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Jaime Herrera-Nevares Jaime Herrera-Nevares was the patriarch of a huge criminal profits to their home in Mexico, using neighborhood currency syndicate based in the mountain top village of Los Herreras, exchanges to send money orders back to Durango. In the mid- Durango, Mexico. As far back as 1957, the Herrera organization 1970s, the DEA traced just under $2 million from these exchanges ran a farm-to-the-arm heroin operation that cultivated opium and Western Union records. This figure represented approxipoppy plants, processed and packaged heroin in Mexico, and mately one percent of the total cash transferred to Mexico by transported it to Chicago. There it was either sold locally or dis the Herrera organization annually. tributed to other U.S. cities. This By 1978, the Chicago Herreras were grossgroup was extremely difficult to ing $60 million a year and had established penetrate because family mem branches in Denver, Los Angeles, Miami, bers controlled the entire heroin and Pittsburgh. By 1980, the family had process from top to bottom. established connections in South America and had diversified into cocaine. By the U.S. law enforcement agencies mid-1980s, the family’s gross income had were well acquainted with the Herrera organization and its reached approximately $200 million a year. “Heroin Highway,” a drug traf- CENTAC 19, launched in 1979, targeted ficking network that stretched the Herrera family trafficking organization from Durango to Chicago. The and eventually resulted in the seizure of 39 family frequently smuggled kilograms of heroin, as well as the arrest heroin in their invention, the and long-term incarceration of three key “Durango drive-shaft,” a sleeve-like device that sur- While criminal syndicates such as the Jaime Herrera organization were trafficking heroin Chicago-based members of the Herrera organization. rounded the vehicle’s drive-shaft and held several kilos of heroin. They also used compartmentalized gas tanks and door panels to conceal the contraband. At one time, Chicago area law enforcement agencies believed into the United States, cocaine trafficking was also a major problem facing law enforcement officials. In September 1977, DEA agents at JFK Airport in New York seized 85 pounds of cocaine that had been concealed in 4,500 pounds of chocolate bars. Special Agent Michael J. Tobin displayed how the cocaine had been hidden in the candy bars. During the 1980s investigations against the Herreras continued. On July 23, 1985, as a result of a two-year investigation called Operation Durango, between 450 and 500 federal, state, and local law enforcement officers in Chicago, Illinois, and Gary, Indiana, arrested 120 traffickers (of the 132 indicted) connected to the polydrug the Herreras controlled as much as 90% of local heroin distri- trafficking Herrera and Zambrana families. bution. The DEA estimated that the Herrera organization Officers seized 10 pounds of heroin, 13 pounds of cocaine, 47 imported 746 pounds of pure heroin into the United States each properties, and $300,000. In August 1988, the Mexican leaders year. When cut, this amounted to over eight tons of five- of the organization, Jaime Herrera-Nevarez, Sr., and Jaime percent pure heroin. The Herreras were considered the largest Herrera-Herrera, Jr., were arrested in Mexico on drug charges heroin trafficking organization in Mexico, with profits esti- and remain incarcerated in Mexico City. They continued being mated at $1 million a year. They returned the majority of their listed as DEA fugitives based on prior indictments in Miami, Florida. Fire at DEA Headquarters (1976) In October 1976, a small fire erupted on the second floor of DEA headquarters at 14 th and “Eye” streets in Northwest Washington, D.C. Through the quick actions of DEA employee Marc Cunningham of the Forensic Science Division, the fire was brought under control, limiting the damage to a corner of the room in which it started. As D.C. firefighters arrived on the scene, DEA headquarters was evacuated and no injuries were reported as a result of the incident. Nevertheless, the fire prompted a thorough review and an updating of the DEA’s Facility Self-Protection Plan. 28
The Black Tuna Gang and Operation Banco In 1979, a joint DEA/FBI task force in Miami immobilized the Black Tuna Gang, a major marijuana smuggling ring responsible for bringing 500 tons of marijuana into the United States over a 16month period. The Black Tuna gang derived its name from the radio code name for a mysterious Colombian sugar grower and drug dealer, Raul Davila- Jimeno, who was the major supplier of the organization. Many of the gang members wore solidgold medallions bearing a black tuna emblem. The medallions served as a talisman and symbol of their membership in this smuggling group. With the assistance of this small private army, Davila, who called himself a sugar, coffee, and petroleum exporter, virtually ruled Santa Marta, Colombia, where the majority of Colombian marijuana was grown. It was a highly organized ring, with gang members maintaining security and eavesdropping on radio frequencies used by police and U.S. Customs officials. The Black Tuna gang operated, at least briefly, from a suite in Miami Beach’s Fontainebleau Hotel and arranged bulk deliveries to a moored houseboat. They were affiliated with the vice-president of a prestigious Ft. Lauderdale yacht brokerage and were thus able to obtain specialized boats that could carry tons of marijuana without sitting suspiciously low in the water. The contraband was transported in these modified boats and unloaded at a series of waterfront “stash houses” in posh neighborhoods. The Black Tuna Gang ran an elaborate operation, complete with electronically equipped trucks used to maintain contact with the freighters and to monitor law enforcement channels. They were also creative. As a signal that they were ready to proceed with a drug deal, the smugglers sent Davila a box of disposable diapers. This meant, “the baby is ready, send the mother.” 29 Ultimately, partners in a Miami used car agency were indicted as the masterminds of the Black Tuna Gang, which federal prosecutors called the “biggest and slickest” gang yet uncovered. It was the meticulous work of a DEA FBI probe of Florida banks called Operation Banco, which began in 1977, that led investigators to the auto dealers and ultimately resulted in the downfall of the Black Tuna Gang. Operation Banco traced the group’s drug profits through South Florida banks until members of the Black Tuna Gang made a large cash deposit in Miami Beach Bank. This case was notable as the first combined investigation by the DEA and the FBI on drug profits behind the marijuana trade. Raul Davila-Jimeno’s fingerprint chart. Year Foreign Office Opened 1975 Copenhagen, Denmark 1975 Guatemala City, Guatemala 1976 Merida, Mexico 1977 Lahore, Pakistan 1979 Nassau, Bahamas
