'Jaw dropping' bust of 70 members from 'billion-dollar' drug cartel that supplies 65% of illegal drugs brought to U.S.
- Thousands of pounds of narcotics were seized in Arizona with the arrest of 70 suspected smugglers
- The Mexican drug cartel accused is believed to handle 65 percent of all illegal drugs smuggled into the U.S.
- Tens of thousands have been killed in Mexican drug-related violence since 2006
The suspected cartel in Sinaloa Mexico under Kingpin Joaquin 'El Champ' Guzman, is believed to handle 65 percent of all drugs transported illegally into the United States.Officials seized thousands of pounds of narcotics with the arrest of 70 suspected drug smugglers in what is being described as a 'jaw-dropping' confiscation by authorities in Arizona.
'This is one of the more substantial drug-smuggling operations going on right now. This is a billion-dollar drug trade organization linked to the cartel,' an official with the investigation told Reuters.
Mexican kingpin: Joaquin 'El Champ' Guzman (left) of the suspected Sinaloa cartel is believed to handle 65 percent of all drugs transported illegally into the United States
The operation carried over a 17-month period, included three raids in conglomeration with local, state and federal officials.
Both Mexican and American nations were arrested who were found working with the cartel based in Sinaloa, a coastal Northwestern state in Mexico.
The area is home to large marijuana and opium poppy plantations and according to Reuters, is considered the 'cradle' to narcotics trafficking in Mexico for the past 50 years.
Among the narcotics confiscated by authorities, money, weapons, ammunition and bullet-proof vests were taken.
Underground: Tunnels, like the one shown here, were among the ways drug smugglers were able to enter into the U.S. from Mexico
The drugs were found smuggled from Mexico to Arizona by means of car, plane, foot, as well as through tunnels.
The Mexican drug cartel described by the official as a 'sophisticated network' is also one of the largest operations in the southwestern United States today.
Just last year the Sinaloa cartel under 'El Champ,' was feared by U.S. intelligence as winning the Mexican drug war.
Mexico's narcotic 'cradle': Sinaloa is home to large marijuana and opium poppy plantations dominating the county's production for the past 50 years
Dangerous crops: A Mexican police man is shown destroying opium poppies to prevent its manufacture into morphine and heroin that is then smuggled into the U.S.
In just a two-year battle, 5,000 people were killed, resulting in the Mexican kingpin controlling coveted trafficking routes for their operations.
Tens of thousands of people total, however, have been killed since Mexican President Felipe Calderon initiated a military campaign to fight the cartels following his presidency in 2006.
'Stop the War': Protestors in Mexico City marched this spring, protesting the thousands who have died since the war on drugs began in 2006
All of those killed were by drug-related violence.
The official speaking with Reuters says they are still in search of dozens more in connection to the operation.
Those who have been captured, some serving as key players to the operations, will be prosecuted on the state level.
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