By AFP
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| FILE PHOTO: A bag of a methamphetamine, known as shabu, is shown by a Philippine National Bureau of Investigation agent after a raid on a home on May 25, 2016. REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco |
The United States has charged a Mexican ex-mayor and five others for trafficking the largest shipment of meth seized in Miami history, officials said Thursday.
Adalberto Comparan, who was formerly mayor of Aguililla in Michoacan and alleged leader of Mexico’s United Cartels, and five other individuals face drug and other charges from two indictments.
The six smuggled more than 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds) of Mexican methamphetamines into the United States, prosecutors say.
One of the charges accuses Comparan, 57, known as “Fruto,” along with his alleged co-conspirator Alfonso Rustrian, 34, of drug trafficking.
Both were detained in Guatemala on Tuesday at the request of the United States “for extradition purposes,” according to that country’s prosecutor’s office.
A second criminal complaint accuses four other individuals for their participation in the scheme to traffic methamphetamine to Miami, including the 31-year-old son of Comparan.
These four were arrested Tuesday in Miami.
“These significant arrests and drug seizures of crystal methamphetamine should serve notice that the United States, working hand-in-hand with our international partners, will not stop until drug traffickers at the highest levels are brought to justice,” said Acting US Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Juan Antonio Gonzalez.
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