SAN JUAN, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- A federal and state strike force arrested 37 members of the most powerful drug trafficking ring in Puerto Rico Saturday, the Justice Department alleged.
The 500-member Bayamon Strike Force arrested members of the Angel Ayala Vazquez organization, which allegedly has operated since 1995 at two public housing projects, Rosa Emilia Rodriguez-Velez, U.S. attorney for the District of Puerto Rico announced in a release.
On Monday, a federal grand jury indicted 65 people on seven drug trafficking offenses. They are reputed members of the ring, which is also know as El Negro, Angelo Millones, El Buster and Papa Upa.
The leader, Ayala Vazquez, was arrested Sept. 18. He remains in custody pending trial on charges of conspiracy to distribute heroin, crack, cocaine, marijuana, oxycodone and alprazolam, as well as charges of importing narcotics into the United States and various possession charges. Other members of the gang face the same charges.
Authorities said Vazquez and his gang are responsible for street-level distribution of the drugs, as well as for sending drugs into the continental United States. Vazquez also supplies other drug dealers, the indictment said.
