FBI BREAKS UP ANOTHER POT-SMUGGLING RING

FBI agents seized 3 1/2 tons of marijuana and arrested 12 people around the
nation Tuesday as they cracked a ring that smuggled the drug from Mexico
and used a shipping company to distribute it, authorities said.

The marijuana was seized from several "stash houses" in the Los Angeles
area, most of it from the garage of a home in suburban Downey, said Cheryl
Mimura, a spokeswoman for the FBI's Los Angeles bureau.

Nearly two dozen locations around the nation were searched. Most arrests
were made in Southern California but one person was taken into custody in
Indiana, Mimura said.

The FBI later identified that suspect as Edna Cardenas, 23, of Indianapolis.

Federal indictments were filed against 17 people. Three were fugitives and
two already had been arrested on unrelated state drug charges, Mimura said.

One of those was Franklin Cardenas, 23, of Indianapolis, the FBI said.

Altogether, more than 10 tons of marijuana, 90 pounds of cocaine and more
than $1 million in suspected drug earnings were seized during an
investigation dubbed "Operation Jaguar."

The investigation was sparked in July 2000 when a shipping company in
Indianapolis reported receiving several suspicious boxes. They turned out
to contain drugs, Mimura said.

Labels on the boxes showed that they came from a Los Angeles-area shipping
firm, Mimura said.

The drugs then were sent to New York, Miami and Nashville for distribution
by local couriers, Mimura said.

It was unclear how long the ring had been operating or how many tons of
marijuana they had shipped, she added.