(Image source: Wikipedia)
BY EMILY SPAIN
You're watching multisource US news analysis from Newsy.
At least a billion dollar drug ring is busted, along with more than 70 drug king pins.
All thanks to a 17-month federal investigation.
Fox News has the exclusive on the bust across southern Arizona and the Mexican border... One of the biggest in history.
REPORTER: “Police arrested more than 70, seized almost $800,000 in cash, and 100 plus weapons.”
TOM HORNE: “The federal government is misleading people when they say that the border is safer than its ever been. In fact, it’s the most dangerous its ever been.”
The New York Times reports the ring profited $2 billion over the past five years. The Times interviews Homeland Security agent Matthew Allen who says, wrangling this ring won’t end here.
"I expect there will be a shift...One investigation is not going to put them out of business. We have to continually adapt.”
The Times notes the cartel had law enforcement fooled until the bust. The ring used people on foot with small amounts of drugs in backpacks to get the products into the states. And scouts hid in the hills to keep an eye out for cops.
The raid -- called “Operation Pipeline Express -- was carried out by ICE, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, along with other agencies. A local sheriff’s department tells Phoenix’s KTAR, the bust sounds big -- but in reality it’s not.
"Does it really have a dramatic impact? We're saying, 'yes, it does,' but this literally is just a fraction of what is going on."
Phoniex News Times reports Homeland Security hopes the drug ring round up sends a message to all Mexican cartels: keep their operations off American soil.
Transcript by Newsy.
 |  |  |  |
