MASSIVE DRUG RING IN 2 STATES BROKEN UP

Federal authorities in Charlotte say they have broken up a drug conspiracy
that imported as much as 100,000 pounds of marijuana with a retail value of
about $80 million.

The investigation began about a year ago, shortly before authorities seized
more than 8,000 pounds of marijuana and $1.4 million in cash from an
18-wheel tractor-trailer in Rowan County.

"It's the largest single seizure of marijuana in North Carolina ever that
I'm aware of," said Jeffrey Jordan, who heads the U.S. Customs Service
office of investigations in western and central North Carolina.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Bobby Higdon, who has been the lead prosecutor with
the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force since 1994, said: "It's the
biggest marijuana case I've ever prosecuted."

During a series of detention hearings in federal court in Charlotte
Tuesday, Higdon said the marijuana came from Mexico and was transported
into the United States by land in tractor-trailers and by ships docking at
ports in Charleston and Baltimore.

Higdon told U.S. Magistrate Judge Brent McKnight the defendants had
conspired to import anywhere from 70,000 to 100,000 pounds of marijuana
since 1996.

Authorities obtained a court order to tap telephones as part of the
investigation, Higdon said, and learned about a shipment arriving at the
port in Charleston. U.S. Customs Service agents at the Charleston port
found 3,000 pounds of marijuana in a furniture shipment.

They resealed the shipment and monitored it until its arrival last week at
a warehouse in Charlotte. That's where some of the defendants were arrested.

The FBI, the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Immigration and
Naturalization Service, the State Bureau of Investigation and the
Charlotte-Mecklenburg and Gaston County police departments were among the
law enforcement agencies that participated in the investigation.

"This recent enforcement action has significantly impaired a major drug
smuggling organization that has been operating in and around North Carolina
for the past several years," the U.S. Customs Service's Jordan said.

Fifteen of the defendants charged in the drug conspiracy appeared in court
Tuesday. Most are from Mexico but were living in Charlotte. And most of
them are accused of entering the United States illegally.

McKnight ordered most of the defendants held in jail without bond pending
their trials. One of the defendants was released on $50,000 unsecured bond.
Others will have hearings later to determine if they should remain jailed
or be released pending their trials.

Higdon described many of the defendants as distributors. He said others
made arrangements for the drug shipments.

Higdon told the magistrate that many of the defendants were under
surveillance during the investigation.

He said authorities seized $45,000 in cash from one defendant's home and 30
pounds of marijuana from another defendant's home.

"We've seen him make drug deliveries and those have been captured on
videotape," the prosecutor said about one defendant.

Higdon also told the magistrate that the U.S. Immigration and
Naturalization Service has issued detainers against most of the defendants.

The detainers mean that before any of the defendants could be released on
bond they would be turned over to the custody of INS for possible deportation.

All of the defendants are charged with conspiring to distribute marijuana
and cocaine. Some of them also are accused of money laundering and carrying
a firearm during a drug trafficking crime.

All the defendants, if convicted, face from 10 years to life in prison
without parole.

During Tuesday's detention hearings, many of the defendants' lawyers did
not contest the government's attempt to have their clients jailed without
bond pending their trials.

The indictment was unsealed during Tuesday's court proceedings and the
lawyers said they might seek another hearing to get their clients out of
jail on bond after they've had time to review the charges and evidence.

Defense attorney Aaron Michel sought to have his client released on bond
Tuesday.

"He came to this country to work and support his family," Michel told the
magistrate.

"He's not here to do any harm to anybody. He's just here to work."

McKnight ordered Michel's client held without bond.