By Vakkas Dogantekin
ANKARA (AA) - Federal authorities in the U.S. arrested 11 postal employees of the United Parcel Service (UPS) on charges of aiding and abetting Mexican cartels in smuggling drugs and other goods into the U.S. for a decade, the Department of Homeland Security said Wednesday.
Four UPS drivers and supervisors in Tucson, Arizona, including 49-year-old alleged ringleader Mario Barcelo -- a long-time dispatch supervisor for the company -- were among those arrested.
A probe revealed that the suspects moved thousands of pounds of marijuana and other drugs into the U.S. from Mexico on a weekly basis using the company's equipment.
Officials in a statement said they learned of the operation in 2017. According to a Washington Post report, authorities in Tucson had been investigating Barcelo since 2009.
The arrests came soon after U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that his administration was planning to designate Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.
If Trump fulfills his promise, U.S. laws require the government to disrupt cartels' financial networks with sanctions including asset freezes and travel bans. Many American citizens and residents are expected to be affected by the move.
Mexico has long been besieged by deadly violence by drug cartels and criminal gangs engaged in turf war.
The total number of victims killed in the violence since President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador took office in December 2018 has reached nearly 20,000, according to Mexico's National Public Security System.