ARRESTS SHOW LAREDO'S TIES TO DRUG WORLD

Near dawn in this border city, more than a dozen arrests in a
nationwide sting came as suspects were at home and off guard. Of 76
people nabbed on sealed indictments Wednesday, 20 came from Laredo,
where international commerce has exploded in recent years. Wednesday
and Thursday's busts underscore how much of that commerce includes
drugs. The 6 a.m. arrests at 16 U.S. points stemmed from an 18-month
investigation dubbed "Operation Marquis."

Just about all the 9,000 kilograms of cocaine and 28,000 pounds of
marijuana seized during the investigation were tracked back to Laredo.
"We're the Wal-Mart distribution center of the drug organization, the
place where it all gets taken in," Assistant U.S. Attorney Noelle
DiMarco said Thursday.

Surveillance techniques to apprehend drug traffickers are more varied
and sophisticated than ever.

But so are techniques for evasion. The drugs were traced to a supply
zone in Colombia, where details cloud.

What is known is that many of the drugs came to Mexico aboard aircraft
that eluded Mexican radar.

While X-ray machines screening trucks and cars are used along with
drug-sniffing dogs and painstaking searches, border officials can't
catch everything.

So smugglers take risks. Smugglers are often low on the rungs of the
operation. Those apprehended here Wednesday were some of the big guys,
authorities say. One, Gabriel Valdez, allegedly was involved in
transporting close to $4 million in drug money.

"They got Gabriel Valdez? Way cool," Laredo Police Public Information
Officer Juan Rivera said. "Those guys, we know they're up to
something. They show off all the money, the vehicles. We may be able
to take down a load or two tied to them, but we're never able to get
to them when they're on that caliber."