Mexico's 'drug king' will face prosecution
Source: Agencies |
March 27, 2010, Saturday
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FEDERAL police have arrested Mexico's "King of Heroin," a powerful drug trafficker allegedly responsible for running thousands of kilograms of heroin into Southern California each year, authorities said on Thursday.
Jose Antonio Medina, nicknamed "Don Pepe," was arrested in the western state of Michoacan and is being held for prosecution, said Ramon Pequeno, head of the anti-narcotics division of Mexico's federal police.
Medina, 36, ran a complex smuggling ring that hauled 200 kilograms of heroin each month across the border in Tijuana for La Familia drug cartel, Pequeno said.
The White House National Drug Threat Assessment says that while heroin use is stable or decreasing in the United States, the source of the drug has shifted in recent years from Colombia -- where production and purity are declining -- to Mexico, where powerful drug cartels are gaining a foothold in the lucrative market.
Heroin production in Mexico rose from 17 pure metric tons in 2007 to 38 tons in 2008, with the increase meaning lower heroin prices and more heroin-related overdoses and more overdose deaths, according to US government estimates by the National Drug Intelligence Center.
Border Patrol agents seized 2.1 million kilograms of narcotics at border crossings last year, and heroin seizures saw the most significant increase during that time, with a 316 percent jump over 2008.
Mexico and the US are together battling a handful of increasingly violent drug cartels that supply most of the illicit drugs sold in the US.
Medina's arrest came the day after top US Cabinet officials, led by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, visited Mexico to underscore their shared responsibility for drug-related violence.
Nearly 17,900 people have died in drug-related violence since President Felipe Calderon launched an assault on cartels after taking office in December 2006.
The bloodshed continued on Thursday, when Mexican marines on patrol in the small town of Cerralvo, north of the city of Monterrey, came under fire after ordering a convoy of gunmen traveling in six vehicles to stop.
Six assailants were killed in the ensuing battle, the navy said. The marine patrol seized 15 rifles, 10 pistols, 2 grenades and ammunition from the vehicles.
Jose Antonio Medina, nicknamed "Don Pepe," was arrested in the western state of Michoacan and is being held for prosecution, said Ramon Pequeno, head of the anti-narcotics division of Mexico's federal police.
Medina, 36, ran a complex smuggling ring that hauled 200 kilograms of heroin each month across the border in Tijuana for La Familia drug cartel, Pequeno said.
The White House National Drug Threat Assessment says that while heroin use is stable or decreasing in the United States, the source of the drug has shifted in recent years from Colombia -- where production and purity are declining -- to Mexico, where powerful drug cartels are gaining a foothold in the lucrative market.
Heroin production in Mexico rose from 17 pure metric tons in 2007 to 38 tons in 2008, with the increase meaning lower heroin prices and more heroin-related overdoses and more overdose deaths, according to US government estimates by the National Drug Intelligence Center.
Border Patrol agents seized 2.1 million kilograms of narcotics at border crossings last year, and heroin seizures saw the most significant increase during that time, with a 316 percent jump over 2008.
Mexico and the US are together battling a handful of increasingly violent drug cartels that supply most of the illicit drugs sold in the US.
Medina's arrest came the day after top US Cabinet officials, led by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, visited Mexico to underscore their shared responsibility for drug-related violence.
Nearly 17,900 people have died in drug-related violence since President Felipe Calderon launched an assault on cartels after taking office in December 2006.
The bloodshed continued on Thursday, when Mexican marines on patrol in the small town of Cerralvo, north of the city of Monterrey, came under fire after ordering a convoy of gunmen traveling in six vehicles to stop.
Six assailants were killed in the ensuing battle, the navy said. The marine patrol seized 15 rifles, 10 pistols, 2 grenades and ammunition from the vehicles.
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