DEA arrests suspected drug traffickers with links to Sinaloa Cartel
The Drug Enforcement Administration said Friday 28 people with ties to the Sinaloa Drug Cartel are facing drug trafficking and money laundering charges.
The 16-month investigation targeted a drug trafficking organization allegedly led by Luis Angel Briseno Lopez, a Mexican National believed to be operating in Juarez. Briseno-Lopez has not been arrested, officials said.
During the investigation, authorities say they seized about 30 kilograms of heroin, 64 kilograms of methamphetamine, 17 kilograms of cocaine, 20 kilograms of marijuana, 24 firearms, three vehicles and $102,000.
The investigation concluded Friday with an early morning, multi-agency law enforcement operation that included the execution of arrest warrants in southern New Mexico and Texas.
Authorities say 23 of the 28 defendants are in custody, with 20 arrested Friday.
The suspects are accused of smuggling heroin, meth and cocaine from Mexico to Texas, New Mexico, Kentucky, Illinois and Kansas.
A NEWS RELEASE STATES THOSE ARRESTED OR CHARGED INCLUDE:
30-year-old Juan R. Gutierrez of Belen, New Mexico 38-year-old Guztavo Hernandez Loaiza of Albuquerque 23-year-old Joshua Jande Carmona of El Paso 24-year-old Alberto Terrazas-Ignacio of Albuquerque 28-year-old Jose Manuel Ortiz-Campos of El Paso 23-year-old Diego Armando Rivas-Aguilar, a Mexican national 30-year-old Edgar Dominguez-Cuellar of Sunland Park, New Mexico 43-year-old Rosa M. De Santiago of Sunland Park 36-year-old Georgina Ramirez of Anthony, New Mexico 39-year-old Jesus A. Flores of Anthony 36-year-old Alfonso Rios of Santa Rosa, New Mexico 26-year-old Vanessa Reyes of El Paso 24-year-old Roderica T. Bahe of Albuquerque 25-year-old Martin J. Contreras of Rio Rancho, New Mexico 19-year-old Elizabeth Monroy of Chaparral, New Mexico 22-year-old Daisy Hidalgo of Anthony, New Mexico (considered a fugitive) 19-year-old Jazmin Lucia Soto of Chaparral 19-year-old Ricardo Terraza-Ignacio of Las Cruces 21-year-old Dulce Viridiana Rodriguez of Albuquerque 24-year-old Gonzalo Dominguez-Cuellar of Sunland Park 26-year-old Yvonne Briseno-Lopez of El Paso 50-year-old Franciso Luna-Rosales of Albuquerque (considered a fugitive) 21-year-old Omar Fernandez of Albuquerque 32-year-old Manuel German Ibarra of Albuquerque (considered a fugitive)
