DOJ announces 81 alleged gang members indicted after Puerto Rico drug trafficking takedown

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Attorney General Todd Blanche announced Thursday the indictments of 81 alleged members of Los Baja Deo, or LBD, a Puerto Rican-based drug trafficking organization.

On Wednesday, the FBI and the Puerto Rico Police Department arrested 70 alleged LBD members on numerous charges. LBD has been active for years throughout the western side of the U.S. territory, Blanche said.

The indictments charged the suspects with drug possession and distribution in connection to activities prosecutors said began in 2021. Blanche said 21 of the defendants were also charged with illegal firearms possession.

They allegedly distributed “mass quantities” of cocaine, crack cocaine, fentanyl, heroin and marijuana, which generated $49 million in proceeds, Blanche said.

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Blanche said the defendants “maintained a steady supply of highly addictive and potentially lethal substances that endangered the community, fueled addiction and exposed entire public housing projects in Mayagüez and nearby neighborhoods to violence and chaos.”

The takedown of the 70 alleged LBD members took place following a San Juan Homeland Security Task Force investigation, according to the attorney general.

Blanche called this “a great example of the success” Homeland Security has had in “combating violent crime and the illegal flow of narcotics.”

“If there’s additional co-conspirators or members of this organization that have not been charged, I promise you that this investigation doesn’t stop stop because an indictment is returned,” Blanche said. “We’ll find out. And if I were them, I would probably not be sleeping well tonight.”

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Also announced at the press conference was an operation that took place Wednesday against Los Choneros and Los Lobos, Ecuador-based drug trafficking organizations.

There were 26 arrests, including of four leaders of the Los Lobos cartel, Blanche said. This comes after local police arrested Eduardo Gomez, another alleged leader of the gang, at his home in Quito on May 14.

Blanche said one metric ton of cocaine was seized from the two cartels, as well as around a $1 million in U.S. currency

Additionally, authorities said they recovered 35 rifles, 26 vehicles, over 40 cell phones and an airplane. Three clandestine airports and landing strips were also destroyed.

Los Choneros and Los Lobos have been U.S. designated terrorist groups since August of last year.

“President Trump called drug dealers terrorists, and that’s because that’s exactly what they are,” Blanche said. “There are drug boats that are getting blown up because trying to bring cocaine into our country.”

Blanche also announced the extradition of a long-sought cocaine king pin from the Dominican Republic, Erick Randhiel Mosquea Polanco.

He was transported from Colombia to San Juan to face charges in two separate cases. He also faces federal money laundering charges in New Jersey, Blanche said.

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