US SMASHES MEXICO DRUGS RING

Officials say the ring was at work in 22 cities US agents have
arrested nearly 200 suspects accused of involvement in a huge
Mexican-based drug ring.

The gang were so successful that Colombian traffickers were pushed
back from some of their traditional territories in the US, according
to officials at the Drug Enforcement Agency.

They say the ring was operating in 22 towns and cities across the
country, selling an unusually pure type of heroin, black tar, worth
millions of dollars.

Investigators believe the gang brought the drugs from Nayarit, Mexico,
to a command centre in Los Angeles.

From there, couriers including young girls and older men fanned out
across the country to deliver the heroin to more than a dozen states.

The ring has been found operating as far apart as Alaska, Hawaii and
Texas, say officials.

The arrests came after a year-long operation, code-named Operation Tar
Pit.

"We believe we have dismantled a major heroin-trafficking organisation
operating in this country," said Attorney General Janet Reno.

Officials said the traffickers were bringing in more than 30kg (65
pounds) of heroin to the US every month, which was peddled to heroin
addicts receiving treatment at methadone clinics.

"This is the first time either the DEA or the FBI has ever done a
major operation against black tar heroin in the US," said Joe Keefe of
the DEA. "We learned a lot."

The authorities also believe they have gained vital new information
about the levels of heroin addiction and the purity of the drugs in
use.

"This operation, I think, shows that heroin has re-emerged in our
society with a vengeance, and it is more potent and more deadly in our
country than ever before," said Donnie Marshall, also of the DEA.

The investigation started when police in San Diego, California,
realised that all the city's black tar heroin was coming from the same
traffickers.

'Tip of the Iceberg'

The operation spread to New Mexico, where 85 people had died in the
small town of Chimayo after using unusually pure heroin.

"Chimayo proved to be only a single cell - the tip of the iceberg - in
the nationwide heroin trafficking network managed by the
organisation," said Mr Marshall.

Officials believe other members of the gang may still be in Mexico.
They say details of their investigation will be passed to the
authorities there.

The arrests were made in states including California, Arizona, Hawaii,
Oregon, New Mexico, Ohio and Texas.