Word: familias
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Instead, the pseudoephedrine restrictions turned out to be a boon for a Mexican drug cartel that was just then coming to prominence. La Familia Michoacana, named for its base in the western Mexican state of Michoacán, not only revived the meth market, "they elevated it," says Rodney Benson, special agent in charge in Atlanta for the Drug Enforcement Administration. This week the DEA led a campaign that saw the arrests of more than 300 alleged meth traffickers in the U.S., all allegedly tied to La Familia. It is considered the largest roundup ever of Mexican cartel operatives...
...Familia is estimated to export as much as half of the 200 tons of crystal meth that enter the U.S. from Mexico each year. It was thus a clear target for Project Coronado, the four-year operation by U.S. and Mexico anti-drug officials, which has collared 900 others, mostly La Familia associates, in both countries. Aside from meth trafficking, La Familia has also brought Mexico's gangland violence across the border, into communities as far flung as Atlanta and Seattle. The group, like Mexico's two largest drug gangs, the Gulf and Sinaloa cartels, is also famous for beheading...
...Familia claims to employ thousands of people - all from the state of Michoacan - and pay them wages of at least $2,000 per month, more than 10 times the minimum wage. The capos say they do not tolerate robbery, kidnapping or drug-dealing in their communities. But they reserve the right to use righteous violence against anyone who betrays or crosses them. "Those who commit mistakes are tied up for a long time. If the mistake is grave, they are tortured. If there is loss of trust and treachery, they must die," a cartel spokesman called El Tio (the Uncle...
...extreme violence against rivals and police has given La Familia a brutal reputation across Mexico. The group first burst to fame in 2006 when gangsters severed the heads of five rival traffickers and rolled them onto a disco dance floor. The latest round of bloody mayhem kicked off on July 11, following the dawn arrest of alleged gang lieutenant Arnoldo Rueda from his family home. In an attempt to rescue him, gunmen besieged a police base for 20 minutes with grenades and automatic-rifle fire. When they couldn't break him free, they launched simultaneous attacks on police in towns...
...truce. "What we want is peace and tranquility," he said. "We want to achieve a national pact." The government of Felipe Calderón was quick to reject any negotiation with the gangs and ordered a troop surge in Michoacan to 5,500 police and soldiers to fight La Familia. "The federal government does not ever dialogue, does not negotiate, does not reach deals with any criminal organization," Interior Secretary Fernando Gomez Mont said. "The criminal groups that the Mexican government are fighting are made up of criminal cowards without scruples. They try to mask or justify their acts with...