Thee Gringo Douglas McCoi
New member
A failured war
A Multibillion-dollar business- Drug case targeting Mexican cartels that was unveiled in Chicago and New York on Thursday had roots in a Milwaukee prosecution from 2005, officials said. Forty-three people in the United States and Mexico, including 10 alleged Mexican drug cartel leaders, were charged in 12 indictments unsealed in U.S. federal courts in Brooklyn, Chicago and Milwaukee.
Among those charged are twin brothers from Chicago who were indicted in Milwaukee in early 2005.
Also among the defendants are the alleged former and current heads of an organized Mexican crime syndicate known as the "Sinaloa Cartel" or ' Federation Mafia" according to court documents. Over 18 years, the organizations were responsible for importing and selling nearly 200 metric tons of cocaine and large quantities of heroin in the U.S., and then smuggling more than $5.8 billion back into Mexico, officials said. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said Thursday the Mexican drug cartels have spread to "our own backyards." The cartels whose alleged leaders are charged today constitute multibillion dollar networks that funnel drugs onto our streets and what invariably follows is more crime and violence in our communities," Holder said.
In January 2005 in Milwaukee, Chicago twins Pedro and Margarito Flores were indicted by a grand jury on three counts of conspiring to sell kilograms of cocaine and one count of trying to conceal financial transactions, according to court documents unsealed Thursday.
The Flores brothers' operation alone was distributing 3,000 to 4,000 pounds of cocaine and heroin a month in Chicago, Milwaukee and other cities, documents show.
Officials said the Flores prosecution was the largest drug trafficking case ever in the eastern district of Wisconsin, and the most sophisticated.
The Flores brothers regularly sold cocaine worth tens of millions of dollars to their Milwaukee network of dealers, documents show.
The indictment said the twins, who were in their 20s at the time, were selling cocaine from at least 2001 to when they were arrested.
"The indictments announced today represent a very significant chapter in the ongoing efforts to eradicate illegal drug trafficking in our community, our country, and internationally," said Michelle Jacobs, acting U.S. Attorney in Milwaukee.
The Flores investigation was similar to many done in Milwaukee, where agents work upstream to distributors in Chicago and beyond, said James F. Bohn, assistant special agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration in Milwaukee.
The Flores case was investigated by the DEA, state drug agents, Milwaukee police and the IRS.
"Milwaukee is a kind of destination city," Bohn said. "Large traffickers get their drugs from larger cities, which often for us is Chicago. We just work our way up the chain."
The Flores twins owned at least five homes in the Chicago area that were targeted for forfeiture in the indictment.
Agents noted that the twins tried to hide their assets in relatives' and girlfriends' names.
Milwaukee officials handed off the information from the Flores case to Chicago agents, laying the groundwork for the case there.
A Multibillion-dollar business- Drug case targeting Mexican cartels that was unveiled in Chicago and New York on Thursday had roots in a Milwaukee prosecution from 2005, officials said. Forty-three people in the United States and Mexico, including 10 alleged Mexican drug cartel leaders, were charged in 12 indictments unsealed in U.S. federal courts in Brooklyn, Chicago and Milwaukee.
Among those charged are twin brothers from Chicago who were indicted in Milwaukee in early 2005.
Also among the defendants are the alleged former and current heads of an organized Mexican crime syndicate known as the "Sinaloa Cartel" or ' Federation Mafia" according to court documents. Over 18 years, the organizations were responsible for importing and selling nearly 200 metric tons of cocaine and large quantities of heroin in the U.S., and then smuggling more than $5.8 billion back into Mexico, officials said. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said Thursday the Mexican drug cartels have spread to "our own backyards." The cartels whose alleged leaders are charged today constitute multibillion dollar networks that funnel drugs onto our streets and what invariably follows is more crime and violence in our communities," Holder said.
In January 2005 in Milwaukee, Chicago twins Pedro and Margarito Flores were indicted by a grand jury on three counts of conspiring to sell kilograms of cocaine and one count of trying to conceal financial transactions, according to court documents unsealed Thursday.
The Flores brothers' operation alone was distributing 3,000 to 4,000 pounds of cocaine and heroin a month in Chicago, Milwaukee and other cities, documents show.
Officials said the Flores prosecution was the largest drug trafficking case ever in the eastern district of Wisconsin, and the most sophisticated.
The Flores brothers regularly sold cocaine worth tens of millions of dollars to their Milwaukee network of dealers, documents show.
The indictment said the twins, who were in their 20s at the time, were selling cocaine from at least 2001 to when they were arrested.
"The indictments announced today represent a very significant chapter in the ongoing efforts to eradicate illegal drug trafficking in our community, our country, and internationally," said Michelle Jacobs, acting U.S. Attorney in Milwaukee.
The Flores investigation was similar to many done in Milwaukee, where agents work upstream to distributors in Chicago and beyond, said James F. Bohn, assistant special agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration in Milwaukee.
The Flores case was investigated by the DEA, state drug agents, Milwaukee police and the IRS.
"Milwaukee is a kind of destination city," Bohn said. "Large traffickers get their drugs from larger cities, which often for us is Chicago. We just work our way up the chain."
The Flores twins owned at least five homes in the Chicago area that were targeted for forfeiture in the indictment.
Agents noted that the twins tried to hide their assets in relatives' and girlfriends' names.
Milwaukee officials handed off the information from the Flores case to Chicago agents, laying the groundwork for the case there.