Search This Blog

24 Steak Burgers FREE with your order of $119+ Use Promo Code 2LOB8B12 to receive 2 Lobster Tails + 8 Steak Burgers

Active Warrants: Erie County Sheriff's Department

Friday, December 17, 2010

US seizes nearly 11 tons of marijuana aboard train from Mexico; 7 defendants arrested at suburban Chicago storage site


HSI/DEA investigation yields largest marijuana seizure ever in Chicago area

CHICAGO - Federal marijuana distribution conspiracy charges were filed Thursday against seven defendants arrested on Wednesday during what is believed to be the largest seizure ever of marijuana in the Chicago area - conservatively estimated at about 21,800 pounds, or nearly 11 tons. The drugs were packed into six railroad cars from Mexico that arrived at a warehouse in south suburban Chicago Heights earlier this month. The marijuana is estimated to have a value of about $22 million.
The arrests and seizure followed a month-long investigation and were announced on Thursday by the following agency heads: Patrick J. Fitzgerald, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Gary J. Hartwig, special agent in charge of ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Chicago; Jack Riley, special agent in charge of the Chicago Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); David Murphy, director of field operations for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in Chicago; and John Beutlich, director of operations for CBP's Air and Marine, Northern Region. The Illinois State Police, the Will County, Ill., Cooperative Police Assistance Team Task Force (WCPAT), and the Union Pacific Railroad Police Department also participated in the investigation, which was conducted under the umbrella of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF).
Some of the sacks containing nearly 11 tons of marijuana seized by ICE aboard a train from Mexico Following are the seven defendants: Carlos Osvaldo Quintero, aka "Carlos Gomez," aka "Miguel Dominguez," 31; his father, Martin Quintero, 63; Felipe de Jesus Magana-Campos, aka "Padrino," 47; Eduardo Angel Zalayaran-Ruiz, aka "Other Inge," 54; Javier Vera, aka "Ducky," 24; Christian Gonzalez, aka "Chris," 24; and Miguel Cordova, aka "Mike," 20. All seven were charged with conspiracy to possess and distribute marijuana in a criminal complaint filed Dec. 16 in the Northern District of Illinois. They appeared on Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Arlander Keys and remain in federal custody pending detention and preliminary hearings, which are scheduled for 2:30 p.m. on Dec. 21.
"This historic drug seizure represents law enforcement partnership and cooperation at their best," said Gary Hartwig, special agent in charge of ICE HSI in Chicago. "Our HSI agents and our state, local and federal partners removed nearly 11 tons of dope intended for the streets. ICE will continue identifying and dismantling criminal organizations that smuggle drugs across our borders and into our communities."
According to a 74-page affidavit by an HSI special agent, on Nov. 17, CBP officers in Eagle Pass, Texas, discovered that a Union Pacific train bound for Chicago Heights was carrying about 21,800 pounds of suspected marijuana. During the inspection, CBP officers observed a number of large bundled packages, referred to as "super sacks," in six cars on the train. A CBP canine alerted officers to the presence of narcotics in the train cars near several of the super sacks. CBP officers then opened a super sack and observed 13 cubic bundles, which were encrusted in a thick layer of fine red masonry pigment dust. CBP officers broke open several of these cubic bundles and observed a green leafy substance, which field tested positive for the presence of marijuana. In total, CBP officers observed that about 109 super sacks in the train cars contained cubic bundles comprised of a green leafy substance. Officers weighed 13 of the cubic bundles from one super sack and determined that they weighed about 200 pounds.
The bill of lading associated with these cars stated that they contained 58 super sack packages in each train car, or a total of about 340 super sacks. The shipping documents stated that the super sacks contained packages listed as "TITANIUM PIGMENTS OR." The documents further stated that the train cars were loaded and sent by a company called Comercializadora De Minerale, located in Jalisco, Mexico, and were being imported by a company called Earth Minerals Corp. in Rockdale, Ill.
CBP officers contacted ICE HSI special agents to investigate further. The ICE HSI agents then placed the suspected marijuana back into the rail cars and sealed them. The rail cars were then placed back into the normal course of commerce, and with the railroad's cooperation, ICE HSI and DEA agents surveilled the train as it traveled to a storage warehouse with rail access in the 1200 block of S. State Rd., in Chicago Heights.
One defendant, identified as Carlos Osvaldo Quintero, allegedly spoke to a Union Pacific employee on multiple occasions to coordinate the delivery of the train cars to the warehouse. From Dec. 6 through Dec. 10, the rail cars were unloaded by individuals who used forklifts to move large bundled packages containing marijuana from inside the cars to a storage facility located about 50 yards from the initial warehouse.
On several occasions on Nov. 17 and 18, CBP officers spoke with a customs broker who works in Eagle Pass, Texas. The broker stated that he had been hired by Earth Minerals, and that a man identifying himself as "Miguel Dominguez" had called him multiple times on Nov. 17 to inquire about the whereabouts and estimated arrival date for the rail cars. Further investigation yielded no public records of any businesses named Chicago Earth Minerals Corp. or Earth Minerals Corp. in Illinois.
On Dec. 1, agents arranged for the delivery of a test train car, believed to be carrying no marijuana, to the Chicago Heights warehouse premises. The gate to the premises was locked and the test rail car was parked outside overnight. The next morning, agents observed an individual identified as "Carlos Gomez," and three unidentified men arrive at the premises. Gomez and the others were observed pushing the test car inside the warehouse premises, using a mechanical device. Later that day, agents observed Gomez and the others use a forklift to move cargo from the test car onto pallets. Using aerial surveillance, agents further observed the pallets being loaded onto a tractor trailer with a flatbed.
On Dec. 6, agents caused the six interdicted rail cars to be delivered to the train tracks adjoining the Chicago Heights warehouse. Agents observed several individuals arrive at the site and watched as the individuals moved one of the rail cars inside the warehouse premises using a mechanical device. Throughout last week, ICE HSI and DEA agents, using court-authorized video recording inside the facility and aerial surveillance, observed individuals unloading the large super sacks from the rail cars, and specifically observed the following pattern of activity:
  • About four individuals used forklifts to unload super sacks from one of the rail cars that was parked inside the site;
  • The individuals loaded the majority of the super sacks from the rail cars onto a flatbed tractor trailer. Once the flatbed was filled with super sacks, the truck was driven about 50 yards to a smaller storage facility located to the west; and
  • The individuals then used a forklift to unload the super sacks from the flatbed, and moved them inside the second warehouse where they were stored until Dec. 15. From Dec. 7 to Dec. 10, the process was repeated of unloading the super sacks from the six rail cars and moving them to the warehouse.
Agents maintained constant surveillance and did not observe any marijuana being removed from the storage facility. From Dec. 6 through Dec. 15, agents used court-authorized wiretaps to intercept numerous telephone conversations in which Carlos Osvaldo Quintero and others allegedly discussed unloading, transporting and distributing the marijuana.
The marijuana distribution conspiracy carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life imprisonment and a $4 million fine. If convicted, the Court must determine a reasonable sentence to impose under the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.
The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Steven Grimes, Nicole Kim, and Erika Csicsila, Northern District of Illinois.
A complaint contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent and are entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

