News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 20, 2003

20 Individuals Charged In Large Scale Ecstacy Importation Ring

Thomas W. Raffanello, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration; John P. Clark, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Marcos Daniel Jiménez, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida;, announced today the unsealing of an indictment charging 19 individuals with a scheme to import Ecstacy from Spain and distribute it in the South Florida area, and to launder the proceeds of the sales. An additional defendant was charged today by complaint for participating in the same scheme.

This two year investigation by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), dubbed "Operation Spanish Fly," is being prosecuted by the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force (HIDTA).

Named in the indictment are Jose Garcia, Jorge Ramos, Joseph Diaz, Eugenio Jimenez, Larry Hector Jimenez, Carlos Cardenas, Filiberto Casanova, Rovaldo Calero, Sandro Deandrade, Marcus Da Silveira, Marcelo Da Silveira, Angel Gonzalez, Juan Alberto Morales, Luis Torres Correa, Alejandro Morilla, Orlando Imbert Marrero, Seriocha Arroyo Roman, Beatriz Marrero, and Rosa Lasserre Sanchez. Charged by separate complaint is Luis Tamayo. If convicted, these defendants face a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years' imprisonment on each charge.

Mr. Raffanello commended the investigative efforts of the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the United States Attorney;s Office. The case is being prosecuted by HIDTA Assistant United States Attorney Cristina Maxwell.