The Drug Enforcement Administration said leaders of the Cazares drug operation, headquartered in Mexico, have been indicted on charges of laundering money and trafficking in massive amounts of cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine from Colombia, Venezuela and Mexico.

The drugs were sneaked into the USA via the southwest border with Mexico, the DEA said. The latest arrests bring to 402 the number of people charged in connection with the drug ring, the agency said.

The DEA said its nearly two-year investigation has resulted in the seizure of $45 million and thousands of pounds of marijuana and cocaine and hundreds of pounds of methamphetamine. Wednesday's arrests occurred in cities in California as well as Phoenix and Chicago.

The investigation began in 2005 when federal agents in Imperial County, Calif., stopped a pickup packed with marijuana, the DEA said. The find led federal agents to Victor Cazares-Gastellum, DEA spokesman Steve Robertson said.

Cazares and his operatives moved cocaine from Venezuela and Colombia through Central America and into Mexicali, court papers said. Traffickers drove the cocaine and other drugs over the border in tractor-trailers outfitted with secret compartments, according to the court papers.

The drugs were stashed in houses in California until they could be repackaged and moved to distributors throughout the country, court papers said.

Cazares controlled regional and street-level trafficking cells in Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nevada, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas and Washington, the DEA said.

"Not only are they moving large amounts of cocaine, but also methamphetamine," Robertson said. "We've been seeing meth sources changing from local labs to Mexican superlabs."

Cazares remains in Mexico and has not been arrested, Robertson said. U.S. authorities will ask Mexican officials to execute a provisional arrest warrant, he said.