FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE THURSDAY, JULY 31, 2003 WWW.USDOJ.GOV CRM (202) 514-2008 TDD (202) 514-1888 WASHINGTON, D.C. - Attorney General John Ashcroft today announced the indictment of Mexican drug lord Ismael Zambada-Garcia, head of the Zambada-Garcia drug organization (ZGO), and the arrests of over 240 individuals in the United States and Mexico. The indictment and related arrests are the result of Operation Trifecta, a 19-month-long international Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force investigation into cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine trafficking. The investigation was conducted by agents and analysts from the Drug Enforcement Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Internal Revenue Service, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, attorneys from the Justice Departments Criminal Division and various U.S. Attorneys offices, and coordinated by the Special Operations Division, a DEA-led program.
The indictment unsealed today was returned in late January 2003 by a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia. The indictment charges Ismael Zambada-Garcia and two of his top lieutenants, Vicente Zambada-Niebla and Javier Torres-Felix, with conspiracy to import and distribute cocaine. The indictment specifically alleges that between August 2001 and June 2002, the Zambada-Garcia organization delivered 1,003 kilograms of cocaine with an estimated value of $17 million to the New York/New Jersey area; 1,770 kilograms of cocaine with an estimated value of $30 million to the Chicago area; and 23 kilograms of cocaine with an estimated value of $391,000 to California.
In September 2002, the Zambada-Garcia organization was named by the Attorney General as a Consolidated Priority Organization Target (CPOT), a list that identifies the command and control stuctures of the most significant drug and money organizations that pose a threat to the United States. The list is overseen by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), a nationwide multi-agency task force that combines seven law enforcement agencies from the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security and Treasury, along with state and local law enforcement.
Today, the United States and Mexico, working together, have achieved a significant victory against the purveyors of illegal drugs, death and violence: Operation Trifecta, said Attorney General John Ashcroft. The activities of drug cartels such as Zambada-Garcia weaken our citizens and communities. They threaten the rule of law and insidiously endanger our way of life. With roots in the Mexican states of Sinaloa and Nayarit, the Zambada-Garcia organization exerts considerable influence along a large portion of Mexicos Pacific coast. According to the indictment, the ZGO received multi-ton quantities of cocaine, via maritime shipping, from Colombian sources of supply. After receipt of the cocaine, the ZGO allegedly used a variety of methods, including planes, trucks and cars, to transport the cocaine to the United States-Mexico border. Members of the ZGO would then allegedly transport the cocaine to the U.S./Mexico border, where it was then smuggled to locations including Los Angeles, Chicago and New York.
Operation Trifecta was initiated shortly after the December 2001 seizure of 9,291 kilograms of cocaine from the fishing vessel Macel, off the Pacific coast of Mexico. As a result of the Macel seizure, and several ongoing DEA and BICE operations, the Special Operations Division (SOD) focused a nationwide effort on the communications of the domestic cells of the Zambada-Garcia organization. More than 80 separate investigations across the country were coordinated over a 19-month period. Those investigations have led to the arrests of over 240 individuals, and the seizure of 11,759 kilograms of cocaine, 24,409 pounds of marijuana, nearly 108 pounds of methamphetamine, one pound of heroin, and more than $8.3 million in U.S. currency. These SOD-coordinated, multi-national investigations revealed the vast scope of the Zambada-Garcia organizations operations, ranging from the organizations Colombian sources of supply, to Mexican maritime and border smugglers, to domestic distribution cells operating in various cities in the United States.
In the United States, federal agents, acting with assistance from numerous state and local law enforcement agencies, carried out this weeks arrests in New York; Buffalo, New York; Youngstown, Ohio; Phoenix, Arizona; Nogales, Arizona; Los Angeles; Salt Lake City, Utah; Miami; and Providence, Rhode Island. Mexican authorities have located and arrested four additional defendants on provisional arrest warrants at the request of U.S. authorities. Those arrested have been indicted or charged by way of complaint with a variety of drug-related offenses. In addition, more than 50 search warrants were executed in conjunction with the arrests.
The Zambada-Garcia indictment, a product of the Justice Departments Bilateral Case Initiative, resulted from an investigation undertaken by prosecutors from the Criminal Divisions Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section and agents from the DEAs recently-formed Bilateral Case Group.
Operation Trifecta involved the coordination of more than 80 separate criminal investigations conducted by dozens of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, Mexican and Colombian police officials, and prosecutors from the Department of Justice Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section, nine United States Attorneys offices - including the Southern District of New York, the Western District of New York, the Central District of California, the District of Utah, the District of Arizona, the Southern District of Florida, the Northern District of Ohio, the District of Rhode Island, and the Eastern District of Virginia. State prosecutors offices in California, New York, and Arizona also participated.
