http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/10/marijuana-bust-mexico.html
Mexico authorities seize 105 tons of marijuana destined for the U.S.
October 18, 2010 | 7:50 pm
Baja California authorities seized 105 tons of marijuana Monday morning in what is believed to be one of the largest drug busts in recent Mexican history, according to Mexican authorities and media reports.
Some 10,000 packages of marijuana were hidden in six cargo containers stored in a warehouse in an industrial part of Tijuana. The marijuana was discovered after police on routine patrol intercepted a convoy of vehicles escorting a tractor-trailer that had left the warehouse, officials said.
After a shootout, 11 people were arrested. Police and soldiers, acting on information from the suspects, raided the warehouse and two homes near the coast, where smaller amounts of marijuana were found.
The neatly packaged cannabis — guarded by masked, heavily armed soldiers — was later displayed for the media at Morelos Army Base in Tijuana. Gen. Alfonso Duarte Mugica, the military’s top commander in Baja California, said the drugs had an estimated street value of 4.2 billion pesos, or about $340 million.
The marijuana was destined for the U.S., he said.
The seizure is the latest blow against organized crime groups operating in Baja California, a major staging ground for drug smuggling into California. In April, the military seized 19 tons of pot in a Tijuana warehouse. Security forces have also arrested many major drug cartel figures and significantly reduced the kind of high-impact, gang-war violence that afflicts other border cities.
“With these results, it is evidence once again that the strategy … continues striking the operations and financial structure of the organized crime groups,” said a statement released by the the Mexican military.
-- Richard Marosi in San Diego
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Twitter: @latimescitydesk @lanow
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Just look at the picture and you will get the idea of how much marijuana this is.... and im sure the pictures doesn't even show it all.
Mexico authorities seize 105 tons of marijuana destined for the U.S.
October 18, 2010 | 7:50 pm
Baja California authorities seized 105 tons of marijuana Monday morning in what is believed to be one of the largest drug busts in recent Mexican history, according to Mexican authorities and media reports.
Some 10,000 packages of marijuana were hidden in six cargo containers stored in a warehouse in an industrial part of Tijuana. The marijuana was discovered after police on routine patrol intercepted a convoy of vehicles escorting a tractor-trailer that had left the warehouse, officials said.
After a shootout, 11 people were arrested. Police and soldiers, acting on information from the suspects, raided the warehouse and two homes near the coast, where smaller amounts of marijuana were found.
The neatly packaged cannabis — guarded by masked, heavily armed soldiers — was later displayed for the media at Morelos Army Base in Tijuana. Gen. Alfonso Duarte Mugica, the military’s top commander in Baja California, said the drugs had an estimated street value of 4.2 billion pesos, or about $340 million.
The marijuana was destined for the U.S., he said.
The seizure is the latest blow against organized crime groups operating in Baja California, a major staging ground for drug smuggling into California. In April, the military seized 19 tons of pot in a Tijuana warehouse. Security forces have also arrested many major drug cartel figures and significantly reduced the kind of high-impact, gang-war violence that afflicts other border cities.
“With these results, it is evidence once again that the strategy … continues striking the operations and financial structure of the organized crime groups,” said a statement released by the the Mexican military.
-- Richard Marosi in San Diego
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @latimescitydesk @lanow
Facebook: latimescitydesk
More in: Crime and courts
Read LaterComments (0)ShareThis
Marijuana bust weighs in at 134 tons
TIJUANA, Mexico: The marijuana seized in Mexico’s biggest bust ever weighed in at 134 tons Tuesday, nearly 30 tons more than initially reported, authorities said.
Mexican security forces made the massive seizure on Monday after a shootout with traffickers, 11 of whom were arrested, officials said.
“It totaled 134 tons. Yesterday it was estimated to be 105 tons, but the official weighing has now been concluded,” Tijuana municipal police chief Gustavo Herrera told AFP.
A source with the Mexican attorney general’s office also confirmed that the seized marijuana weighed 134 tons.
Some 15,300 packets of marijuana were counted, up from 10,000, a day after the drugs were found during raids on several houses in the border city of Tijuana following a shootout, security spokesman Alejandro Poire told a news conference.
“This is the largest seizure in the country’s history of marijuana prepared and packed for sale and distribution,” Poire said.
“There are signs that (the drugs) are linked to the Pacific organization,” Poire said, referring to another name for the Sinaloa gang led by Mexico’s most-wanted fugitive, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.
In announcing the capture on Monday, General Alfonso Duarte said the drugs were worth about 335 million dollars on the Mexican street, but their value could double or triple if sold in the United States.
The seizure was a coup for Mexico’s President Felipe Calderon whose use of the military to crack down on the country’s drug cartels has been accompanied by soaring drug violence blamed for 28,000 deaths since 2006.
Across the border, residents of the US state of California are due to vote on November 2 on a referendum over whether to legalize marijuana for recreational use. -- AFP
Read more: Marijuana bust weighs in at 134 tons http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/Marijuanabustweighsinat134tons/Article/#ixzz12reBsHIl
Just look at the picture and you will get the idea of how much marijuana this is.... and im sure the pictures doesn't even show it all.
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