May 10, 2010
Contact: Special Agent Waldo Santiago
Public Information Officer
(787) 277-4700
70 Individuals Indicted For Drug Trafficking As A Result Of Joint DEA-ATF OCDETF Operation Tower Kings
$65,000,000 In Forfeiture Allegations
MAY 11  -- (SAN JUAN, PR) - On May 5, 2010, a federal grand jury indicted seventy (70) individuals as a result of a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) - Organized Crime Drug Enforce Task Force (OCDETF) investigation conducted jointly by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), with the assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Puerto Rico Police Department (PRPD) Carolina Strike Force Unit, announced today DEA Special Agent in Charge Javier F. Pea, Caribbean Division and United States Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodrguez-Vlez, District of Puerto Rico. Thirty-nine (39) defendants were arrested today. The defendants are charged in a six-count indictment with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin, crack, cocaine, marijuana, Oxycodone, better known as Percocet and Alprazolam, (Xanax). All defendants are charged with conspiracy to possess and use firearms during and in relation to a narcotics trafficking offense. The forfeiture allegations total sixty five million dollars ($65,000,000).