| |  |
| | | Temperature: 58.7°F | Humidity: 86% | Pressure: 30.04in (Rising) | Conditions: Clear | Wind Direction: WNW | Wind Speed: 0.0mph |
|
| | | MONROE |
| |
DOPE DEFENDANT IN HUGE SKY VALLEY & REGION DRUG BUST PLEADS GUILTY
Chronicle First To Report On Deep Rooted Dope Cartel Here
February 05, 2010
(SEATTLE, WA) -- In October 2009 www.skyvalleychroncile.com was the first news source in the region – online or otherwise – to report on the deep and dangerous roots one of Mexico’s most dangerous drug cartels had planted here in the Sky Valley.
We reported extensively (in a story called "The Drug Cartel Next Door") on one of the most vicious and deadly cartels in Mexico named La Familia on October 23, 2009 and its relationship to a large U.S. drug investigation and eventual nationwide drug bust that was three and one half years in the making.
When the dust settled over two days in October some 1,200 suspects around the nation – including some here in Monroe - had been arrested, some 11.7. tons of narcotics had been seized as well as 33 million dollars, guns and specially outfitted vehicles used to hide and transport drugs and cash.
And at the heart of all this activity, say federal drug agents, were alleged members and associates of La Familia which has its center of operations in the Pacific Coast Mexican state of Michoacan.
You can read our October report HERE
One of the key defendants arrested during that large October raid, 32-year old Arturo J. Barajas Garcia of Renton pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court in Seattle to conspiracy to distribute drugs in a conspiracy connected to La Familia and also to money laundering in the operation.
Prosecutors will recommend he get a 17-year prison term as a result of the plea deal.
Garcia admitted his ties with La Familia and said he was the man responsible for managing all the local storage and distribution of the drugs methamphetamine and cocaine.
In that October bust in Monroe, Sultan, Everett and elsewhere Federal drug agents and other law enforcement officers raided a number of houses and apartments, seizing some 28 pounds of methamphetamine, over 24 pounds of cocaine, seven guns and some $230,000 in cash.
Garcia told authorites he conspired with others to arrange the importation and distribution of large quantities of drugs from Mexico and elsewhere in the U.S.
La Familia burst onto the national scene September 6, 2006, when 20 masked men stormed into a nightclub in Uruapan, Michoacan in Mexico, fired shots into the air and then ran up to the second floor from where they tossed five human heads onto the black and white dance floor.
The day before, the killers had seized their victims from a mechanic’s shop and cut off their heads with bowie knives while the men writhed in pain.
| |
|
BACK TO
HOME
| | | | More Headlines |
| | POLICE BLOTTER:
Warrant arrests, check forgery, sick raccoon, portable toilet destroyed, commercial burglary, doper with dope, vehicle prowl, graffiti, disorderly, found bike, dude busted for illegal knife, and more. | |
| |
|
| | |
|
