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arrested 21 members linked to Sinaloa cartel

TUCSON - Las autoridades estadounidenses arrestaron a 21 presuntos members of a criminal organization dedicated to human trafficking and drugs in the southern state of Arizona (USA) and had connections with Mexico's Sinaloa cartel, officials said.

"This criminal organization was well organized and constantly worked to evade police surveillance using sophisticated methods," he told a press conference Tom Horne, Arizona's attorney general, southern U.S. border with Mexico. Indian Reserve



The group, led by Jesus Rodriguez-Valencia who is still at large ", different methods used to transport marijuana and groups undocumented immigrants through the territory of the Tohono O'odham Indian reservation.

Since 2008, Valencia Rodriguez has been identified as an important part of a cell of the Sinaloa cartel, responsible for coordinating the transportation of illegal immigrants and large shipments of marijuana from Mexico into the United States through the corridor of San Miguel, a route within the Tohono O'odham reservation.

law enforcement agencies in southern Arizona have established a relationship of at least 150 seizures of drugs with the group led by Valencia Rodríguez and confiscated nearly 14,000 kilos of marijuana.

In February 2010, law enforcement agencies also seized 41 firearms that were en route to Mexico.

Since 2008, over 150 catches of drugs with a total of 12,700 kilos (28,000 pounds) of marijuana have been linked to the group.

Horne added that the smugglers were using modern surveillance equipment, including night vision goggles and radios, from positions in the hilltops, to spot and evade the Border Patrol agents.

state authorities, federal and tribal worked together to thwart the criminal organization.

The main entry point was a cross linking tribal reservations in Mexico and the United States. The tribesmen crossing border freely there. The smugglers took advantage of the intersection of San Miguel to recruit members of the Tohono O'odham to smuggle drugs and illegal immigrants in the United States, said Horne. Some of the defendants are members of the Indian tribe.

"Members of the tribe should be able to come and go because your reservation is on both sides of the border," said Horne. The reservation covers more than 11,000 square kilometers (4,400 square miles).