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2,000 Arrested in US Probe of Mexican Drug Cartels

   VOA News 10 June 2010

   U.S.  Attorney  General  Eric Holder has announced the arrests of more
   than  2,000  people  in  the  United  States  as  part  of  a 22-month
   investigation targeting Mexican drug trafficking networks.
   In  Washington  Thursday,  Holder  said  that  more  than 400 of those
   arrests  were  made  on  Wednesday  in  16  U.S. states as part of the
   investigation, dubbed Project Deliverance.
   Holder  describes  the  operation as the most extensive and successful
   law enforcement effort to date targeting the Mexican cartels. Â
   He  says the investigation has resulted in the arrests of 2,266 people
   and  the seizure of more than $150 million in U.S. currency.  He says
   2.5  tons  of cocaine and 69 tons of marijuana were seized, along with
   hundreds of weapons and vehicles.
   Holder  also  expressed regret at the death of  of a teenager who was
   killed  this  week  by  a  U.S.  Border  Patrol  agent.   He  says an
   investigation is under way.

   Mexico  is demanding an "exhaustive investigation" into the killing of
   Sergio  Hernandez  at  a  bridge  crossing  between El Paso, Texas and
   Ciudad  Juarez,  Mexico.   The  FBI has said the shooting occurred as
   Customs  and  Border  Patrol  agents responded to a group of suspected
   illegal immigrants being smuggled into the U.S.
   Officials say that as agents detained two suspected illegal immigrants
   on  the  U.S.  side of the border, other suspects ran back into Mexico
   and   began  hurling  stones.   The  FBI  says  one  agent  told  the
   stone-throwers  to  stop,  but  they  continued.  The agent fired his
   weapon several times, hitting the teenager who later died.
   The  immigration debate in the United States has intensified since the
   southwestern state of Arizona, which borders Mexico, passed a law that
   requires  police  to check the residency status of anyone they suspect
   is in the United States illegally.
   Civil  rights  groups  in  the  U.S. say the law discriminates against
   people  based on race.  Supporters of the law say it will help combat
   a wave of crime blamed on illegal immigrants.

   Â

   Some information for this report was provided by AP.

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