Mexican Drug Cartels Infiltrating Collages and High School Campuses in America

ÂRamon Mosler, chief of the narcotics division of the
By Michael Webster: Investigative Reporter May 7,District Attorney's Office in San Diego California, said
2008, 2:00 PM PDTthe investigation could have happened on any college
Âcampus in America. Mosler said his unit joined in
Âbecause the university took the unusual step of asking
In a recent drug bust at the San Diego State Universityfor help.
Federal agents and SDSU police culminated a yearlong"Oftentimes administrations don't want us to do this
investigation into drug dealing around campus andstuff, and that's unfortunate," Mosler said. "I think it's
found it to be more sophisticated, more pervasive andimportant to do this every now and then to wake
more dangerous and far reaching than they expectedpeople up. It raises everyone's awareness to the
or have seen before. These arrests coincided with thedangers of drugs."
first anniversary of a female student freshman'sÂ
cocaine-related death.According to the search-warrant affidavit, Thomas
According to local newspaper reports ninety-sixWatanapun sold $400 worth of cocaine to undercover
suspects, including 75 SDSU students, have beenagents from a Lexus sedan registered to his father in
arrested on drug-related charges as a result of theLos Angeles.
undercover operation, launched after Jenny Poliakoff,Authorities said some of the suspects made little effort
19, was found dead in her off-campus apartment afterto conceal their activities.
a night of celebration.Dealers "weren't picky about who they sold to," Mosler
One of the main suspects in this international drugsaid.
investigation is Omar Castaneda, a gang member fromAlso arraigned was Patrick Hawley, 20, who was
Pomona with ties to the Mexican Tijuana drug cartels,arrested on suspicion of armed robbery and selling
officials said.cocaine near the campus, officials said.
Castaneda, 36, after his arrest he was arraigned inAccording to a 2007 study by the National Center on
San Diego Superior Court on charges of possessionAddiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia
of cocaine for sale. He is suspected of being a majorUniversity, nearly half of the nation's 5.4 million full-time
link between drugs flowing into California from Tijuanacollege students abuse drugs or alcohol at least once
and sales at SDSU and other California campuses.a month.
The violent Tijuana drug cartel also known as theLaw enforcement officials in San Diego say street
Arellano-Felix organization (AFO) has a firm andgangs here continue to have strong ties to organized
deadly hold on all drug trafficking activities in Baja andcrime groups in Tijuana. A gunman killed recently in an
San Diego California. Their reach controls drugattack in Tijuana is believed to belong to both a gang in
smuggling in Sinaloa, Jalisco, Michoacan, Chiapas andBarrio Logan and the Arellano Felix Drug Cartel. KPBS
Baja, and has strong links to San Diego, California. TheReporter Amy Isackson reported.
AFO dispenses an estimated $1 million weekly in bribesFor years, Mexican drug trafficking groups have
to Mexican officials, police and Mexican army officersrecruited U.S. gang members to do everything from
and maintains its own-well armed, trained, paramilitarysmuggle drugs to murder. Tijuana's Arellano Felix Drug
security force. The DEA considers the AFO the mostCartel and a gang from San Diego's Barrio Logan
violent and aggressive of the Mexican border cartels.neighborhood go back at least 15 years.
Here is the DEA's background profile on the AFO andMany students enrolled in American schools are
its leaders. Click on or google: Dangerous Mexicanbelieved members of gangs many are now coming
Cartel Gangsfrom the U.S. Military as they rotate out of the
The SDSU Police Department approached the DEAservices. Many are veterans who where encouraged
and county narcotics task-force officials for assistanceto join the U.S Military for combat training by Mexican
in December of 07, when it became clear that thecartels and gang leaders.
drug trafficking on campus was widespread andThe cartels are confronting police and the army on a
involved Mexican organized crime drug cartels andregular bases in Mexico and hope that these same
their gang members and they feared that it far outtactics will soon pay off and enable them to confront
striped their ability to handle a potentially verythe U.S Police in a much more professional, effective
complicated international drug trafficking investigation.and dangerous ways.
"We were coming in contact with more types ofÂ
narcotics," SDSU Police Chief John Browning said. "IfRichard Valdemar, a 30-year-veteran of the Los
you're serious about this, you have to go to someoneAngeles County Sheriff's Department, travels the
who has the resources to take it to the next level."country lecturing and teaching police about
As the investigation was unfolding, the campus dealtmilitary-trained gang members. Valdemar and other
with another drug-related death. An autopsy showedgang experts say gangs are encouraging members to
that Mesa College student Kurt Baker died Feb. 24 atjoin the military for training to learn urban warfare and
an SDSU fraternity from oxycodone and alcohollearn the latest weaponry.
poisoning.Â
"We know there's drug use in college . . . but when youThe military's current emphasis on urban warfare plays
have an organization that's actually based out of ainto the street-fighting mentality of gangs, experts say.
college area, that's a whole different thing," said"When individuals go into the military, they are taught
Garrison Courtney of the U.S. Drug Enforcementhow to use weapons, defensive tactics, and the use
Administration. "You just don't see that."of a lot of sophisticated techniques," said LaRae Quy,
Research indicates that lucrative university and highof the Federal Bureau of Investigation. "They take that
school campuses are fertile markets for drug dealers.back on the streets with them. This is a legitimate
Mexican drug cartels have known this for years andconcern for law enforcement."
are believed to have infiltrated many of America'sValdemar cites former Camp Pendleton Marine Sgt.
school campuses through cartel gang members.Jesse Quintanilla as just one high-profile example. A
Federal authorities point to the Mexican drug cartelsmilitary court sentenced Quintanilla to death in 1996 for
who are ultimately responsible for border violence bykilling his executive officer and wounding his
having cemented ties to street and prison gangs likecommanding officer.