Page 1 and 2: D R U G E N F O R C E M E N T A D M
Page 5 and 6: BNDD John E. Ingersoll Director, BN
Page 7 and 8: Bureau of Prohibition Department of
Page 9 and 10: Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention
Page 11 and 12: French Connection French Connection
Page 13 and 14: Creation of the DEA (July 1, 1973)
Page 15 and 16: Creation of the DEA Intelligence Pr
Page 17 and 18: Graduation of the First DEA Special
Page 19 and 20: monitored notations by the hospital
Page 21 and 22: Technology Over the years, the comb
Page 23 and 24: Killed in the Line of Duty Hector J
Page 25 and 26: DEA Henry S. Dogin Acting Administr
Page 27: DEA Peter B. Bensinger Administrato
Page 31 and 32: The DEA’s success in curbing PCP
Page 33 and 34: The Office of Compliance and Regula
Page 35 and 36: Paraphernalia Law (1979) As drug us
Page 37 and 38: Major Cocaine Seizures In late 1979
Page 39 and 40: Training In 1975, the DEA began adj
Page 41 and 42: Aviation Laboratories By the mid-19
Page 45 and 46: In 1981, Operation Grouper was cond
Page 47 and 48: Methaqualone (1982) Methaqualone, a
Page 49 and 50: Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Ta
Page 51 and 52: Operation Pisces (1984) In 1984, th
Page 53 and 54: Tranquilandia (1984) In March of 19
Page 55 and 56: . Training Aviation Until 1981, the
Page 57 and 58: The workload of DEA laboratories in
Page 59 and 60: DEA John C. Lawn July 26, 1985 Ma
Page 61 and 62: elated homicides. On a daily basis,
Page 63 and 64: The Murder of DEA Special Agent Enr
Page 65 and 66: Red Ribbon Campaign The National Re
Page 67 and 68: successful programs in the United S
Page 69 and 70: Operation Snowcap (1987) The succes
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Among the major Cali drug lords, th
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Nationwide eradication efforts, suc
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LSD Conference (1991) The early 199
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Creation of the Intelligence Divisi
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The Tucker Special Agent Claude Pow
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. Digital Communications: Another i
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DEA Thomas A. Constantine April 15,
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Peru Airplane Crash (1994) On Augus
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Operation Tiger Trap (1994) Operati
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Oklahoma City Bombing (1995) The DE
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Arrest of Cali Leaders (1995) CNP G
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the trafficking of cocaine, heroin,
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Atlanta Olympics (1996) The White H
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Comprehensive Methamphetamine Contr
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Legalization in California and Ariz
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DEA Heroin Conference (1997) The us
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Training Upon taking office in 1994
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Laboratories DEA laboratories conti
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D R U G E N F O R C E M E N T A D M
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most popular drug of choice across
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In Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley,
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traffickers dominated all aspects o
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Operations Odessa/ Atlantico/Journe
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Ecstasy and Predatory Drugs By the
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lars, as well as several hundred th
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. nation of Mexican law enforcement
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DEA Asa Hutchinson August 2001 Ja
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foreign documents, execution of sea
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New Museum Exhibit on Narco- Terror
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In a separate DEA/FBI investigation
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When Administrator Hutchinson arriv
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IA Melissa Conway and SA Sean Steph
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In some instances, these wastes hav
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Technology has created new methods
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Ecstasy traffickers. During the cou
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the Lebanese Internal Security Forc
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OxyContin Abuse The problem of pres
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Bolivian/DEA Seizure Dr. Eddie Sfei
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Technology DEA’s secure, centrali
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Laboratory SystemReorganization (20
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Inspections DEA’s Inspection Divi
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