OFFICIALS SAY MEZA DRUG FAMILY HEAD IS FORMER POLICE OFFICER

McALLEN - The head of what prosecutors are calling the "Meza Drug
Trafficking Organization" was a former city police officer who left
his job in 1992.

Francisco Meza-Rojas, 41, was a McAllen police officer for a "few
years," police spokesman Sgt. Joel Morales confirmed.

This is the second brother in an almost 10-year-old Drug Enforcement
Administration investigation to be linked to a local police
department. Jesus Lorenzo Meza, a 32-year-old Edinburg police officer,
was arrested while on duty at 4 a.m. Wednesday at the city jail there.

"Why they went to the other side I don't know," said DEA Assistant
Special Agent in Charge Will Glaspy, who heads the DEA office in McAllen.

DEA agents used information Jesus Meza provided that morning to arrest
Meza-Rojas, three other Meza brothers and four other people, local
police said. Texas Department of Public Safety troopers, and Mission,
McAllen and Edinburg police, aided in the arrests.

The Meza organization is not as large as a cartel, but they were large
enough that it warranted an investigation, Glasby said.

"It is a significant investigation into a significant organization,"
he said. "They are worthy of us spending that much time on."

He referred all other question to the U.S. Attorney's
office.

The U.S. Attorney's office did not return calls for comment on
Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Nor did they provide copies of the
indictment, or make it available online.

However, according to a statement the office issued Thursday, the Meza
family smuggled, transported and stored large amounts of cocaine and
marijuana for distribution to other trafficking organizations in the
Rio Grande Valley. The alleged drug shipments entered the country
through an area south of Mission, between Granjeno and PeA1itas.

Morales said Meza-Rojas "most likely" resigned in 1992. It wasn't
clear if he could've been fired or forced out, Morales said. He
referred any further questions on the matter to federal
authorities.

The three other brothers who were arrested are all from
Mission: Ruben Meza, 40; Miguel Hernandez-Rojas, 45;
and Juan Antonio Meza, 35.

The five brothers entered into a contract to smuggle drugs across the
border with someone only identified as "El Aguila," according to the
U.S. Attorney's statement.

Jorge Enrique Macias-Nevarez, of Mexico, was also indicted for his
role in coordinating movement of drugs across the border.

And Mission residents Jose Moncerrat-Narvaez, 41, Arturo Hinojosa, 24,
and Robert Lee Rodriguez, 27, round out the list of nine who were indicted.

All nine suspects face conspiracy and possession with intent to
distribute charges of cocaine and marijuana. These charges carry
penalties as severe as life imprisonment and millions of dollars in
fines.

Ruben Meza and Juan Antonio Meza were held at Hidalgo County Jail this
week, according to jail records, on possession of cocaine charges. It
was unclear where the others were held.

All the suspects are scheduled to be arraigned at 9 a.m. Monday.