Operation Kruz Control was a twelve-month, multi-agency investigation of a

drug trafficking A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via insuffla ...

organization in southern Arizona, between December 2012 and December 2013. According to Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) officials, the Phoenix-based Luiz Armando Cruz organization, which works for the Sinaloa Cartel of northern Mexico, is responsible for the smuggling of thousands of pounds of

marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...

into Arizona and New Mexico and the smuggling of the proceeds back into Mexico, via the Agua Prieta corridor. The Cruz organization utilized both drivers in vehicles and backpackers to transport drug loads through remote desert areas near San Simon and Willcox, Arizona, and then to Tucson and Phoenix for further distribution. DEA Special Agent in Charge Doug Coleman: "DEA and its partners are successfully striking back at drug traffickers who use the Arizona corridor to move their drugs into the United States and their illicit proceeds back to Mexico.... This investigation identified a transportation cell that used human backpackers to smuggle thousands of pounds of marijuana across the Arizona/Mexico border. The message to these criminals should be clear—use the cross border area at your own risk." On the evening of December 13, 2013, police in Phoenix and Willcox conducted arrests and search warrants and raided stash houses believed to be used by the Cruz organization, arresting eleven individuals and seizing "1,400 pounds of marijuana, seven rifles, two handguns, a shotgun, two homes, nine vehicles, an ATV quad and a bank account." Furthermore, since the beginning of the operation in December 2012, ''Kruz Control'' investigators seized $200,000, 27,000 pounds of marijuana, six vehicles and a King Quad ATV in other actions. The following were arrested in police raids on December 13, 2013: Luis Armando Cruz, 39; Carlos Antonio Garcia, 31; Sergio Garcia-Morales, 32; Alma Dolores Escalante-Figueroa (wife of Cruz), 39; Felipe Escalante-Reyes, 22; Carime Itsel Reyes-Escalante, 19; Carlos Ramirez, 42; Sergio Robert Ramos-Moreno, 19; Trevon Xavier Marcus-Bondae, 18; Maxine Carter, 25; and Jeremiah Steven Woolsey, 24. The following agencies participated in Operation Kruz Control: Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA),

U.S. Border Patrol The United States Border Patrol (USBP) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement agency under the United States' U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Customs and Border Protection and is responsible for securing ...

and its Tactical Unit (BORTAC), the

Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory ta ...

Criminal Investigation, the

U.S. Marshals Service The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The USMS is a bureau within the U.S. Department of Justice, operating under the direction of the Attorney General, but serves as the enforcem ...

, Graham County Attorney's Office, Coolidge Police Department, National Drug Intelligence Center Document and Media Exploitation (DOMEX), and Arizona

SWAT In the United States, a SWAT team (special weapons and tactics, originally special weapons assault team) is a police tactical unit that uses specialized or military equipment and tactics. Although they were first created in the 1960s to ...

teams from the Mesa Police Department, Apache Junction Police Department, Tempe Police Department, and the Pinal County Sheriff's Office.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kruz Control, Operation 2013 in Arizona Anti-cannabis operations Drug Enforcement Administration operations Battles of the Mexican drug war Operations against organized crime in the United States Sinaloa Cartel