Local, state and federal authorities in San Diego announced they have knocked a link out of the cross border drug chain. During a six-month undercover operation, authorities arrested 44 people and seized more than half a million dollars in cash. KPBS reporter Amy Isackson has details.
Law enforcement authorities say the two ring leaders, Andres Cardenas and David Hernandez, were based in Acapulco. Authorities say the men had a network of smugglers who worked under them. The runners would cross small loads of drugs from Tijuana to San Diego by strapping the contraband to their bodies or hiding it in cars and passing it through the ports of entry.
Once in San Diego, they delivered the drugs throughout the county. Loads would then be broken up for sale on the streets.
District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis said the traffickers used some of the drug proceeds to build expensive homes in Acapulco. She says their new home is a San Diego jail cell.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement Special Agent Frank Marwood says the trafficking operation is tied to a larger drug cartel. However he will not say if it is linked to Tijuana's Arellano Felix cartel or one of the other organizations that are trying to move into the border region.
Amy Isackson, KPBS News.
