March 2, 2012 at 1:00 am
Feds: Cocaine mule, 87, a key link in Mexico-Detroit drug trade * By Robert Snell
* The Detroit NewsDetroit— The most powerful drug cartel in Mexico pumped up to 660 pounds of cocaine into Metro Detroit each month since 2008, prosecutors said Thursday.
Federal drug investigators dismantled the alleged pipeline by charging 18 people in a massive drug conspiracy in U.S. District Court. The indictment provides new details on an unusual drug case involving an octogenarian alleged drug mule and a powerful international narcotics ring.
"Shedding light on this conspiracy makes it quite clear that the Mexican drug cartels are open for business right here in our backyard," U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Robert Corso said.
The lead defendant is an 87-year-old mutton-chopped man from Michigan City, Ind., who made a colorful appearance in federal court last fall. That man, Leo Sharp, told The News he was forced at gunpoint to deliver cocaine across the country.
The indictment, unsealed Thursday, alleges otherwise.
He's worked as a drug mule since 2009 and is responsible for delivering about 670 kilograms of cocaine to Michigan — or almost 1,500 pounds, according to court records.
"Any conviction in this case will be a death sentence," for Sharp, his lawyer Darryl Goldberg of Chicago said. "It's a very serious case but I intend to aggressively defend him."
The drug organization described in the indictment is part of the Sinaloa Cartel based in Sinaloa, Mexico, according to investigators.
Sharp is a world-renowned horticulturalist and owner of a 46-acre farm where he grows 168 registered varieties of daylilies.
The drug organization that used Sharp to transport cocaine also relied on members from Michigan, Mexico, Florida and California, according to prosecutors.
Since 2011, the DEA and other investigators have seized more than 200 kilograms of cocaine and more than $2.5 million cash.
Drug shipments entered the U.S. at the Mexican border in Arizona before being driven to Michigan. Members met at a warehouse in Wyandotte. The cocaine was unloaded and distributed to members of the drug ring, according to the indictment.
Members returned to the warehouse with cash from drug deals. The money was loaded into vehicles and driven back to the Mexican border.
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