COORDINATED EFFORT BUSTS MAJOR DRUG RING

TOM BROKAW, anchor:

In other news, federal authorities tonight say they have put a big hole in
the heavy drug traffic along the US border with Mexico. A major cocaine
smuggling ring busted tonight. What makes this bust unusual is the
cooperation that made it happen. More on this story from NBC's Pete Williams.

PETE WILLIAMS reporting:

Beginning at dawn, federal agents move out in coordinated raids.

Unidentified Man: Police search!

WILLIAMS: From South Texas to Northern New York, arrests in 17 cities
today, more than a hundred suspects to be rounded up by nightfall. The
target, a major Mexican-based drug ring moving cocaine from production labs
in Colombia all the way to the streets of American cities.

Mr. MICHAEL CHERTOFF (Justice Department): We believe that today's takedown
resulted in the dismantling of a significant international criminal
organization from top to bottom.

WILLIAMS: The DEA calls the leaders of the ring especially brutal, thought
to be responsible for 60 murders in the past six years. In San Antonio,
Hugo Villareal Solis, accused of ordering a hit on a drug runner attending
his own daughter's wedding.

Mr. JOSEPH KEEFE (Drug Enforcement Agency Special Agent): He called him out
during the reception and said, 'I need to meet with you.' When the
individual was on his way to meet with him, he was gunned down by some of
Villareal's associates and murdered.

WILLIAMS: Federal drug agents say they nationwide arrests destroy the main
supply of cocaine for much of the South and Midwest. In Laredo, Texas,
agents say the drugs came across the border hidden in produce trucks with
shipping help from a body builder and former Mr. Laredo. Mexican police,
once paralyzed by corruption, help out with today's raids there. Experts
call that proof that Mexico's new president, Vicente Fox, is making a
difference.

Professor LOUIS GOODMAN (American University): It shows that he is very
serious about this because he--he needs to do this to have a strong
relationship with the United States, its most important neighbor.

WILLIAMS: And this time, the DEA says it's hitting the leaders of a major
drug ring with what they fear the most: standing trial in the US. Pete
Williams, NBC News, Washington.