PROJECT PYTHON: DEA arrests 18 suspected Mexican drug cartel members in San Antonio
SAN ANTONIO - More than 500 arrests were made nationwide, 18 locally, after the DEA's 'Project Python,' which aimed to take down a Mexican drug cartel.
According to a press release from the DEA, it had been working this nationwide mission for the past six months, ending it Wednesday.
A release said the project aimed to take down the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG), which has become a major player in the methamphetamine game and is currently causing plenty of violence at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The project resulted in the arrests of more than 500, 350 indictments and plenty of 'significant' drug and money seizures.
“Project Python marks the most comprehensive action to date in the Department of Justice’s campaign to disrupt, dismantle, and ultimately destroy CJNG,” said Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Criminal Division. “When President Trump signed an Executive Order prioritizing the dismantlement of transnational criminal organizations, the Department of Justice answered the call and took direct aim at CJNG. We deemed CJNG one of the highest priority transnational organized crime threats we face. And with Project Python, we are delivering results in the face of that threat for the American people.”
The CJNG leader, Nemesio Ruben Oseguera Cervantes - also known as "El Mencho" - is also in the crosshairs. The DEA has also had a $10 million reward out for Mecnho's arrest, after identifying him as a "specially designated narcotics trafficker."