In addition to Zambada-Garcia, more than 175 defendants were charged by state and federal prosecutors nationwide. Other significant defendants charged in the United States include: Javier Torres-Felix: Separate federal indictments have been filed against Torres-Felix in the District of Columbia and Los Angeles. The District of Columbia indictment alleges that Torres-Felix is a top Zambada-Garcia lieutenant responsible for arranging the transportation of multi-ton shipments of cocaine to ZGO associates in the United States. The indictment also alleges that Torres-Felix was responsible for the receipt and distribution of millions of dollars in drug proceeds gained from the ZGOs trafficking activities. Torres-Felix is specifically charged (along with Zambada-Garcia and his son, Vicente Zambada-Niebla) with conspiracy to import and distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine within the United States. The Los Angeles indictment charges alleges that Torres-Felix provided millions of dollars worth of cocaine to distribution cells in the Los Angeles area. The multi-count indictment specifically charges Torres-Felix with: 1) conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine; 2) conspiracy to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine; 3) conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine; 4) possession with intent to distribute approximately 15.02 kilograms of cocaine; and 5) possession with intent to distribute more than 500 grams of cocaine.
Vicente Zambada-Niebla Vicente Zambada-Niebla, the son and co-defendant of Ismael Zambada-Garcia, is named in the District of Columbia indictment unsealed today. The indictment alleges that Zambada-Niebla was responsible for supervising the unloading of multi-ton quantities of cocaine from ships off the Mexican coast and verifying the quantities delivered to the ZGO by their Colombian sources of supply. Zambada-Niebla is specifically charged with conspiracy to import and distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine within the United States.
Manuel Campas-Medina Manuel Campas-Medina has been indicted by a grand jury in the Southern District of New York. The New York indictment alleges Campas-Medinas direct involvement in the shipment of 62 kilograms of cocaine in February 2002, and his participation in telephone conversations to arrange additional shipments of cocaine from Mexico to the New York area. The indictment specifically charges Campas-Medina and 13 other defendants with conspiracy to import and distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine.
The following federal, state, and local agencies participated in Operation Trifecta: Federal: US Department of Justice, Criminal Division, Narcotic & Dangerous Drug Section Drug Enforcement Administration (Los Angeles; San Diego; Riverside; Fresno; Carlsbad; New York; Buffalo; Houston; Las Vegas; Miami; Washington, DC; Phoenix; Tucson; Yuma; Nogales; Providence; Youngstown; Salt Lake City) United States Attorneys Offices (Los Angeles, New York, Buffalo, Miami, Providence, Youngstown, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Norfolk) U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Los Angeles; New York; Buffalo; Phoenix) Internal Revenue Service U.S. Marshals Service Federal Bureau of Investigation (Los Angeles) U.S. Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (Nogales) US Postal Inspectors (Buffalo) State and Local: California: Downey Police Department Pomona Police Department Los Angeles Police Department Los Angeles Impact San Bernardino Police Department Pasadena Police Department Los Angeles District Attorneys Office Hawthorne Police Department Gardena Police Department Los Angeles Sheriffs Office California Highway Patrol Fullerton Police Department Orange County Regional Narcotics Suppression Program California State Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement Inland Crackdown Allied Task Force Long Beach Police Department El Monte Police Department Pomona Police Department Simi Valley Police Department Tennessee 21st Judicial District Drug Task Force Imperial County Sheriffs Office New York: New York City Police Department New York State Police Southern Tier Regional Taskforce Jamestown Police Department Chautauqua County Sheriffs Office.
Florida: Miami-Dade Police Department Florida Highway Patrol Washington, D.C.: Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Department Maryland: Prince Georges County Police Department Arizona: Arizona Department of Public Service Phoenix Police Department Arizona Department of Public Service Pima County Sheriffs Office Pima County Attorneys Office Oro Valley Police Department Coolidge Police Department Arizona Department of Public Safety Yuma County Sheriffs Department Arizona Attorney Generals Office Nogales Police Department Rhode Island: Warwick Police Department Middletown Police Department Westerly Police Department TF Green Airport Police Providence County HIDTA Ohio: Warren Police Department Youngstown Police Department Poland Valley Police Department Salem Police Department Mahoning County Sheriffs Office Boardman Police Department Canfield Police Department Beaver Police Department Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation Utah: Utah Department of Public Safety Salt Lake City Police Department South Jordan Police Department Sandy Police Department Murray Police Department West Valley Police Department South Salt Lake City Police Department Midvale Police Department Weber-Morgan Narcotics Task Force Utah County Major Crimes Task Force Salt Lake County Sheriffs Office 03-345
Source: US Department of Justice
