SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - California Attorney General Kamala Harris says state and federal officials have arrested 12 people tied to a drug trafficking ring that was smuggling heroin from Mexico into the San Francisco Bay area.

      Harris says the arrests were made in East Palo Alto, Hayward and Oakland on Tuesday. Undercover agents had been tracking the targets for nearly three years, during which time they purchased more than three pounds of heroin.

      Among those arrested was 28-year-old Carlos Jose Moreno of Santa Clara, who officials suspect headed a transnational criminal drug trafficking organization affiliated with the Norteno gang.

      The California Department of Justice and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement led "Operation Middle Man," with help from the Santa Clara District Attorney's Office and San Mateo County Narcotics Task Force.

      
      (Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)