FEDS SAY DRUGS LINK US TO TEXAS

Cocaine Arrest At The Mexican Border Spurs Indictment Here

In the spring of 1998, an informant told Rochester police that he knew of a
man who was a key player in a burgeoning cocaine pipeline between Houston
and western New York.

The informant alleged that Marino A. Guerrero had established a loose
network of people in Rochester who distributed the cocaine.

That information sparked an investigation by Rochester police into a local
cocaine distribution network. The probe culminated in December 1999 with
the seizure of 40 kilograms -- or 88 pounds -- of cocaine, valued then at
about $8 million.

Police arrested five people as part of the investigation, but they were
frustrated that they were unable to build a case against the man they
suspected was a major cocaine supplier -- Guerrero.

That has now changed. Guerrero, 30, was indicted last month by a federal
grand jury in Rochester on drug-related charges. Prompting the indictment
was the arrest of Guerrero at the Texas border. He will be transported here
as early as today. Guerrero was arrested May 6 in Falfurrias, Texas, at a
U.S.-Mexican border stop. He was stopped shortly after midnight and
questioned. U.S. Border Patrol agents grew suspicious about his responses,
and they brought in a dog to search the 1994 Voyager minivan that he was
driving, authorities said.

Agents discovered about 31 kilograms -- or 68 pounds -- of cocaine stashed
in a hidden compartment in the van's floor, said Robert Mansaw, a Drug
Enforcement Administration spokesman in Houston. The cocaine has a current
street value of about $2 million, he said.

Knowing that Guerrero was in custody, local authorities moved to link him
to cocaine distribution in the Rochester area. A federal grand jury
indicted him on June 5 on charges that he conspired to distribute five or
more kilograms of cocaine.

Authorities allege that he planned to distribute some -- if not all -- of
the 31 kilograms of cocaine in the Rochester region.

"We believe that those drugs were going to ultimately end up in the western
district of New York," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas Gregory. "We
believe there is sufficient evidence that he was dealing large amounts of
cocaine ... here for several years."

Rochester police, the DEA and the State Police all had a hand in gathering
evidence, he said.

Guerrero has no drug-related convictions, according to lawyer John DeMarco,
who has represented Guerrero and some of his relatives. DeMarco said
Guerrero's wife and children live in Rochester.

Guerrero has held different jobs locally, DeMarco said, including work in
the automobile wholesale business and in landscaping.

Guerrero's only conviction was in Oswego County for an attempted possession
of an out-of-state identification card, DeMarco said.

Houston Pipeline

Guerrero's arrest shines a spotlight on what authorities say is a thriving
drug trafficking connection between Houston and Rochester.

The National Drug Intelligence Center, an arm of the U.S. Department of
Justice, last year identified Rochester as a major distribution point for
cocaine that moves from Mexico and Colombia through Houston.

Cities identified as key distribution sites for the cocaine were Rochester,
Tampa, Atlanta, New York and Chicago.

Local authorities suspect several people transport cocaine from Houston.

"Members of the organization would either travel down to Houston or have
what we call mules bring up the cocaine from Houston in vehicles to
Rochester," Rochester Police Officer Eden Torres testified at a June 2000
court hearing about information provided by the informant into allegations
of Guerrero's drug dealing.

The informant alleged that Guerrero was a large supplier of cocaine and
that he traveled frequently to Houston to replenish his supply, records
show. Other court papers describe Guerrero as "one of the main targets of
the investigation" that led to the seizure of the 40 kilograms in 1999.

Defense lawyer Matthew Lembke, who has handled local drug cases, said he
expects that authorities utilized confidential informants and wiretaps to
build a case against Guerrero.

Federal authorities will not discuss what evidence they plan to use to back
up the allegation that the 31 kilograms were en route to the Rochester
region. To simply allege that Guerrero has a past history of cocaine
dealing throughout the area likely won't be enough evidence, say defense
lawyers familiar with federal drug prosecutions.

Previous efforts to tie Guerrero to trafficking have been unsuccessful.

"From my experience, he has been a target in a number of different
investigations," said local defense lawyer Michael Schiano.

The Big Bust

In September 1998, Rochester police received word that Guerrero was staying
at the Rochester Airport Marriott in Greece. Police confirmed that Guerrero
was there under the name Jose Brito, court records show.

Hoping to connect Guerrero to cocaine trafficking, police then set up
surveillance at the hotel.

On Sept. 11, they followed Guerrero from there to the Cedarfield Commons
storage facility in Greece. There, Guerrero entered a storage unit,
according to court testimony.

Authorities could not see what Guerrero did at the unit, but afterward
Cedarfield Commons became ground zero for surveillance.

Using videocameras at the storage facility, police grew suspicious of
frequent visits by men, whom police did not know, to the same storage bin
Guerrero had visited.

Months later, however, the visits stopped at that particular bin, and court
records reveal no more visits by Guerrero there.

However, some of the men who were spotted at the bin, spending only several
minutes inside at a time, later leased two other storage units at
Cedarfield Commons.

Surveillance continued for much of 1999 at the storage units. In December
1999 police seized 36 kilograms of cocaine in two units there, and another
four kilograms in a car driven by Jose Espiritusanto.

In March of this year, Espiritusanto, who was in the country illegally from
the Dominican Republic, pleaded guilty to possessing the 40 kilograms --
the 36 in the storage bin and the four in his car.

He received a sentence of 18 years to life.

The investigation led to four other arrests.

Three pleaded guilty, and one man fled after being released on $25,000 bail.

Police did not gather enough evidence to link Guerrero to those drugs.

But, with Guerrero's arrest in Texas, authorities think they can now prove
he was a major source for cocaine.

As part of the case against him, authorities will likely detail how they
suspect drug trafficking operates in Rochester. Drug trafficking is not
built around a hierarchical layered structure with a kingpin, lieutenants
and associates, authorities say.

Instead, drug trafficking networks are often loosely knit groups, said
former Assistant District Attorney Richard Plukas, who prosecuted the five
people connected to the drugs seized in Greece.

"Now, whoever's got cocaine is the person of the day," said Plukas, who is
now in private practice with the law firm of Fitzsimmons Nunn &
Fitzsimmons. "Even suppliers will go to other suppliers if they've got
product."

The seizure of a bounty of drugs, or the arrests of people trafficking in
large amounts of cocaine, has a short-term effect on the drug pipeline,
Plukas said.

"I wish I could say that (the arrest of a major dealer) would dampen the
supply line," Plukas said. "In the long term, I'm not sure it does."

For more information about the National Drug Intelligence Center and
suspected drug routes:

www.usdoj.gov/ndic