The DEA’s effort to “follow the money’’ from the initial pick-up, led agents through a tangled network of US businesses, Colombian exchange houses, the Black Market Peso Exchange, and bank accounts in multiple countries.
Officials estimated that as part of Operation Fire and Ice, they seized about $200 million in cash, more than 1,100 kilograms of cocaine and 46 kilograms of heroin around the world.
“If we can hit them in the pocket, where it hurts, we can make a significant dent,’’ Ortiz said.
Included in the arrests were three suspects with ties to Boston: Julissa Perez, 34, of Malden; Henderson Martinez, 22, also known as “Juan,’’ of Boston; and Roberto Torres-Colon, also known as “Chappa,’’ believed to be from Lawrence. An unnamed fourth suspect from Jamaica Plain is still at large, as are five suspects in Venezuela.
On June 1, 48 bank accounts controlled by the suspects were seized by agents in Los Angeles, Miami and New York. These accounts were identified after the DEA wire-transferred tens of millions of dollars into numerous US bank accounts, all of which were subpoenaed and analyzed for connections to the drug cartels.
“Money is the lifeblood of the cartels,’’ said Matthew Addington, assistant special agent in charge at the DEA, stressing how difficult it can be to stop cartels as large as this one. “If you stop the money, you kill the organization.’’
The investigation involved multiple US agencies, including the DEA, the Massachusetts State Police, and the Internal Revenue Service, as well as Italian and Colombian officials who helped track down suspected associates of the notorious Medellin drug cartel La Oficina de Evigado in Colombia.
