‘Diablo’ caged
Mexican lawman held in B’klyn on drug-ring rap
IF YOU can’t beat ’em ...
A Mexican attorney general once targeted for death by drug dealers was jailed Saturday in Brooklyn for importing cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine from his homeland to the United States.
Suspect Edgar Veytia, known in his home state of Nayarit as “Diablo,” allegedly netted at least $250 million from the drug ring that opened for business in 2013 — the year of his election.
The 46-year-old Veytia, in a beige shirt and dark gray pants, stared blankly in Brooklyn Federal Court before pleading not guilty to charges of conspiracy to manufacture, import and distribute drugs. He was remanded to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn pending a bail hearing.
The unusual Saturday session was held for reasons of security, said defense attorney Gretchen Von Helms.
Veytia, who survived a 2011 assassination attempt, portrayed himself as a crime-buster when he won election as attorney general. “Nayarit is not fertile ground for lawbreaking,” he once boasted. “Here, there is no room for organized crime.”
Yet his lucrative drug ring continued operating through February of this year, according to a federal indictment.
Veytia, who keeps a home in California and speaks English fluently, was arrested March 27 on a warrant as he entered the United States via a bridge connecting San Diego and the Tijuana Airport.
Brooklyn federal prosecutors are already prosecuting infamous Mexican drug lord Joaquin (El Chapo) Guzman, finally facing charges after escaping from two south of the border prisons. The two cases are unrelated.
Veytia (inset) serves as Nayarit’s top law enforcement official, and the indictment charges his drug-running involvement began once he took office.
The six-page indictment filed March 2 offers few details of the operation, other than to allege that Veytia was involved in the operation that dealt in heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana. The court papers indicated that at least 2,200 pounds of weed were involved, and charged Veytia turned a huge profit from the illegal business.
If convicted, the government would seek to seize “a sum of approximately $250 million in United States currency” under forfeiture laws.
Defense lawyers expect the government to allege the drug shipments originated in Nayarit and wound up in Brooklyn. But they also insisted on their client’s innocence. “We intend to put the government to their burden to show how they get him here, what evidence they have against him,” Von Helms said. “At this point, we have only seen the allegations.”
The suspect’s wife, sister and son attended a Friday hearing in San Diego federal court where Veytia agreed to his cross-country transfer. A HIT-AND-RUN driver turned a Brooklyn street into his own demolition derby Saturday night — killing a rollerblader and injuring seven others, authorities said.
The mayhem started as the reckless driver headed north on Powell St. near Glenmore Ave. in Brownsville around 8:30 p.m., officials said.
That’s when police said the motorist plowed into a man rollerblading in the middle of the block and kept driving.
The driver slammed into two cars waiting at a stop sign, a van in the intersection and two parked vehicles, cops said.
Once stopped, the suspect took off, leaving his passenger in the car, cops said.
“There was a mess down the block!” said Dennis Figueroa, who was attending church nearby.
Figueroa said his van was splattered with blood and he saw a tangle of cars “all bashed together.” “It’s really ugly,” he said. Of the seven injured people, one was in serious condition, five were taken to the hospital with minor injuries, and one refused medical attention.
The driver was nabbed on Junius St. near Pitkin Ave., cops said.
His name was not released.