No comments:

Advertiser

Technology Headlines

The TSA Blog

FEMA Blog

White House.gov Video Feed

NYSDOT Recent Press Releases

Indian Point Press Releases

Erie County RSS Feed

The Weather Channel: Your Local Weather Outlook--Niagara Falls, NY (14304)

Niagara County RSS Feed

National Weather Service

Albany County RSS Feed

Allegany County RSS Feed

Bronx County RSS Feed

Broome County RSS Feed

Cattaraugus County RSS Feed

Chemung County RSS Feed

City of Toronto News Releases

US Consumer Product Safety Commission - Recent Recalls and Product Safety News

Center for Missing & Exploited Children: NY Missing

Lead Photos - U.S. Dept. of Defense

Contract - U.S. Dept. of Defense

Speech - U.S. Dept. of Defense

Transcript - U.S. Dept. of Defense

FBI Extra

NASA Breaking News

NASACast Video

City of Toronto news releases, Emergency Medical Services

City of Toronto news releases, Fire Services

Speeches

Advertiser

City of Toronto news releases, Fire Services

RoyaltyFreeMusic.com Music Reviews

Automobile RSS Feed

Speed and Accuracy Statement

The information you find here is in the form of raw data, usually delivered via RSS feeds. The information is delivered via website in the most rapid manner possible. Usually this is the manner of delivery of information to media. Therefore, this service gets the audience information to the public more rapidly then any media outlet that has to re-write the information for their email club or SMS feeds.

