"Cash Crop" Leads to Indictment of 44 for Marijuana Ring

On December 11,1985, the Department of Justice announced the indictment by a San Antonio, Texas grand jury of 44 persons, a bank, and two companies in the operations of a drug ring alleged to have imported an estimated 250,000 pounds of marijuana into the U.S. from Mexico.  The indictment said the trafficking organization also devised a scheme to make extensive use of banks in Texas, California, New York, and the Cayman Islands to launder drug profits.  The indictment arose from a large-scale drug investigation code-named "Cash Crop", which began two years ago.