75 face federal drug trafficking charges in Puerto Rico

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – A federal grand jury in Puerto Rico has indicted 75 people accused of running a multimillion-dollar drug trafficking ring and of throwing bodies of victims to caimans.

U.S. Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodriguez said Wednesday that the group had operated since 2006 and sold drugs including crack, cocaine, heroin and Xanax in public housing complexes in the capital of San Juan, as well as shipping cocaine to the U.S. mainland.

The government is seeking to seize $76 million in alleged drug profits and four properties.

Prosecutor Alberto Lopez said the group is linked to more than a dozen killings, although he didn’t say how many people were allegedly fed to caimans, citing confidential evidence.

The federal investigation was called “Operation Crocodile.”