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Mexican Man Accused Selling Heroin For A Cartel Held On Record-Setting $60 Million Bond

REUTERS/Enrique Castro-Mendivil

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Steve Birr Vice Reporter
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Three men, including a Mexican national, accused of distributing heroin in Michigan for an international drug cartel are being held on what officials estimate are record-setting bonds.

The trio were arraigned July 27 after their arrest by officers with the Roosevelt Park Police Department July 24 for transporting roughly 1,600 grams of heroin. Muskegon County District Judge Maria Ladas Hoopes set a $60 million bond for 42-year-old Julio Ponce of Mexico, and $50 million bonds for 40-year-old Albaro Perez and 40-year-old Martin Trevino, both of Texas, reports Michigan Live.

Prosecutors requested the high bonds over fears they may use their criminal network to flee the charges. All three face charges for conspiracy to deliver more than 1,000 grams of heroin. (RELATED: CDC Warns Of ‘Dramatic Rise’ In Synthetic Opioid Deaths Over 2017)

“This cartel has significant assets and these individuals may have access to those assets, which is why they need a significant bond,” said Muskegon County Senior Assistant Prosecutor Benjamin Medema, according to Michigan Live.

Large quantities of narcotics continue to infiltrate the U.S. due to the relentless efforts of traffickers.

Drug overdoses, fueled by opioids like fentanyl and heroin, are the leading cause of accidental death for Americans under age 50, killing more than 64,000 people in 2016, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The epidemic is contributing to declining life expectancy in the U.S., officials say. Life expectancy dropped for the second consecutive year in 2016 for the first time since an outbreak of influenza in 1962 and 1963.

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