FBI RAID NETS 16 ARRESTS, DRUGS

FBI agents on Friday raided a Lower Valley warehouse, where they say they
found drugs they suspect were smuggled in by the Juarez drug cartel,
officials announced Tuesday.

"We continue to investigate what appears to be a well-organized drug-
trafficking organization," said Sarah Pickard, assistant special agent in
charge of the FBI in El Paso.

Friday's bust resulted in the arrest of 16 men, most of them Mexican
citizens, and the seizure of more than 6 tons of marijuana valued at $3
million wholesale and between $12 million and $15 million on the streets.

Officials said the organization, which they believe is headed by the Juarez
cartel, brings in large tractor-trailer loads of marijuana to legitimate
warehouses in El Paso to be picked up by smugglers, who transport smaller
shipments to other cities in the Unites States.

Following a tip Friday, agents from the FBI, the Drug Enforcement
Administration and the Customs Service, as well as El Paso police officers,
stopped three vehicles coming out of the Transmaritime Central Inc.
warehouse, 7400 Stiles.

Each vehicle contained 1,000 pounds of marijuana.

"Inside the warehouse, we found various-sized bundles of marijuana in
cardboard boxes lined with carbon paper," Pickard said.

Patricia Kramer, associate special agent in charge of customs in El Paso,
said the agency had seen carbon paper used in smuggling drugs in the recent
past. Kramer said whatever it is the smugglers think the paper is doing to
throw off inspection, they're mistaken.

Among the 16 whom agents arrested without incident:

Juan Francisco Perez Soto, nicknamed "Pelon," 28, a "broker" who reportedly
gave orders to two "facilitators."

Facilitator "Don Tomas" Tomas Frias Ruiz, 58, who allegedly set up the
rented warehouse.

Luis Armando Grajeda Olague, 28, the other alleged facilitator, reportedly
supervised seven loaders and packers and three drivers. All the men were
charged with drug trafficking and conspiracy and face 10 to 20 years in
prison if convicted.

Officials said they didn't know how long the organization had been operating.

The FBI said the loaders and packers each were paid $500 to $1,000 for a
day's work.

Investigators are trying to determine whether the owners and other
employees of the warehouse knew what was going on.

Sergio Cervantes, the local manager of the Laredo, Texas-based company,
declined to comment on the drug bust.