‘King of Heroin’ arrested in Mexico

Mexico City, March 26 (IANS/EFE) Mexico’s federal police has arrested a man reputed to be the country’s biggest trafficker of heroin to the US, the Public Safety Department said.

An organisation led by 36-year-old Jose Antonio Medina Arreguin, alias “Don Pepe”, was responsible for smuggling an average of 200 kg heroin per month, counter-narcotics chief Ramon Pequeo told the press Thursday.

Popularly known as “king of heroin”, Medina was apprehended Thursday in Michoacan state, he said.

“A gram of heroin costs $60, so the retail sale of 200 kg generates $12 million monthly on the streets of Los Angeles,” Pequeo said.

The US is seeking Medina’s extradition on charges of distributing and selling heroin in California.

Medina obtained opium poppies from growers in Guerrero state and then shipped the processed heroin to Tijuana, across the border from San Diego, California, authorities said. He also allegedly runs methamphetamine labs in Michoacan, they said.

Mexican cartels supply cocaine, marijuana, heroin and crystal meth to the US. While pot and opium poppies are grown in Mexico, the cocaine is imported — mainly from Colombia — and the meth is produced with smuggled Asian pharmaceuticals.

–IANS/EFE