Arizona-Sonora drug bust left 2 dead, 22 arrested in unprecedented operation

Two people were killed and 22 suspected members of the Sinaloa Cartel were arrested during an unprecedented operation in Sonoyta, Sonora, across the border from Lukeville, Mexican authorities said.

Mexican officials had been investigating a stash house for drugs and people in a rural area of the border town of Sonoyta before Friday's raid, where federal officers exchanged fire with armed men guarding the property.

The names of those killed and arrested have not been provided, but ICE said over the weekend they were in custody of the Mexican government and U.S. authorities are going to seek the extradition of those who face criminal charges here.

The operation was staged across the border in Lukeville with the assistance of U.S. law enforcement agencies, which some call a first.

"I've been living here for 15 years and there's no precedent for a mega operation, even less so of a binational one," said Hugo Regalado, Sonoyta's city manager. He said city officials have been talking with long-time Sonoyta residents and no one remembers seeing anything like it before.

The operation, dubbed Diablo Express, involved about 15 to 20 federal police vehicles and four or five helicopters, Regalado said, adding that the city was also awaiting specific information since they were not notified before the raid.

The New York Times reported in 2011 that the Obama administration was allowing the Mexican police to stage cross-border drug raids from inside the United States.

During the rare operations, the New York Times said, Mexican commandos assembled in designated areas in the United States and dispatched helicopter missions back across the border aimed at suspected drug traffickers, which is what witnesses described happened Friday. 

Tony Coulson, who retired as the agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration's Tucson office in 2010, said he had never seen anything like it.

"I’ve never heard of anything like this, where armed Mexican police is brought to this side to actually stage an operation into Mexico," he said.

Authorities also confiscated 15 assault weapons, three handguns and more than 500 pounds of marijuana. Coulson said the drugs and weapons are far less important than who they arrested.

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"You want to get at the highest level of who controls that corridor in order to totally disrupt and dismantle that group," he said. "Your whole goal of an operation like that is to get key lieutenants who run the command and control the infrastructure of that area or group."

Sonoyta is strategically important for the trafficking of drugs into Southern California, Coulson said. 

"The corridor from Rocky Point to Sonoyta is a critical part of whoever controls the Baja California and Tijuana plaza," he said. 

This has at times led to spates of violence. Last summer, Sonoyta and the rural communities to the east, all part of the municipality of Plutarco Elias Calles, have been the battleground for rival cartel factions vying to control that valuable territory.

The Sinaloa Cartel is one of world’s most-notorious drug-trafficking rings, led by Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, recently arrested after he escaped from a high-security Mexican prison.

The Sinaloa cell has been responsible for trafficking millions of pounds of drugs, including marijuana, heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine, into the United States from Mexico, officials have said.

Friday's operation shows the Mexican government's commitment to dismantling Guzman's cartel, said Coulson.

"He’s been quite an embarrassment to the Mexican government and his recent capture again shows a pretty good level of commitment to get rid of Chapo and everything surrounding Chapo," he said.

How that translates to all the other cartels in Mexico, he said, is yet to be seen.