Pubdate: Thu, 18 Oct 2007 Source: Los Angeles Times (CA) Copyright: 2007 Los Angeles Times Contact: http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248 Author: Greg Krikorian, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin) Alleged Member of Vast Mexican Drug Cartel Returned to L.A. Authorities Say Francisco 'Pancho' Aviles-Perez Is a Major Player in a Cocaine Ring. Five years after his indictment by a federal grand jury, an alleged drug lord in Mexico was returned to Los Angeles on Wednesday to face charges that he was part of a vast cartel that supplied hundreds of pounds of cocaine each year to California, Alaska and other states. Francisco "Pancho" Aviles-Perez was turned over to the FBI almost a year after he was arrested by Mexican authorities near his home in Sinaloa on information provided by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, officials said Aviles-Perez, 61, had been held in a Mexican detention facility until his extradition Wednesday. In 2002, a two-year federal investigation led to the indictment of more than 130 people in half a dozen cities including Los Angeles, New York, and Anchorage. In Los Angeles, Aviles-Perez was the lead defendant among 16 people who authorities described as some of the most significant players in the drug cartel. In Los Angeles alone, more than $3 million worth of cocaine was seized during the arrests. At the time of the indictment, Aviles-Perez was already in Mexico, having been deported after serving a 10-year prison sentence in the U.S. for heroin trafficking. In Mexico, authorities allege, Aviles-Perez was responsible for coordinating the shipments of cocaine into the U.S. for distribution throughout the country. Authorities say he managed to evade arrest for several years after the indictment until his whereabouts were discovered by the DEA. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake