Phoenix-area drug-smuggling sweep in works

by Catherine Crook and Jose Zavala - Oct. 27, 2011 11:00 AM
The Arizona Republic-12 News Breaking News Team

Federal and local authorities served warrants Thursday across the metro Phoenix area as part of what they described as a large drug-trafficking investigation.

The operation is overseen by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Pinal County Sheriff's Office. It is the second such operation this month.

17 arrested in Arizona pot-smuggling case

According to the Pinal County Sheriff's Office, all the arrest and search warrants have been served.

Authorities declined to comment further, but said additional details will be released at a later date.

A Phoenix family said their home on 89th Avenue and West Virginia Avenue was raided at about 7:30 a.m.

Maria Servin, 19, was at her house along with her 7-year-old brother Jesus Cortez and four other people. Jesus was walking to the front door to go to school when he noticed police outside, Servin said.

Authorities broke through the front door and ICE agents came in afterward, according to family members at the home.

All the family members reported that they had a gun pointed at them, including the 7-year-old boy.

The family said it has rented the house for about five months. They do not know the owner and say they do not know the two people whose names were on the warrant, which had a list of crimes including drug smuggling and money laundering. Nobody from the family was taken into custody, family members said.

On Oct. 14, ICE and the Pinal County Sheriff's Office officials said they shut down a large drug-smuggling operation that was responsible for moving 50,000 pounds of marijuana a month.

Authorities said 17 high-level members of a smuggling operation that worked with Mexican cartels to transport marijuana that had been smuggled across the border.

In recent years, the Sinaloa Cartel, the largest cartel in Mexico, has been smuggling an increasing amount of drugs through Arizona.

Authorities have not made any connections between the two cases.
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