By BJ Austin, KERA Reporter
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Dallas, TX – Dallas is part of a huge drug bust targeting Mexico's Gulf Cartel. More than 500 people are under arrest in eight states and Italy. KERA's BJ Austin says as part of Project Reckoning, drug agents seized $60 million in cash, and more than 43 tons of drugs.
Terri Wyatt, with the Drug Enforcement Agency in Dallas, began the local story of the year-long operation targeting the Gulf Coast Cartel. James Capra, Drug Enforcement Agency Special Agent in Charge, stood next to duffle bags full of cash and blocks of plastic-wrapped cocaine and methamphetamine.
Capra: Take a look at the stuff that's here; some of the largest seizures right now in the country that happened right here in Dallas. It's huge. This is only a piece, by the way, of this investigation. And this is going to disrupt the Gulf Cartel, without a doubt.
The Dallas-area operation netted $1 million in cash, more than 600 pounds of cocaine and 400 pounds of methamphetamine. 25 local people are facing charges. One of them is 22-year-old Uriel Palacios, also called Youngster. He was already in jail for a Labor Day drunk driving crash in Dallas that killed a newlywed couple. Those under arrest locally come from Dallas, Allen, Grand Prairie, DeSoto, Duncanville, and Cedar Hill.