More Than $206 Million in Drug Money Seized
Authorities in Mexico raided a home in one of the wealthiest areas of Mexico City. The raid, carried out against a known drug cartel, resulted in the arrests of seven individuals on the property, and seized more than $206 Million in US bank notes.
After taking office last December, President Felipe Calderón proclaimed a nation-wide crack down on the Mexican drug trade, and so far the President has lived up to that promise. In addition to the current raid on a drug cartel residence in Mexico City, the President has also dispatched thousands of federal troops to some of the highest crime areas of the country in an effort to stamp out illegal drug trafficking in Mexico. The President has also extradited Osiel Cardenas, boss of the Gulf Cartel, to the United States to face drug trafficking charges.
The most recent raid began late Thursday night and carried well into Friday morning, as federal authorities raided the private mansion of one of the largest drug lords in Mexico. The raid was conducted in the Lomas de Chapultepec district of Mexico City. This affluent, upscale area consists of secure compounds that are home to Ambassadors and multi-national business owners.
During the course of the raid, authorities arrested seven people found at the residence, and seized a large amount of property that was purchased with profits from the illegal drug trade. Among the items seized in the drug raid were eight luxury cars, a number of automatic weapons and specialized machinery for turning powder into pill form.
The largest prize of the drug raid was an unprecedented amount of cash. More that $206 Million of US bank notes was seized in the raid, found stuffed into suitcases, filling closets all the way up to the ceiling, and even hidden inside walls. Also found was more than 200,000 Euros and more than 157,000 Pesos. The funds, which represented the largest seizure of drug money in Mexico's history, was transported to a secure location in a van that was guarded by two dozen police cars.
"This is the biggest seizure, not just in Mexico but perhaps in the world," said President Calderón.
In a public press conference, the President continued on to say, ""I don't want to think about how many young people this gang was poisoning with its drugs, but I can promise them they won't do it any more."
The drug gang that the President spoke of was one of the largest distributors of methamphetamines in the Western Hemisphere. The gang operated behind the front of a pharmaceutical company titled Unimed Pharm Chem de Mexico SA.
In December, authorities seized a large shipment including 19.5 tons pseudoephedrine in the Pacific port of Lazaro Cardenas, which was ordered by the drug cartel's pharmaceutical company. Because pseudoephedrine is one of the base ingredients for manufacturing methamphetamine, often referred to as crystal meth, authorities launched a large scale investigation that ultimately led them to the drug cartel in Mexico City.
It is believed that the drug was being manufactured, possibly pressed into pill form, and smuggled into the United States for distribution. A recent report by the US Justice Department's National Drug Intelligence Center stated that methamphetamine producers in Mexico are attempting to muscle into the US market, after police in the United States began cracking down on illegal drug labs.
Mexico's Federal Attorney General, Medina Mora, said that Mexican drug cartels smuggle tons of methamphetamine into the United States, but that investigators were unsure of what drug gangs the cartel sold to.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Mora stated that the cartel that was raided in Mexico City was operated by a native of China who had gained Mexican nationality. Authorities are presently searching for this individual, who has gone into hiding and suspected of leaving the country entirely.
"This organization had been introducing the illegally imported product to our country and maybe to the United States," Medina Mora said during the interview. "There is certainly connections between this group and methamphetamine producers."
There are currently three drug cartels that dominate the illegal drug trade in Mexico. The Tijuana Cartel, the Sinaloa Cartel and the Gulf Cartel that stretches along the border between Mexico and Texas. Because of the activities of these three drug cartels, Mexico has become one of the world's largest producers of methamphetamine.
