from the DEA, FBI, ICE, Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Marshals Service, as well as attorneys from the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section and Office of International Affairs. More than 300 federal, state, local and foreign law enforcement agencies, including the Texas Department of Public Safety, contributed investigative and prosecutorial resources to Project Delirium through the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces.
AUSTIN (KXAN) – Thirty-five people were arrested in the Austin area this week in a targeted attack on the La Familia Michoacana drug cartel.
The Drug Enforcement Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigations, Texas Department of Public Safety and Austin Police Department, along with other local law enforcement agencies, raided 11 addresses in Austin Wednesday morning as part of “Project Delirium,” an effort that involved 20 months of a series of investigations nationwide.
Officials seized drugs, weapons and more than $150,000 in cash. Authorities said it is a significant blow to the cartel in the Austin area.
Louis Bernal watched from his North Austin home as a SWAT team raided his neighbors house across the street Wednesday morning.
“It suprised me because this area is very quiet and everybody is very respectable over here,” said Bernal.
Nationwide, officials seized thousands of pounds of illegal drugs and millions in cash:
$62 million in U.S. currency
approximately 2,773 pounds of methamphetamine
2,722 kilograms of cocaine
1,005 pounds of heroin
14,818 pounds of marijuana
$3.8 million in other assets.
Nine people targeted in the raids conducted Wednesday in the Austin area are still at large.
“I would like for this to be a message for all those criminal organizations- that if they are going to be affecting our communities, we are going to come together as whole and we’re coming after you- we’re coming after you with everything that we have,” said Major David Morales, with the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Nationally, more than 70 were arrested on Wednesday and Thursday, and more than 200 have been arrested since June 1.
“Project Delirium is the second successful, strategic and surgical strike to disrupt and destroy one of the most violent Mexican cartels, La Familia,” said DEA administrator Leonhart. “Through their violent drug trafficking activities, including their hallmark of supplying most of the methamphetamine imported into the United States, La Familia is responsible for recklessly and violently destroying countless lives on both sides of the border. The strong joint efforts with our Mexican and U.S. law enforcement partners are crippling this brutal organization by capturing its leaders, strangling its distribution networks, and relentlessly pursuing its members and those who facilitate them.”
“Through coordinated and strategic efforts like Project Delirium, we are disrupting the operations of Mexican drug cartels in the United States and Mexico,” said Deputy Attorney General James Cole. “Today, we see drug traffickers operating in urban and rural communities alike. The arrests and seizures we are announcing today have stripped La Familia of its manpower, its deadly product and its profit, and helped make communities large and small safer. The department is determined to continue our aggressive efforts, along with our Mexican law enforcement partners, to diminish and ultimately eliminate the threat posed by these dangerous groups.”
“Through the Secretariat of Public Security, the government of Mexico has seen increased results in their fight against the drug trafficking organizations,” said Mexico’s Secretary of Public Security Genaro Garcia Luna. “Due to increased information sharing and collaboration with the DEA, these efforts have resulted in successful and significant arrests and seizures of drugs and money.”
“Law enforcement officials here in the U.S., in Mexico and all around the world are cooperating at unprecedented levels. There is a willingness — like never before — to work hand-in-hand to fight the cartels, the criminal enterprises, and the violent gangs that threaten the peace and security of people on both sides of the border,” said John Morton, director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Project Delirium is the result of information gathered during the course of a previous effort targeting La Familia, known as Project Coronado, which culminated in 2009.
Charges against those arrested include:
conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana
distribution of methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana
conspiracy to import narcotics into the United States
money laundering; and other violations of federal law.
Numerous defendants face forfeiture allegations as well.
And in Mexico…
13 Members of “La Familia” Accused of Massacres
Translated by BorderlandBeat.com – The Attorney General of the State of Mexico (PGJEM) reported on the arrest of 13 suspects responsible for over 19 executions linked to the June 26 and July 8 massacres in Valle de Chalco.
Among the suspects it includes Fernando Perez Delgado, aka “La Morsa”, 58, who was a commander of the municipal police in Valle de Chalco, in addition to Javier Monroy Flores, aka “La Paca”, 36, former soldier in the Mexican Army, assigned to the prestigious Presidential Guards.
The arrests are in addition to the 40 narcomenudistas (small time drug dealers), seven public officials and 12 suspects from various roles within “La Familia Michoacana”, all involved in the executions.
Authorities seized six vehicles equipped with secret compartments to store drugs, a 12 gauge shotgun, three handguns; one 9mm and 45 caliber, one hundred rounds of ammunition, a gas mask, ski masks, six cell phones and 29 kilos of marijuana.
The remaining detainees were identified as: María Hermelinda Trinidad Pérez, “La Chila,” 36; Aparicio Barrios Benito, “El Beno,” 34; José Luis Medina Jardón, 46; Luis Eduardo Median Herrera, 29; Andrés Barragán Pascual, 37; Luis Alberto González Hernández, “El Caballito,” 25; Juan Santos Fiscal, 48; Javier Morado López, “El Güero Michoacano,” 36; Juan José Salazar Sánchez “El Salazar,” 26 and Juan Carlos Días Sánchez, “El Carlitos” 26.
The last person arrested was José Luis Vázquez Sánchez, “El Chiquilín,” 43, also a policeman in Valle de Chalco, all 13 have links to the criminal group “La Familia.”
“La Morsa” was identified as the criminal cell leader and although he held the title of deputy director of the municipal police, he actually was the shift manager.
Attorney General Alfredo Castillo Cervantes said that all the detainees form part of “La Familia Michoacana” and has confirmed their involvement in the massacre where 19 people were killed, in two separate incidents of June 26 and July 8.
In a press conference, the AG said that the executions are a product of the struggle between cells of “Los Caballeros Templarios” and “La Familia.”
