May.02, 2010
Mexico City, May 2, 2010 (EFE via COMTEX) -- A Colombian and a Venezuelan woman who worked for a drug trafficking organization based in Pereira, Colombia, were arrested by Federal Police officers in central Mexico on drug trafficking and money laundering charges, the Mexican Public Safety Secretariat said.
Hector Medina Bobadilla and Samia Farydis Yunis de la Hoz had their base of operations in the Federal District and Mexico state, which surrounds the district and forms part of the Mexico City metropolitan area, the secretariat said.
The suspects received the proceeds from drug sales and stored them at a safe house.
Medina collected the money and Yunis de la Hoz "kept the accounting books for receipts and disbursements," the secretariat said.
The two South Americans used cell phones to communicate, "replacing them after each delivery or shipment to avoid the identification of the recipient of the money," the Public Safety Secretariat said.
An AR-15 assault rifle, $440,000 in cash, two automobiles, six cell phones and numerous documents, among other evidence, were seized from the suspects.
Some 400 tons of cocaine bound for the United States pass through Mexico from South America each year, according to experts, with some of that cocaine being consumed domestically.