755 arrested as 7.3 tonnes of marijuana seized in cartel takedown
On 25 February 2009 the US Justice Department announced 755 arrests and multi-tonne drug seizures in Operation Xcellerator, a 21-month investigation of Sinaloa cartel cells in the United States and Canada. The marijuana share was more than 16,000 pounds (about 7.3 tonnes), alongside cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, ecstasy, cash and weapons.
🇺🇸 California, Minnesota and Maryland · United States
On 25 February 2009 Attorney General Eric Holder announced the arrests of more than 750 people and the seizure of more than 23 tons of narcotics in Operation Xcellerator, a 21-month DEA-led investigation of Sinaloa cartel distribution cells in the United States and Canada.[1]Fifty-two people were arrested that day in California, Minnesota and Maryland, bringing the operation’s total to 755, and resulting cases were taken up by prosecutors in 11 judicial districts.[1][2]
Officers seized more than 16,000 pounds of marijuana, put at 7,257 kilograms in a later Justice Department analysis, alongside more than 12,000 kilograms of cocaine, 1,200 pounds of methamphetamine, 8 kilograms of heroin and about 1.3 million ecstasy pills.[1][2]They also took about $59.1 million in cash, $6.5 million in other assets, 149 vehicles, three aircraft, three vessels and 169 weapons.[1][2]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Edmond police found nearly 950 pounds of marijuana in a house that was acting as a stash house for a drug operation. They arrested 38-year-old Qiu Li and submitted charges to the Oklahoma County District Attorney's Office, while investigating a business he allegedly used to launder drug money.
A 70-year-old man was arrested and booked into jail after Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board officers and Snohomish County deputies searched a property near Monroe on 6 November 2026. Investigators seized approximately 2,700 live and dried marijuana plants from what they described as an unlicensed cannabis production operation.
HSI in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, said two go-fast vessels carrying about 3,200 kilograms of marijuana and 3,188 kilograms of cocaine were intercepted under Operation Iron Current, a case against a Colombia-based trafficking organization. ICE put the street value of the haul at more than $80.5 million.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers seized about $180,000 in undeclared cash and a variety of THC products from a U.S. traveller at the Gordie Howe International Bridge on Nov. 5, 2026. The traveller refused to explain the money's source, and HSI Detroit is investigating.
