CasaBlanca was unaware of sting operation

John Wilen

Wednesday, May 20, 1998 | 10:26 a.m.

A federal sting operation that netted 12 Mexican bankers allegedly involved in laundering Columbian drug money may have been called "Operation Casablanca," but it had only a coincidental connection to Mesquite's CasaBlanca hotel-casino, where it partially took place.

"The casino had no connection at all to this thing," said Craig Ziegler, an agent in the U.S. Customs service's Las Vegas office.

In fact, Operation Casablanca has been so named for two years, said John Hensley, special agent in charge of the Los Angeles field division of the Customs service.

The CasaBlanca casino was formerly known as Players Island. Its name was changed to the CasaBlanca when it was sold -- after the federal sting operation started.

"Two years later, this casino coincidentally happened to have this name," Hensley said.

A spokeswoman for the CasaBlanca declined to comment on the incident.

Saturday night, federal agents arrested 12 Mexican bankers on their way from the CasaBlanca to a promised "festive night" at a surprise location. The bankers had been invited to the hotel-casino, where they were entertained by undercover agents -- one of whom posed as a CasaBlanca owner and wanted to talk about future money-laundering operations.

The bankers were charged with laundering money from Columbia's Cali and Juarez cocaine cartels.

In addition to the Mesquite arrests, 32 people were arrested in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Diego, Italy, Mexico and Aruba. The arrests bring the investigation's two-year total to 80.

Seized Saturday night were 2 tons of cocaine, 4 tons of marijuana, and $28.5 million in cash, Hensley said. An additional $48 million has been seized in bank accounts, he said, though that amount grows "every hour."

In addition to being the sting operation's namesake, the CasaBlanca also met a couple of other important criteria. It was away from Las Vegas, preventing the bankers from wandering off to other attractions.