In some cases, cases, from time to time, updates and correctons are offered by the authors of this information, Motioncenter.info is not responisble for the content of RSS feeds, press releases, or any other content. The content of the information presented is the responsiblity of the producer of the content.

There are many reasons for presenting the information as the page does. The public really never has had a view of the raw data before now. Most cases we see news packaged, polished and prioritized. This blog network offers a wide audience a variety of news, some of it is produced by Motioncenter and some by the government or other sources.

Read what you like, ignore what doesn't interest you, but at least Motioncenter doesn;t tell you what the news is, you choose.

Material Connection Disclosure

You should assume that the owner of this website has an affiliate relationship and/or another material connection to the providers of goods and services mentioned on this site and may be compensated when you purchase from a provider. You should always perform due diligence before buying goods or services from anyone via the internet or offline. THIS IS A BLOG. A NON-COMMERCIAL WEBPAGE At no time does commerce transact on this site. If it had then it would require a Secure Sockets Layer certificate and a merchant account. Being a non-commercial site there are some licensing privledges that this site will participate in. Mystuffnow is an online radio station broadcasting twenty four hours daily. This station can be bet described as a hybrid format of adult contemporary, international and ad popular music. In a sense it may, be compared to compared random radio format, but mystuffnow has three dedicated day parts. These day parts include a morning, evening and overnight separate music selection. The morning and afternoon have a selection of classic rock and current hot hits. To make the station more unique a new track, or tracks from the overnight day part have been added to make the station stand out from traditional stations that broadcast locally. The overnight day part is called “After Hours” and mimics the general principals of a quiet storm programming style where as there are fewer commercials and the music is more adult in nature, not just in lyrics but the music is more unique, offering international and slower tracks. This is meant for relaxation or whatever you may be doing in the late night hours. This station is run by computerized traffic software. At any moment a live deejay can broadcast and a morning show or news programming is possible, all playlists are run automatically. One positive of this is the fact that the software ensures that all artists get paid their royalties and this station avoids any fines for digital media issues. Update: Mystuffnow is currently off the air.

No Endorsement Statement

No endorsement is implied nor should it be inferred. No government agency, or organization has endorsed Motioncenter.Info. Motioncenter.info is a media organization with a mission of offering unbiased information as it becomes available, without any form of bias.

Privacy Policy

This is a website run by Group Speeddog Results Marketing, L.L.C... We take our readers privacy very seriously. Promotions through Third Party Merchants While this site is not endorsed or owned by any of the third party merchants appearing on this site, this site may at times receive various types of compensation when a viewer makes a purchase or clicks on a link appearing on this site. This site is not responsible for any claims or warranties associated with any third-party merchant link or website. This site does not directly collect any information regarding its viewers without your prior knowledge and permission; nor does it share their information with third-party vendors or merchants . It is not now, nor ever will be, our practice to sell your information to any third-party under any circumstance. We use third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit our website. These companies may use information (not including your name, address, email address, or telephone number) about your visits to this and other websites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. Google Advertising Cookie and Privacy Policies What is the DoubleClick DART cookie? The DoubleClick DART cookie is used by Google in the ads served on the websites of its partners, such as websites displaying AdSense ads or participating in Google certified ad networks. When users visit a partner’s website and either view or click on an ad, a cookie may be dropped on that end user’s browser. The data gathered from these cookies will be used to help better serve and manage ads on the publisher’s site(s) and across the web. *Google, as a third party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on your site. *Google’s use of the DART cookie enables it and its partners to serve ads to your users based on their visit to your sites and/or other sites on the Internet. *Users may opt out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the Google ad and content network privacy policy.
Add to The Free DictionaryAdd to Excite MIXAdd to netomat HubAdd to fwicki