S. AMERICA TO AUSTIN, DRUG TRADE WAS STRONG

After a yearlong investigation, authorities say they traced the Texas
Syndicate drug network from South America to Austin.

Marijuana and cocaine arrived from South America by way of Mexico, police
believe. Stuffed into secret compartments -- in a tire well, under a
toolbox in the bed of a pickup -- the drugs were driven across the border
at Laredo and Brownsville.

Loads were dropped off at various Central Texas cities. In Austin, the
Texas Syndicate stashed the plastic-wrapped packages in a brown-brick,
ranch-style house on Wing Feather Drive in South Austin.

Gang members and associates met later at the house, each picking up from 10
to 25 pounds of marijuana and a half-pound to 6 1/2 pounds of cocaine. From
there, the drugs were divided among dealers throughout the city.

Police say Hector Soto, leader of Texas Syndicate's Austin drug operation,
arranged the shipments by working connections in Mexico, Laredo and
Brownsville. Those connections were forged during years of living in Laredo
and in a three-year stint in state prison, police say.

Soto's attorney, David Fannin, declined to comment about the allegations.
Soto did not respond to a letter sent to him in jail.

The drugs were sold mainly in East Austin but trickled into all areas of
the city, said FBI Special Agent Stephen Hause.

"Anyone who wanted cocaine or marijuana, Hector's people would get it to
them," he said.

The drugs fetched a lucrative price on the street. A pound of marijuana
cost $350 to $500. And a kilogram of cocaine, or 2.2 pounds, went for
$12,000 to $17,500.

From July to October 1999, according to court records, the gang distributed
more than 440 pounds of marijuana and 11 pounds of cocaine. Significantly
larger numbers could emerge this week, when Soto and 18 acquaintances will
be sentenced in federal court.

"We think they've done way more than that, but we wanted to be
conservative," said Austin police Detective Ralph De La Fuente. "So those
are the numbers we put in the indictments."