Gregory A. White, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, today announced that a federal grand jury sitting in Cleveland, Ohio, returned a 71-count indictment charging the following individuals with violations of the federal narcotics laws:

Count 1 of the indictment charges all 29 defendants with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and/or distribution of more than five kilograms of cocaine and/or more than 50 grams of cocaine base ("crack") and/or more than 50 kilograms of marijuana.

Counts 2-3 of the indictment charge Melvin Rojas, aka Ito, aka Bobby, Aida Ortiz and Andres Ramirez, aka Junior, indivi-dually with operating drug houses at 3562 Sykora Road, Cleveland, Ohio and 3719 Revere Court, Cleveland, Ohio.

Counts 4 and 71 of the indictment charge Andres Ramirez, aka Junior, with the distribution of various amounts of cocaine and heroin.

Counts 5-70 of the indictment charge each defendant indivi-dually with the use of a communication facility (a telephone) to facilitate a drug trafficking offense.

If convicted, the defendants’ sentences will be determined by the Court after review of factors unique to this case, including the defendants’ prior criminal record, if any, the defendants’ role in the offense and the unique characteristics of the violation. In all cases, the sentences will not exceed the statutory maximum and in most cases they will be less than the maximum.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph M. Pinjuh following a 12 month investigation code named "Operation Latin Touch", which included three Title III wire taps in the Northern District of Ohio and one additional wire tap in Chicago, Illinois. The investigation revealed that Patricia Cortes, aka Nora, and her associates would arrange for multiple kilograms of cocaine and marijuana to be brought to Chicago, Illinois, from Mexico. Thereafter, Patricia Cortes, aka Nora, Glepsiela Caraballo, aka Gle, and their associates would transport kilogram quantities of the cocaine and marijuana to the greater Cleveland, Ohio area for re-distribution to Melvin Rojas, aka Ito, aka Bobby, and his associates. Rojas would also purchase quantities of cocaine and marijuana locally from or with the assistance of Josue Vargas, Osvaldo Claudio, aka Valdi, Lazaro Correa, aka Cuba, Hector Nieves, aka Nicky, and others when Cortes was not available. Thereafter, Rojas and his associates would sell quantities of cocaine, crack cocaine and marijuana to various customers throughout the greater Cleveland, Ohio area. Additionally, Rojas, Andres Ramirez, aka Junior, Osvaldo Claudio, aka Valdi, Joel Ramirez, aka Omar, Christian Santiago, aka Polo, Josue Vargas, Jose Reyes and Alex Torres, would supply one another and other members of the conspiracy with various types of firearms, which firearms were thereafter used to advance the goals of the drug distribution organization. The conspirators also utilized drug and stash houses located throughout Cleveland, Ohio.

The investigation was conducted by agents and task force officers of the Caribbean Gang Task Force (CGTF). The CGTF is a long standing multi-agency task force comprised of investigators from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cuyahoga Metro-politan Housing Authority (CMHA), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification & Investigation (BCI & I), U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), Cleveland Division of Police, Cleveland Heights Police Department (CHPD), Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO), Euclid Police Department (EPD), Lake County Narcotics Agency, Regional Transit Authority (RTA) Police Department, and Shaker Heights Police Department (SHPD). The CGTF is also one of the initial Ohio High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) initiatives. The HIDTA Program supports and helps coordinate numerous Ohio drug task forces in their efforts to eliminate, or reduce drug-trafficking in the State of Ohio.

An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government's burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.