WASHINGTON, D.C. (LNS) — Thirty-six tons (TONS!) of marijuana have been burned in Mexico as part of “Operation Cooperation,” according to information transmitted to Mexican Attorney General Vargas to U.S. Attorney General John Mitchell.
The burning, according to an announcement by Mitchell in a Justice Department press release, is part of the Nixon Administration’s program to control the flow of marijuana “and other dangerous drugs” from Mexico to the U.S.
Mitchell said that 44 tons of marijuana were discovered and destroyed, most of it on the Mexican side. Marijuana fields were found in 12 of Mexico’s 23 states, but much of the grass was obtained by U.S. authorities on this side of the Rio Grande.
Early in January, for example, Federal agents joined with police in Clark County, Nev., to arrest an individual as he delivered 166 kilograms of marijuana to an undercover police officer in Las Vegas. A second suspect was arrested shortly after at the scene; he was carrying 50 kilos.
It was revealed that the defendants had smuggled the marijuana into the States in a refrigerated truck which was supposedly transporting shrimp and other fish products.
On April 1, agents of the U.S. and Mexico arrested an “important figure” in a major marijuana distribution system in San Luis, Sonora, Mexico. The defendant had 148 kilos at the time of his arrest.
Earlier in the month, in Guadalajara, the Mexican Army reportedly seized five tons of hemp and arrested 15 American citizens who were arranging to smuggle it into this country.
The arrests were only part of the continued investigations of “drug smuggling” between the U.S. and Mexico.
Meanwhile, in New York and other cities, the relative scarcity of grass was driving a growing number of young people to the use of speed and smack. The Justice Department release didn’t say anything about that.