Federal Agents Target 55 in Puerto Rico Drug Raid

WASHINGTON — About 270 federal agents were deployed today in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to begin rounding up 55 suspects in a drug ring alleged to have smuggled large quantities of marijuana, cocaine, heroin and hydromorphine into the United States, the Justice Department said.

Justice spokesman John Russell said the agents seized 16 pieces of property, 3 aircraft, 11 vehicles and 3 speedboats.

By 10:50 a.m., 24 of the 55 suspects were in custody in San Juan. Another suspect, John Zorniack, was arrested in Newark, N.J. Six other people, all alleged suppliers, were charged, but they were in Venezuela, Colombia and the Netherlands Antilles and must be extradited, Russell said.

He said many of the 62 total suspects are foreign nationals. In many of the cases, the government will seek to have them held without bail until trial, he said.

The federal team included 100 deputy U.S. marshals secretly flown to Puerto Rico from the U.S. mainland over the last several weeks to participate in the roundup, known as Operation Pedestal.

Two-Year Investigation

Also participating were agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI, the U.S. Customs Service, the Coast Guard, the Internal Revenue Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the Immigration and Naturalization Service and Puerto Rican authorities.

Russell said the roundup grew out of a two-year investigation known as Operation Greenback, in which a federal organized crime task force focused on the laundering of drug profits through Florida banks.