Arrests may be tied to drug cartels
Two men arrested Wednesday in Tucumcari on federal drug trafficking charges are believed to be connected to Mexican drug cartels, according to New Mexico State Police.
Based on a tip from federal authorities, state police located Camilo Sport and Asunsio Martinez at an undisclosed location in Tucumcari just before 9 a.m. Wednesday, Lt. Eric Garcia said Thursday.
They were traveling along Interstate 40 and had stopped briefly in Tucumcari at the time of their capture, he said, explaining they had no known connection to Tucumcari or other purpose for being there.
Sport, 41, — a federal absconder — and Martinez, 21, were arrested without incident, according to a NMSP news release.
Garcia said both are considered linked to the Mexican drug cartel, however it is uncertain if they are linked to the La Familia cartel, the subject of numerous drug raids nationwide Wednesday.
“There’s been no direct link that I’m aware of to the La Familia cartel,” he said, though a federal investigation is ongoing.
Sport and Martinez are expected to be extradited to Georgia.
More than 300 suspects have recently been arrested in a series of drug raids across the country that law enforcement officials say is the largest single strike at a Mexican drug cartel operating in the United States.
