US busts major drug ring run by three Indians
August 5th, 2011 - 7:25 pm ICT by IANSWashington, Aug 5 (IANS) Three smugglers from India are among a group of five busted in what has been dubbed ‘Operation Liquid Dragon’, one of the biggest ephedrine rings operated out of the US by a Mexican drug cartel.
The arrests shut down a pipeline that moved the precursor chemical from India to the US to Mexico, much of it in liquid form and labelled “green tea extract”, according to Oregonlive.com.
Government prosecutors estimate the shipments helped the cartel put between $20 million and $38 million of meth on the street — most of it in the US.
Most of the money was traced to Antonio Gonzalez, a US customs broker with homes on both sides of the border. Agents found that much of the money flowed out of Gonzalez’s accounts to banks in Oregon and India.
Court records show that more than $5 million in wire transfers — along with $2.6 million in cash — landed in a Wells Fargo account for Spring Dragon Sourcing, a nutritional company owned by Forest Grove entrepreneur Verlyn Craig Payton.
He transferred $7.2 million to five businesses in India, primarily Nutramed Biotech, owned by Subhash Naithani of Noida, India.
Arrested at a Las Vegas trade show in November 2009 in a sting operation, all five men pleaded guilty in exchange for reduced punishment.
US District Judge Anna J. Brown in Portland, Oregon Thursday sentenced 40-year-old ephedrine broker Naithani to 4 1/2 years in prison. The others were sentenced earlier this year.
Sachin Sharma, 35 also got 4 1/2 years in prison. Manoj Kovummal got a four-year term. The Indian businessmen will be deported after serving their sentences.
Payton, 47, who brokered the illegal shipments between the US and India, also got four years. Gonzalez, 57, described as a key supplier of ephedrine to intermediaries in Mexico, who then supplied a major drug cartel, was sentenced to eight years in prison.
The government seized $5.5 million in assets from defendants in the case, including $2.2 million in bank accounts, palladium ingots, a 1975 Cessna Chancellor 414A airplane and luxury autos including a 2008 Tesla Roadster electric car.
Roughly $4.2 million was forfeited to the US government, prosecutors said.
(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)
- Drugs in bath-towel shipment from India seized - Jan 28, 2011
- Former Governor of Mexican State extradited to the US for involvement with the Juarez Cartel - May 11, 2010
- US agent accused of buying guns for Mexican cartels - Apr 13, 2012
- Derby, NY married couple sentenced for participating in international narcotics smuggling operation - Mar 19, 2010
- Four die in Mexico prison fight - Jan 30, 2012
- Hacker Of Credit And Debit Cards Gets Imprisonment Of 20 Years - Mar 29, 2010
- US court sentences Mexican drug lord to 25 years - Apr 03, 2012
- US court sentences Mexican drug lord to 25 years - Apr 03, 2012
- Mexican tequila mogul dies - Mar 22, 2012
- Puerto Rican militant arrested after 25 years on the run - May 11, 2011
- Russian jailed in US for bank fraud - Mar 25, 2012
- Iraqi cancer patient finds hope in India - May 23, 2012
- 13 shot dead inside bar in Mexico - Apr 22, 2012
- Two Mexican drug traffickers sentenced over 24 years in prison - Feb 19, 2010
- China jails soccer officials for corruption - Feb 18, 2012
Tags: antonio gonzalez, border agents, district judge, ephedrine, five men, forest grove, government prosecutors, green tea, illegal shipments, indian businessmen, j brown, mexican drug cartel, noida india, smugglers, spring dragon, sting operation, us customs broker, vegas trade, wells fargo, wire transfers