(AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)

By JASON TAYLOR

Today Attorney General Eric Holder announced the arrest of 303 people during two days of raids in the largest single strike on a Mexican drug cartel in the United States.  The raids, carried out on Wednesday and Thursday, targeted members of La Familia, Mexico’s newest and most violent drug cartel.

“This unprecedented, coordinated U.S. law enforcement action, the largest ever undertaken against a Mexican drug cartel, has dealt a significant blow to La Familia’s supply chain of illegal drugs, weapons and cash flowing between Mexico and the United States,” said Attorney General Holder. “We will not allow these cartels to operate unfettered in our country, and with the increases in cooperation between U.S. and Mexican authorities in recent years, we are taking the fight to our adversaries.  We will continue to stand strong with our partners in Mexico as we work to disrupt and dismantle cartel operations on both sides of the border.”

The two-day sweep was part of a larger operation which targeted the cartel for 44 months in what was called Project Coronado, designed to disrupt the organization’s vast methamphetamine and cocaine distribution network in the United States. Overall there has been 1,186 arrests, and the government has seized 32.8 million dollars,  2,710 lbs of methamphetamine, 1,999 kilos of cocaine, 29 lbs of heroin, 16,390 lbs of marijuana, 389 weapons and 269 vehicles.

The U.S. operation highlights how Mexican cartels like La Familia have taken over drug trafficking in the U.S. Although this operation was a successful blow to the cartel, Holder cautioned that the extensive drug trafficking between the US and Mexico could not be wiped out overnight. Holder did however, pledged to keep fighting La Familia and other cartels responsible for a wave of bloodshed in Mexico. He said the U.S. would attack them at all levels, from the leadership in Mexico to their supply chains reaching far into the United States.

Click here for DEA La Familia Fact Sheet

Click here for map of cities involved