Colombian police arrest 11 members of a drug ring that smuggled heroin to the United States. Three of the people captured, including the head of the organization, its head of distribution, and a woman who maintained contacts with Mexican drug cartels, are currently facing extradition to New York.
The drug network, which has been in operation since 2007, sent human couriers to the States via Mexico carrying ingested heroin. Clothes, double-bottomed shoes, computer equipment and suitcases were other popular methods of transportation.
Smugglers shipped the heroin from south-western Colombian to Bogota using public service vehicles. From the capital city it was moved to Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, then to El Paso, Texas, until at last reaching the distribution market in New York City.
Colombia and Mexico are the major producers of heroin in Latin America, according to Interpol.