Barrio Azteca on the U.S. side. Azteca and other U.S.When interrogators asked Quintanilla why he
gangs retail drugs that they get from Mexican cartelscommitted the crimes, Quintanilla said it was for "his
and Mexican gangs. Mexican gangs run their ownbrown brothers," according to Valdemar. Quintanilla
distribution networks in the United States, and theyshowed them a tattoo on his chest with the word
produce most of the methamphetamine used north of"Sureno," a reference to a California gang, according to
the border. They have even bypassed the Colombianscourt documents.
several times to buy cocaine directly from producers inArmy recruiting headquarters in Washington, D.C.,
Bolivia, Peru and even Afghanistan. These samedismiss the claims as urban myth. An Army
gangs often work as cartel surrogates or enforcersspokesman said army background checks are
on the U.S. side of the border. Intelligence suggests Losextensive and weed out gang members.
Zetas . Click on or google: They're known as "LosÂ
Zetas have hired members of various gangs atThe ARELLANO-Felix Organization (AFO), often
different times including, El Paso gang Barrio Azteca,referred to as the Tijuana Cartel, is one of the most
Mexican Mafia, Texas Syndicate, MS-13, andpowerful and aggressive drug trafficking organizations
Hermanos Pistoleros Latinos to further their criminaloperating from Mexico; it is undeniably the most violent.
endeavors. Authorities on both sides of theMore than any other major trafficking organization
border believe many of these gang members andfrom Mexico, this organization extends its tentacles
other surrogates of the powerful Mexican drug cartelsdirectly from high-echelon figures in the law
have infiltrated and operate openly on many Americanenforcement and judicial systems in Mexico to
school campuses particularly in states borderingstreet-level individuals in United States cities. The AFO
Mexico including Texas, New Mexico, Arizona andis responsible for the transportation, importation and
California.distribution of multi-ton quantities of cocaine, marijuana,
One suspect, Phi Kappa Psi member Michael Montoya,as well as large quantities of heroin and
worked as a community-service officer on campusmethamphetamine, into the United States from Mexico.
and would have earned a master's degree inThe AFO operates primarily in the Mexican states of
homeland security next month. Another studentSinaloa (their birth place), Jalisco, Michoacan, Chiapas,
arrested on suspicion of possessing 500 grams ofand Baja California South and North.
cocaine and two guns was a criminal-justice major.From Baja, the drugs enter California, the primary point
Authorities identified 22 SDSU students as drugof embarkation into the United States distribution
dealers who sold to undercover agents. At least 17network.
others allegedly supplied the drugs. The rest of theThe ARELLANO family, Â composed of seven
suspects apparently bought or possessed illegal drugs.brothers and four sisters, inherited the organization
Authorities said students from seven fraternities werefrom Miguel Angel FELIX-Gallardo upon his
involved in the drug ring, which operated openly acrossincarceration in Mexico in 1989 for his complicity in the
campus.murder of DEA Special Agent Enrique Camarena.
Evidence showed that "most of the members wereAlberto Benjamin ARELLANO-Felix assumed
aware of organized drug dealing occurring from theleadership of the family structured criminal enterprise
fraternity houses," officials said. Drug agents confirmedand provides a businessman's approach to the
that "a hierarchy existed for the purposes of sellingmanagement of drug trafficking operations.
drugs for money."The AFO also maintains complex communications
Authorities singled out the Theta Chi fraternity as a hubcenters in several major cities in Mexico and the U.S.
of cocaine dealing.to conduct electronic espionage and counter
One alleged dealer, Theta Chi member Kennethsurveillance measures against law enforcement
Ciaccio, sent text messages to his "faithful customers"entities. The organization employs radio scanners and
announcing that cocaine sales would be suspendedequipment capable of intercepting both hard line, radio
over an upcoming weekend because he and hisand cellular phones to ensure the security of AFO
"associates" planned to be in Las Vegas, authoritiesoperations. In addition to technical equipment, the AFO
said.maintains caches of sophisticated automatic weaponry
The same message posted "sale" prices on cocaine ifsecured from a variety of international sources. Click
transactions were completed before the dealers lefton or google: Mexican drug cartels and terrorist are
San Diego.recruiting for more fighters to train as soldiers
Until yesterday, Ciaccio was featured on SDSU's WebA Joint Task Force composed of the Drug
site promoting the Compact for Success program,Enforcement Administration and the Federal Bureau of
which guarantees certain Sweetwater Union HighInvestigation has been established in San Diego,
School District students admission to the university ifCalifornia to target the AFO; the Task Force is
they maintain a B average.investigating AFO operations in southern California and
SDSU President Stephen Weber said that even whenrelated regional investigations which track drug
campus police decided to ask for help from othertransportation, distribution and money laundering
authorities, "it wasn't clear that we were going to endactivities of the AFO throughout the United States.
up at the point where we were today."Click on or google: Â Dangerous Mexican/U.S.