Suspected drug smugglers sought
Detectives search for 3 linked to Moreno drug-smuggling group
-
Department of Public SafetyChristian Palacios -
Department of Public SafetyJulio Alavarado Yanez -
Department of Public SafetyOsvaldo Moreno Herrera
Authorities are searching for three men accused of being leaders of the Moreno drug-smuggling organization, the Department of Public Safety announced Wednesday.
Christian Palacios, of Phoenix; Julio Alavarado Yanez and Osvaldo Moreno Herrera, both of Mexico, are allegedly part of a smuggling group that has been moving hundreds of pounds of marijuana a week into the Phoenix area, DPS said in a press release.
The group is accused of using armed guards who travel alongside the smugglers from Mexico to spots in the Arizona desert where the drugs are picked up, DPS said.
A Maricopa County grand jury indicted six members of the Moreno group including its alleged ringleader, Ines Moreno, on drug trafficking and weapons charges, DPS said.
Moreno has been deported at least a dozen times while using a Mexican ID that gets him into the United States, DPS said.
DPS said Palacios, Alavarado and Moreno are believed to be hiding either in Mexico or Arizona.
Members of the Moreno group earn up to $80,000 a week for smuggling marijuana into the Phoenix area, DPS said.
Anyone with information on the whereabouts of these three suspects are asked to call local police.
Related stories
- Cuban gets 12 years for coke trafficking plot
- Tucson man gets 4 years for recruiting someone to buy gun
- BP agent Tasers suspected drug smuggler
- Man gets 15 years for drug, weapons trafficking
- Gang members arrested, human skull found
- New agents find nearly 800 lbs of pot while training
- More drones patrolling U.S.-Mexico border
- BP seizes 3,100 lbs of pot, arrests 135
- Agents arrest gang members, rescue 2 from desert
- Women found guilty of human smuggling
- Woman gets 71 months in prison for drug trafficking
