U.S. tries new approach against drugcartel

WASHINGTON, July 20 (UPI) -- The United States is trying a new multipronged approach against alleged Mexican drug cartel leaders and their associates, officials said.

The coordinated actions by Justice, State and Treasury personnel are targeting the Gulf Cartel-Los Zetas organization, also known as the "Company," in the latest effort by the U.S. government to neutralize and dismantle the drug-trafficking organization, the Justice Department said Monday in a release.

Antonio Ezequiel Cardenas-Guillen, Jorge Eduardo Costilla-Sanchez, Heriberto Lazcano-Lazcano and Miguel Trevino-Morales, Mexican leaders of the Company, and 15 of their lieutenants were charged in U.S. federal courts with drug trafficking-related crimes, the Justice Department said.

Also, the State Department said it would offer rewards totaling $50 million for information leading to the capture of 10 of those charged, including the four leaders designated narcotics kingpins by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control.

"These indictments allege a stunning and sophisticated operation by the Company to move illegal drugs into our communities and cash back to Mexico," said Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer said. "We have learned that the most effective way to disrupt and dismantle criminal organizations is to prosecute their leaders and seize their funding."

He said the three departments' efforts Monday not only would help bring those indicted to justice but also would "significantly slow the flow of cash that is so vital to cartel operations."