COCAINE SHIPPED IN VIRGEN TOMBSTONES

La Virgen de Guadalupe was cast in gray, but it was the bricks of
white within it that drew the interest of law officers.

Federal authorities in South Texas announced Friday they'd dealt a
blow to a drug-smuggling cell connected to Mexico's most wanted man,
and that the organization used -- among other things -- tombstones of
the Virgin Mary and truck axles to smuggle huge shipments of cocaine
inland.

"This investigation has disrupted a cell of the Sinaloa Cartel, which
is run by Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera," said Joe Arabit, head of
the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in San Antonio.

"This is a big one," said Johnny Sutton, U.S. attorney for the Western
District of Texas. "We think this is going to be a very significant
hit... on this organization."

The announcement comes on the heels of an indictment unsealed Friday
in San Antonio that charges 14 people with conspiracy to distribute
cocaine, conspiracy to launder money and related charges.

Authorities say the group smuggled thousands of kilos inland, using
Laredo as a key entry point into the United States and San Antonio to
warehouse the drug. Cocaine connected to the cell was seized in
Atlanta, Miami, New York and North Carolina, authorities said.

The group, authorities said, is connected to notorious Sinaloa Cartel
leader Guzman, who has been classified as both Mexico's most-wanted
man since he escaped from a high-security prison in 2001 and began
fighting rival gangs for control of smuggling routes.

Violence in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, has been attributed to his cartel
warring with other drug gangs for control. In December 2004, the DEA
announced a $5 million reward for his capture. It remains unclaimed.

Seven of the indicted suspects were arrested this week in Laredo as
part of a probe that broke open when a shipment of cocaine worth
almost $7 million was seized at a warehouse in Northwest San Antonio
last June.

Besides the more than 400 kilos of cocaine seized in that raid, agents
also confiscated numerous truck axles they said were filled with
bricks of packaged cocaine and smuggled to the East Coast.

In November, five tombstones of the Virgin Mary were seized by law
officers in Brooklyn, N.Y. Each held 15 to 25 kilos of cocaine, agents
said.

The investigation, called Operation Omni Presence, also netted 64
other arrests over 18 months in San Antonio, Miami, Atlanta, Raleigh,
N.C., and Charlotte, N.C.

Besides the arrests, agents announced they had seized a car wash in
Laredo valued at $1.2 million to $1.5 million, a posh Laredo home
worth $330,000, jewelry valued at $50,000 to $60,000 and 10 vehicles,
three tractor-trailers and a jet ski.

Agents also seized a fully armored, bulletproof 2004 Jeep
Cherokee.

Aside from those spoils, agents also learned one suspect was having
numerous cars -- such as classic Mustangs and Camaros -- restored, and
that the suspect would pay $150,000 to $200,000 for each.

Six were found in the restoration stage and one -- a 1967 Ford Mustang
Shelby GT Fastback -- was seized after it was shipped to a location in
McAllen. The suspect had paid $173,500 for its restoration, agents
said.

"The job of DEA and our law enforcement partners is to be prepared to
stop all manners of innovative smuggling and trafficking techniques,"
said Thomas Hinojosa, assistant special agent in charge of the Laredo
DEA office. "These strategies did not work and effective, cooperative
law enforcement did. As a result of Operation Omni Presence, these
international drug criminals are off the street and a stream of
cocaine into this country has been cut off."

Authorities said the probe is a collaborative effort of the High
Intensity Drug Trafficking Area task force, San Antonio police, the
IRS, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Texas attorney general's
office, the Texas Department of Public Safety, and law officers in
Laredo.

Those in custody on federal charges include Raul Jasso, Adelina Garza,
Raymond Hernandez, Jorge Hernandez, Ernesto Ozuna Garza, Cesar
Arredondo, and Juan Manuel Vallejo-Neri. The remainder named in the
indictment remained fugitives and were believed to be in Mexico,
officials said.