Drug raid in Minnesota

Raids disrupt cocaine pipeline into Minnesota By Paul McEnroe and Tony Kennedy
Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune April 29, 2009 A high-volume cocaine pipeline that authorities said couldn't keep up with the demands of Minnesota drug users was severed in early morning raids by federal agents who arrested high-level traffickers allegedly connected to Mexico's Gulf Cartel, one of that country's most violent crime syndicates. Federal indictments charging 26 people in Minnesota and south Texas with drug trafficking were unsealed today, completing a year-long investigation into an organization run by a mother and her three sons based in and around McAllen, Texas. They allegedly sent couriers to deliver five to 15 kilos of uncut cocaine a month into Minnesota over the last four years, selling each kilo for between $25,000 and $35,000, according to authorities. At least 10 of the people indicted are from Minnesota, authorities said. Simultaneous raids were conducted this morning near St. Cloud, in Bloomington and in Texas. By late morning, 22 of the people named in the indictment were in custody. The four who remained at large are from Texas. Details on the arrests of Minnesotans allegedly involved in the ring were not available. Over the past year, in targeted undercover buys and arrests that authorities said were made to look as if they were random events not tied to the overall investigation, they confiscated between 35 to 50 kilos of cocaine, $2.5 million in property and more than $550,000 in cash. Maria I. Aleman and her sons -- Roberto, Daniel and Juan -- were arrested by federal agents in the McAllen-Hidalgo area on the Rio Grande River border with Mexico. They are named as the chief defendants in the Minnesota indictment and are expected to be make their first federal court appearance in Texas on Thursday. At the same time, authorities in Minnesota raided a Bloomington home at 8225 Clinton Av. S., and a mobile home in a trailer court neighborhood southwest of St. Cloud. The trailer court was considered the main distribution hub allegedly used by the Aleman's to supply mid-level dealers throughout greater Minnesota, authorities said. A St. Cloud area man was arrested early today in connection with the raid at the mobile home. Based on information gathered from wiretapped conversations and informants, authorities learned that the Aleman's were directly supplied by the Gulf Cartel which traffics heavily in cocaine, marijuana, heroin and methamphetamines. The cartel is a chief rival of the Sinaloa Cartel. The Gulf Cartel has recruited former members of the Mexican Army's special forces used to keep its Mexican drug routes intact. They are considered an extremely violent paramilitary gang. Roberto Aleman allegedly had direct conversatons with cartel lieutenants to order large amounts of cocaine, authorities said. Known as "Cono,'' Aleman would send drug couriers by bus, plane or car into Minnesota. He and his brothers would often meet them in Minnesota and personally direct the distribution of the drug and the collection of cash after the kilos were sold, authorities said. The Aleman family was repeatedly asked by mid-level drug dealers in Minnesota to find ways to increase its cocaine shipments because of the high demand, authorities said. Just last Sunday, the organization's courier network appeared to be running true to form until federal agents stepped in to intercept a drug run that ended at a bus station in Burnsville, a south suburban landing point used by the Alemans' ring. Esaul "Pajaro" Miranda and Arcelia Reyes -- named in the indictment -- were traveling by bus from Texas to Minnesota, hiding two kilos of cocaine, according to a criminal complaint filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis. Federal drug agents had learned that Reyes would be carrying the cocaine in her bag, while Miranda was responsible for distribution of the drugs, the complaint stated. When the pair stepped off the bus, agents said they approached Miranda and that she consented to having her bag containing the drugs searched. Paul McEnroe is at pmcenroe@startribune.com