300 Arrested in Drug Raids Across US

Feds crack down on violent Mexican cartel specializing in meth
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Oct 22, 2009 4:10 PM CDT
300 Arrested in Drug Raids Across US
Attorney General Eric Holder, right, takes the podium during a news conference at the Justice Department Thursday.   (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)

In the largest single strike at Mexican drug operations in the US, federal officials today announced the arrests of more than 300 people in raids across the country aimed at the newest and most violent cartel. La Familia has earned a reputation for dominating the methamphetamine trade and for using extreme violence, including beheadings. US officials said the cartel, based in southwestern Mexico, has a vast network pumping drugs throughout the United States, specializing in methamphetamine.

The arrests took place in 38 cities in 19 states, from Boston to Seattle and Tampa to St. Paul. In Dallas alone, 77 people were charged by a number of federal and local law enforcement agencies. Attorney General Eric Holder pledged to keep hitting La Familia and the cartels responsible for a wave of bloodshed in Mexico. He said the US would attack them at all levels, from the leadership to their supply chains reaching far into the United States. (More Mexico stories.)

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