Massive U.S. drug sweep nets 750

U.S. and Mexican authorities have arrested 750 criminals over 21 months in drug busts, including 52 members of Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel who were detained Wednesday, according to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.

The cartel members were arrested as part of an international narcotics trafficking and money-laundering investigation called Operation Accelerator.

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The operation, which investigated crimes in the U.S., Mexico and Canada, netted some $59 million dollars in cash, 12,000 kilos of cocaine, 544 kilos of meth and 1.3 million Ecstacy pills.

Asked by a reporter whether he was worried that violence from the world of Mexican drug runners could spill over into U.S. cities and towns, Holder admitted he was concerned. See related Blackwell reports: Mexican drug cartels terrorize U.S. cities

The bloody war between rival cartels and fighting for control of drug trafficking into the United States, the world's largest consumer of cocaine, has produced internal chaos in Mexico.

Unrest related to the drug trade has caused the violent deaths of 5,300 people, including police officers, throughout Mexico last year, according to official figures, dispite a government crackdown that saw the deployment of nearly 36,000 troops.

The investigation unveiled the scope of the cartel's international network, including a "super meth lab that is so sophisticated we've seen none like it anywhere," said DEA Acting Administrator Michele Leonhart.

The raids uncovered drug factory machines able to produce 12,000 Ecstacy tablets an hour.

The operation not only took out cartel operatives in larger cities such as New York and Los Angeles, but in smaller towns like Lancaster, Pennsylvania and Brockton, Massachusetts.

Over the course of a few years, Leonhart said, the northeastern Ohio town of Stow, a relatively sleepy urban region of 35,000 residents, became a hotspot for international drug runners.

"Just underneath the surface of this peaceful city, the Sinaloa cartel had been sending cocaine through its airport," Leonhart said. "The traffickers regularly ferried dozens of kilos (pounds) of cocaine from California to Stow."

According to the DEA, at the end of 2008, their operation to clamp down on production and supply routes over the preceding 21 months substantially impacted drug quality and cost within the United States.

The price of a gram of cocaine in the U.S. from January 2007 to September 2008 soared 89 percent, from 96.61 dollars to 182.73 dollars. An analysis of 24,000 drug busts across the U.S., found that cocaine purity dropped during the same period, from 67 percent to 40 percent. According to the DEA.

D. Brian Blackwell