Criminal Defense

SEATTLE (AP) -- Eighteen people who were arrested as part of a national strike against a violent Mexican drug cartel were affiliates but not members of La Familia, and many seemed to be ordinary citizens, Seattle-area law enforcement officials said Thursday.

Of 16 people indicted in U.S. District Court in Seattle on charges of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and cocaine and to engage in money laundering, 10 pleaded not guilty Wednesday following raids in Monroe, Renton and other municipalities. Four others had been arrested by Thursday morning.

Four people were arrested on federal complaints, which typically precede an indictment. Two of those four were being held in California for return to Seattle.

Arturo J. Barajas Garcia, 32, of Renton, described by authorities as the kingpin of the local operation, was among those who appeared in court in Seattle. According to the complaint, his organization extended as far as Atlanta and members of the group also traveled regularly to California and to Dallas with shipments of drugs and money.

A Drug Enforcement Administration-led task force seized 28 pounds of meth, 22 pounds of cocaine, seven guns and about $200,000 from 19 homes and 22 vehicles searched in Washington state and California.

About 280 federal agents, sheriff's deputies and police from 10 agencies and jurisdictions participated in the raids, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark N. Bartlett told reporters Thursday.

Thousands of telephone conversations were tapped during the investigation, which began locally when King County sheriff's deputies noticed patterns in street-level enforcement operations, DEA acting special agent in charge Mark C. Thomas told reporters in Seattle Thursday.

The agency won't allow La Familia to establ! ish a fo othold Western Washington, Bartlett said.

"We will use wiretaps. We will use drug informants. We will use undercover officers, surveillance - every tool available for our law enforcement personnel to attack these groups will be used, and we will defeat them," he said.

Still at large Thursday were Daniel Barajas, 36, of San Diego, and Cesura Barajas Papilla, 32, of Michoacan state in Mexico. Both are believed to have gone to Mexico, possibly in Apatzingan, a city in Michoacan state where La Familia is based, Bartlett said.

The group led by Barajas Garcia bought drugs in California from La Familia members, including an estimated 20 pounds of pure meth a month, said Adam Cornell, a special assistant U.S. attorney and deputy prosecutor in Snohomish County, where most of the local arrests were made.

But Barajas Garcia and the rest of those charged locally are believed to be affiliates rather than members of the cartel, Cornell said.

Nine arrests were made in Monroe, a town of about 16,000 and home to the state's largest prison complex about 25 miles northeast of Seattle. Some had arrived recently and others had been there for years, and none seemed to be doing any retail drug dealing, Monroe police Cmdr. Steve Clopp said.

"I would say that they were well-integrated members of the community," Clopp said. "A lot of them keep up the everyday appearance of work and family."

One house seemed rundown and "not your normal family dwelling," but the rest "fit right into the community," Clopp said. "In fact a few citizens in a few of the locations described them as nice, quiet neighbors...

"It was a very interesting investigation to see how well criminals can blend into the community."

About 15 children ages 2 to 17 were living in the houses. About half were placed with relatives and the o! thers - mostly younger - were referred to Child Protective Services to determine proper custody, he said.

About a dozen people were arrested in Monroe on state charges as a result of what was found in the raids, he said.

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