Little known to the American public, Project Deliverance is a multi-agency operation in cooperation with authorities in Mexico to target drug trafficking by Mexican cartels. U. S. agencies include the Drug Enforcement Administration, FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and state and local law enforcement. The U. S. agencies worked with the anti-narcotics division of Mexico’s federal police in pursuing the transportation networks of Mexican drug cartels.
By early today, 2266 arrests had been made in connection with the operation. In addition to the arrests, 501 weapons were seized along with $154,000,000 in cash and 74 tons of illegal drugs. Seized drugs included methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin and marijuana. The arrests came in addition to more than 1200 arrests last year in Project Coronado.
Among those arrested was Carlos Ramon Castro-Rocha who is alleged to be a major heroin trafficker. He was detained by Mexican authorities on May 30 and has been charged in U. S. Federal Courts in Arizona and North Carolina. In announcing the arrests, Attorney General Eric Holder again pressed Congress to approve the additional $500 million requested to secure the Mexican/American border.
Projects Coronado and Deliverance are the result of closer cooperation with Mexican authorities in a crackdown on illegal drug trafficking. That cooperation, in turn, stems in part from the Merida Initiative, a $1.3 billion U. S. aid package to help Mexico fight drug cartels.
Drug trafficking and associated violence have been cause for growing concern along the border. The murder of a rancher, allegedly by a Mexican drug gang member, was part of the impetus behind Arizona’s anti-immigrant legislation earlier this year. Tensions at the border have increased with the recent fatal shooting of a Mexican teenager by Border Patrol agents near El Paso, the second such fatal incident involving a Mexican national in two weeks. In Mexico, it is estimated that more than 22,000 have died in the government’s war against the cartels.
Cross posted at Elijah’s Sweete Spot.
Contributor, aka tidbits. Retired attorney in complex litigation, death penalty defense and constitutional law. Former Nat’l Board Chair: Alzheimer’s Association. Served on multiple political campaigns, including two for U.S. Senator Mark O. Hatfield (R-OR). Contributing author to three legal books and multiple legal publications.