Arizona / West

DEA SAYS CULIACAN FAMILY IS TOP HEROIN RING IN TUCSON

The Magana Lopez family is the most significant heroin-smuggling ring
in Tucson, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said.

The Culiacan, Sinaloa, family first surfaced in 1998 when a brother
to those arrested Wednesday was arrested on heroin charges, said
Anthony J. Coulson, assistant special-agent-in-charge for the DEA's
Tucson office.

The family moved 5 to 10 pounds of Mexican black-tar and powder
heroin through Tucson every month, Coulson said.

Jorge Luis Magana Lopez was arrested in Tucson in April 1998 with 1
1/2 pounds of heroin. According to his plea agreement filed in U.S.
District Court, a man he was working with led a police informant to
the car he was sitting in. Jorge Magana took the informant's cash and
told him to remove the heroin from the car's gas tank.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, Jorge Magana is serving a
10-year sentence for selling heroin, with a projected release date of
January 2007.

His brother, Oscar Magana Lopez, 38, was first arrested in October
2004 on drug and weapons charges, posted a $20,000 bail and then
failed to appear in court for his arraignment on Nov. 9, 2004. A
warrant was immediately issued for his arrest and he was taken into
custody this Sept. 27, according to Pima County Superior Court records.

He faces two charges - possession of a narcotic drug for sale and
possession of a deadly weapon by a prohibited possessor. After his
arrest in October 2004, his estranged wife told authorities that
Magana travels back and forth between Tucson and Mexico, and when he
goes to Mexico he stays two to three weeks at a time.

Magana told authorities he lives with his wife when he's in the
United States, but she said he does not.

When arrested in September, Magana told Pretrial Services his
permanent address is in Culiacan, Sinaloa.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials believe Magana
doesn't have legal authorization to be in the United States and have
placed an immigration hold on him, court records show.

The DEA is not aware of any other family members involved in heroin
smuggling, Coulson said.