CenTF Resource Center

The Web-based Resource Center for the Center for Task Force (CenTF) Training Program is a centralized source of current narcotics investigative information for law enforcement practitioners that includes recent articles, available training, grant funding information, and a question-and-answer section. The information contained herein is general in nature. If you are a RISS member, you may find additional resources regarding this material on the RISSLeads Bulletin Board.

News Brief

Guilty Verdicts for Nevada to Hawaii Meth Ring

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration announced that a federal jury returned guilty verdicts on September 2, 2008, against Benjamin Acuna, Anabel Valenzuela, and Eddy Olguin, all of Las Vegas, Nevada, for conspiracy to distribute and possess, with intent to distribute, 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. On September 3, 2008, the same jury returned additional special verdicts against Acuna and Valenzuela, finding that their interests in five real properties located in Las Vegas, the contents of five bank accounts, and a safety deposit box also held in Las Vegas, along with an $8,000,000 money judgment, should be forfeited to the U.S. government. The case was the culmination of a three-year investigation by the DEA; the Internal Revenue Service's Criminal Investigation Division, Las Vegas; the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department; and the Honolulu Police Department.

Source: http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/pubs/states/newsrel/2008/la090508.html
(DEA, September 5, 2008)

175 Alleged Gulf Cartel Members and Associates Arrested in Massive International Law Enforcement Operation

U.S. Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey has announced that 175 individuals have been arrested on charges related to a coordinated enforcement action by hundreds of international, federal, state, and local law enforcement officials throughout the United States and Italy. Project Reckoning, a multiagency law enforcement endeavor led by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, targeted the Mexican drug-trafficking cartel known as the Gulf Cartel. Among those indicted are the three alleged leaders of the Gulf Cartel: Ezequiel Cardenas-Guillen, Heriberto Lazcano-Lazcano, and Jorge Eduardo Costilla-Sanchez. The Gulf Cartel is responsible for the transportation of multiton quantities of cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, and marijuana from Colombia, Guatemala, Panama, and Mexico to the United States, as well as the distribution of those narcotics within the United States. Project Reckoning, a 15-month investigation, combined into one centrally coordinated effort several multidistrict enforcement operations with close ties to the Gulf Cartel. Operation Dos Equis, Operation Vertigo, Operation Stinger, and Operation The Family, as well as numerous local operations, combined to form this action.

Source: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/...
(The Wall Street Journal Digital Network, September 17, 2008)