DOZENS ARRESTED FOR PUERTO RICO DRUG RUNNING

San Juan,Puerto Rico-Authorities Wednesday arrested dozens in Puerto Rico,
California and Nevada accused of running a marijuana trafficking and money
laundering ring that smuggled drugs from Mexico to the island for
distribution from three San Juan public housing projects.

The 46 suspects belong to two organizations in Puerto Rico, made up mostly
of relatives, and two in Santa Ana, composed of Mexican and Guatemalan
families, authorities said. During the past year, they shipped at least
five tons of marijuana with a street value of about $12 million, and the
Puerto Rico groups used Western Union wire transfers to launder the $5
million they sent back to California.

"These gangs were generating a fair amount of violence in these public
housing projects in Puerto Rico," said Michael S. Vigil, special agent in
charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration in the Caribbean.

Dubbed Operation Hot Water, this is the third large movement against
marijuana traffickers in Puerto Rico this year. This particular
investigation began in 1998 when Puerto Rico police officials found
hundreds of pounds of marijuana in solar water heaters sent to the island
from California via Federal Express.

Authorities said the groups based in Santa Ana brought marijuana over the
border from Mexico, then sent it by railroad, bus or car to Las Vegas to
ovoid increased scrutiny in San Juan of flights coming from Los Angeles.

The groups in Puerto Rico received the drugs, sold them, then wired the
money back to Santa Ana or San Diego.