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Prosecution of "replaceable" cartel smugglers fail to reduce I-35 drug trafficking

Guilty pleas last week by drug traffickers working for Los Zetas, the enforcement arm of the Gulf Cartel drug trafficking organization, offer rare insight into the mechanics of drug smuggling up and down the I-35 corridor, the Dallas News reports ("Traffickers used I-35 buses to get drugs to Dallas, court records show," Aug. 11): Raul Castillo, 31, and Jorge Rodriguez, 21, pleaded guilty a week ago in Laredo federal court to charges that they moved up to 600 kilograms of cocaine a week to Dallas between March 2007 and February. After they were arrested this year, the two Laredo men admitted to federal agents that they worked for Miguel Treviño Morales, a fugitive who is the reputed commander of the Zetas in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. Authorities say that locally, a kilogram of cocaine goes for about $25,000, meaning these men are responsible for well over a half-billion dollars worth of narcotics moving up I-35...continue to full post

Full post as published by Grits for Breakfast on August 11, 2008 (boomark / email).