Pubdate: Sat, 20 Aug 2005
Source: Bradenton Herald (FL)
Copyright: 2005 Bradenton Herald
Contact:  http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradentonherald/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/58
Author:   Suzanne Gamboa, Associated Press

DEA BREAKS UP 3 MAJOR DRUG PIPELINES

WASHINGTON - Drug enforcement agents have arrested some 160 people in four
U.S. cities and two countries and have broken up three major drug
transportation rings with international ties in a 10-month drug- trafficking
sting revealed Friday.

The Drug Enforcement Administration said the people arrested were involved
in 27 U.S. distribution groups that have moved enough methamphetamine into
the United States to have provided the drug to more than 22,700 users a
month.

Arrests in the sting - dubbed Operation Three Hour Tour by the Drug
Enforcement Administration - were made Thursday in Los Angeles, New York,
New Haven, Conn., Des Moines, Iowa, the Dominican Republican and Colombia.
Other federal, state and local law enforcement agencies also participated in
the sting. More arrests could occur, the DEA said.

"The streets from Bogota to Los Angeles are no longer a free trade zone for
the criminals arrested today," DEA Administrator Karen Tandy said in a
statement. "Rest assured: The DEA will be relentless in targeting drug
traffickers and their illicit money until they no longer have the assets or
means to put their poisons into the hands of our children."

The three Mexican and Colombian drug transportation organizations and their
U.S. counterparts smuggled and distributed 4,000 pounds of cocaine, 20 to 30
pounds of heroin and more than 50 pounds of methamphetamine monthly
throughout this country, the DEA said.

The agency calculates that 545 grams of methamphetamine produced one pound
of product and a single gram is enough for one hit. The DEA said those
figures are on the high end of methamphetamine use.

Along with the arrests, officers seized 52 firearms, 10,000 doses of
Ecstasy, 58 vehicles, 216 pounds of marijuana and $5.5 million in cash. 
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MAP posted-by: Josh