The Boston Police Department has been credited with collaborating with New Hampshire law officials and the FBI in what is being touted as a “significant international drug bust.” Yesterday, on September 4, 2012, the US Attorney for the district of New Hampshire, John P. Kacavas, announced the arrest of several individuals of the notorious Sinaloa Cartel.
The arrest comes as the culmination of a three-year investigation that involved closely monitoring the movement of cartel henchmen as they conducted activities from New Hampshire down to Boston, and as far as Florida, in an attempt to establish and expand a market for their drugs in the United States. After constructing a foothold in New Hampshire, the cartel planned on running a pipeline of narcotics from Mexico to Europe, and then from Europe directly into New Hampshire. The drugs were to be sent across the Atlantic Ocean via boat. Dry runs were conducted with empty containers to test the viability of the plan.
Cheryl Fiandaca, a spokesperson for the Boston Police Department, declined to reveal how the Boston Police were directly involved but instead praised the high level of cooperation between federal and also international police authorities. With the assistance from the Spanish National Police, the FBI captured 346 kilograms of cocaine, more than 763 pounds, and apprehended four of the plot’s suspects in the port city of Algerciras, Spain. Jesus Soto, Rafael Humberto Celaya Valenzuela, and Samuel Zazuetta Valenzuela were soldiers of the Sinaloa Cartel obligated with running logistics and financial planning. But the fourth apprehension, Manuel Jesus Guttierez Guzman is being considered the pick of the litter as he is the first cousin of the Sinaloa Cartel’s boss, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman-Coera.
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