FEDS INDICT 15 MORE IN DRUG CASE

CHARLOTTE -- One year and one week after authorities found more than 8,000
pounds of marijuana and $1.4 million in cash in a tractor-trailer in
Woodleaf, federal authorities have indicted 15 more people they say
conducted a massive smuggling ring between Mexico and the entire East Coast
of the U.S.

Thirteen of the 15 charged appeared in U.S. District Court for detention
hearings Tuesday. Authorities are still looking for the other two. All but
two of the defendants have Charlotte addresses.

The six men originally charged after the Woodleaf seizure were previously
indicted on federal charges, bringing the total number of defendants to 21.
Some of the original six have pleaded guilty, and others' cases are still
pending, Assistant U.S. Attorney Bobby Higdon told the Post.

In court Tuesday, Higdon told U.S. Magistrate Judge H. Brent McKnight that
the defendants, along with others, were responsible for smuggling between
70,000 to 100,000 pounds of marijuana -- worth an estimated $80 million --
from Mexico to ports in Charleston and Baltimore. The defendants took the
drugs to a network of stash houses and then distributed them in smaller
quantities. According to the indictments, the operation began in 1996.

The roundup, called Operation Prospero, continued last week after the
Federal Bureau of Investigation intercepted a 3,000-pound marijuana
shipment from Charleston to Charlotte. Agents stopped the shipment in
Charleston, checked it, then sent it on under heavy surveillance. At the
load's destination -- an undisclosed spot off South Boulevard -- the
arrests began.

Authorities learned of the shipment after wire-tapping suspect Eleazar
Teodoro-Basilio's phone, Higdon said in court. During that time, "there
were hundreds of phone calls made that were pertinent to the investigation."

Over time, the FBI, U.S. Customs, the State Bureau of Investigation, the
U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police
Department, Rowan Alcohol Beverage Control officers and Rowan County
Sheriff's deputies were involved in the probe, along with other law
enforcement agencies.

The defendants, many of them from Mexico, appeared in groups before
Magistrate McKnight Tuesday. Many listened wide-eyed as a translator
whispered the court dialogue. Nubia Flores of Charlotte made the sign of
the cross and blew her family a kiss as federal marshals led her in.

Flores, 28, was the lone defendant given a $50,000 unsecured bond. Two
others had their hearing continued. The balance will remain in custody
pending their trial.

Many defense lawyers hastily pulled together a presentation on their
client's behalf; some complained to McKnight they were not given enough
time to prepare. "I don't even know what my client is charged with," said
TheoNixon, Teodoro-Basilio's attorney. On Tuesday, McKnight unsealed
indictments handed down March 5, and defense attorneys were told the nature
of the charges.

Higdon also said that the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Services had
issued detainers against many of the defendants, meaning if released on
bond they could be deported.

The investigation that led to the Woodleaf bust began after authorities
received information that tractor-trailers would arrive at a residence at
1445 N.C. Hwy. 801, unload, then promptly leave. Smaller trucks soon would
arrive and leave just as quickly.

The Woodleaf location was a stash house, Higdon told McKnight Tuesday.

At the scene, authorities seized 8,200 pounds of bundled marijuana and $1.4
million in cash, along with a red GMCtruck, a white Ford truck and an
Allied Van Lines moving truck.

If convicted, the defendants could face from 10 years to life in prison.