Posted on February 19, 2015

US Arrests 17 Suspected Members of Zetas Cartel Cell Operating in Texas

Brandon Darby and Ildefonso Ortiz, Breitbart, February 19, 2015

Federal agents arrested 17 suspected members of a Mexican Zetas cartel cell operating in Texas. Members of the cell moved massive quantities of drugs from the Texas border city of Laredo to Dallas, Texas. {snip}

The charges against them come from a federal indictment that a grand jury handed down earlier this month under seal and it was partially unsealed following the arrests.

The group, which is led by 43-year-old Erasmo Trejo Nava, is accused of multiple drug conspiracy and money laundering charges starting in June 2011.

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According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Trejo Nava’s group moved those large quantities of narcotics to Dallas and then in return moved large quantities of bulk cash from Dallas to Laredo and then over the river into the Zetas-controlled Mexican city of Nuevo Laredo.

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A federal agent who works under the umbrella of Customs and Border Protection spoke with Breitbart Texas on the condition of anonymity. The agent stated, “Due to the region involved, any large narcotics trafficking cell is going to be Los Zetas. They control the region with an iron fist. The refusal on the part of the federal government to name Los Zetas in their press releases on these matters is akin to the Obama administration refusing to name radical Islam in terrorist acts or identify the beheaded Egyptians as Christians. This cell was undoubtedly Los Zetas, just as any large narcotics ring in the RGV Sector is undoubtedly the Gulf cartel, and any large trafficking ring in the Tucson sector is undoubtedly the Sinaloa Federation.” The agent continued, “If we continue refusing to identify who we are fighting, how can we ever possibly win?”

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