U.S., MEXICO SNARE $14 MILLION IN JOINT NARCOTICS EFFORT

U.S.and Mexican authorities Friday announced the seizure of $4 million in
property and the freezing of more than $10 million in Mexican bank accounts
as part of a joint effort to break up a large cross-border drug conspiracy.

U.S. Attorney Alan Bersin said four people were indicted on suspicion of
organizing the drug smuggling operation between Calexico and the Mexican
city of Mexicali and laundering proceeds by buying property in Southern
California.

Two of the suspects, Claudia Mendoza-Ibarra, 28, and John Loren Maartken,
51, are in custody in the United States, while Sergio Campos-Salcido, 37,
and his wife, Raquel Maria Trujillo-Yanes, 32, are believed to be fugitives
in Mexico.