U.S. and Mexico Make Strike Against Juárez Cartel

On June 20, 2001, the U.S. Department announced that a joint operation with Mexican authorities had succeeded in breaking up a cocaine and marijuana smuggling operation of the Juárez cartel, including arresting 83 people in 16 U.S. cities. The late Amado Carrillo-Fuentes had founded the cartel, which his brother, Vicente, took over after his death in 1997. Michael Chertoff, the assistant attorney general in charge of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, explained the law enforcement operation had smashed a smuggling network called the Marquis Organization, which was based in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico and included the remains of the Juárez group…[more]