Thread: DEA arrests La Familia cartel members in El Paso, Alpine

DEA arrests La Familia cartel members in El Paso, Alpine

by Daniel Borunda \ El Paso Times
Posted: 07/21/2011 06:10:45 PM MDT

Suspected associates of La Familia Michoacana were arrested in West Texas as part of a nationwide crackdown on one of Mexico¹s most notorious drug cartels.

The Drug Enforcement Administration said this evening that agents arrested six men suspected of being linked to La Familia in El Paso and Alpine.

The arrests are part of more than 70 arrests made nationwide Wednesday and today in what has been described as the DEA¹s largest strike against La Familia in the United States.

The arrests are believed to be the first reported time that La Familia has been identified in the El Paso region.

In El Paso, authorities arrested Jesus Lorenzo Sanchez, 43, of El Paso; Victor Manuel Atilano, 30, of El Paso; Amado Erives Montes, 43, of Mexico; and Javier Ivan Muro Palacios, 39, of Mexico.

In Alpine, federal agents arrested Marco Medina Espinoza, 46, of Denver and Ruth Sanchez, 34, of Presidio, Texas.

The arrests were part of Project Delirium, a nationwide 20-month investigation targeting La Familia, a violent cartel based on the Pacific coast state of Michoacan that stands out because the cartel has a religious component.

La Familia has splintered into a drug organization calling itself the Knights Templar.

Daniel Borunda may be reached at dborunda@elpasotimes.com; 546-6102.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/newupdated/ci_18523709