Assistant Secretary John Morton of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Attorney General Eric Holder, Assistant Director Kevin L. Perkins of the FBI's Criminal Investigative Division and Acting Administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency Michele M. Leonhart at a news conference Thursday (photo by Ryan J. Reilly / Main Justice).
Federal authorities arrested 429 individuals in 16 states on Wednesday as part of “Project Deliverance,” an operation to combat the transportation infrastructure of Mexican drug trafficking organizations in the U.S..
A photo provided by DEA shows drugs hidden in a vehicle dashboard (DEA photo).
More than 3,000 agents were involved in the operation on Wednesday, during which the government seized $5.8 million, 2,951 pounds of marijuana, 112 kilograms of cocaine, 17 pounds of methamphetamine, 141 weapons and 85 vehicles, according to the Justice Department.
The latest sweep brings the total number of arrests for the operation to 2,200 individuals, said the Justice Department. It comes just a few weeks after Mexico President Felipe Calderon visited the United States.
A Drug Enforcement Administration official said that the alleged traffickers arrested on Wednesday were not aligned with any particular cartel group, but would work for whoever had the money to hire them.
Attorney General Eric Holder held a news conference at the Robert F. Kennedy Justice Department building on Thursday with acting DEA Administrator Michele M. Leonhart, Assistant Director Kevin L. Perkins of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division and Assistant Secretary John Morton of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Leonhart called the cooperation with Mexican law enforcement “extraordinary.” She said DEA and its partners had inflicted a series of blows that will impact the ability of Mexican drug cartels to function.
Holder said targeting the transportation networks used by the cartels was a very effective method.
“Our aim was to target not just cartel operations, but the networks of individuals across the United States the cartels tap to distribute drugs in our country and smuggle cash and guns out of it,” Holder said in prepared remarks.
“This operation has struck a significant blow against the cartels, but make no mistake: we know that as successful as this operation was, it was just one battle in what is an ongoing war,” Holder said.
A DOJ spokeswoman said she could not say how many of the traffickers were U.S. citizens and how many were in the country illegally.
ICE Not Changing Operations Due to Arizona Immigration Law
ICE Assistant Secretary Morton told reporters that the Arizona immigration law, which the Justice Department may challenge in court, does not change the agency’s enforcement in the state. But Morton said he disagreed with states taking on the issue of illegal immigration on their own.
“I don’t think that a patchwork of 50 different immigration laws is the right solution,” Morton said. “The federal government is the primary enforcer of immigration laws. As the Attorney General has noted, the Justice Department is reviewing the law, and we’re waiting to see what the Attorney General and his team decide. In the meantime, we’re not going to approach enforcement in Arizona any differently in Arizona than we do anywhere else, which is on the merits and with the resources we have and with the priorities we have as a department and as an administration.”
