At a meeting in a Chicago
business last spring, the leaders of a drug trafficking organization
allegedly made a lucrative offer to an informant posing as a pilot.
Jose
Mares-Barragan, 31, and another unidentified drug leader told the
informant they had tons of cocaine ready to ship and the pilot could
make almost $40,000 flying 25 kilos on a light aircraft from California
to the small airport in Bolingbrook, according to a charging document.
They
also offered $500,000 per flight to take massive amounts of cocaine
between South and Central America, where they said the narcotics would
be loaded and unloaded by government workers, court records show.
"If
he wants to go big, we can go big," Mares-Barragan, who allegedly
worked for the Sinaloa cartel, said at the recorded meeting. The drug
ring also allegedly discussed in an unrecorded conversation using a
plane to move millions of dollars a month in cash from Australia to the
U.S. to buy cocaine to sell back in Australia, court records show.
Mares-Barragan,
of Castaic, Calif., was arrested after the informant agreed to bring 26
kilos of cocaine into Clow International Airport, apparently on the
same weekend it was hosting its 12th annual Cavalcade of Planes, a
regional festival that draws thousands of airplane enthusiasts.
Clow
airport, situated just yards from strip malls and subdivisions typical
of Chicago's suburbs, seems an unlikely hub for a large drug trafficking
operation. But there's a growing use of smaller airports by regional
drug rings hoping to move large amounts of narcotics, said Jack Riley,
the Drug Enforcement Administration's special agent in charge of its
Chicago division.
"Really we're beginning to see that more and
more domestically," he said. "Of course, the Mexican organizations will
move it across the border virtually any way possible. But the regional
organizations are moving dope and money into smaller airports where
there's really less law enforcement and most of them don't even file a
flight plan. It's very effective."
The use of aircraft rarely
forms the basis for charges in federal drug trafficking cases, which
typically involve drugs hidden in semi trucks, cars or even people.
In
this case, the pilot was to fly to Bolingbrook on a June weekend and
return to California with bundles of cash for the Mexican suppliers. DEA
agents arranged the pickup of the cocaine in Palm Desert, Calif., and
then at some point swapped it for sham narcotics, which were stuffed
into a black duffel bag.
Two people were arrested at the airport
in Bolingbrook and agreed to cooperate with authorities. Agents also
arrested a man, who did drug deals from a "Mr. Sandman" email address,
who wanted to buy 13 kilos, records show.
Charging documents
allege Mares-Barragan wrote emails saying he was "stressing big time"
over the shipment to Bolingbrook and that his supplier asked him to take
40 kilos but he only felt comfortable with 26 "because it's too much if
something happens."
His attorney, Paul Brayman, declined comment on the pending case.
Source: http://latinotimes.com
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