suspected drug kingpin on the U.S. Marshals' 15 most-wanted list was arrested

suspected drug kingpin on the U.S. Marshals' 15 most-wanted list was arrested in a Woodland Hills apartment Wednesday after nearly six years on the lam.

Keith Alan Hasson, 45, is believed to be the head of an operation that distributed cocaine and marijuana throughout the U.S., generating more than $20 million in cash and assets between 1999 and 2005, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.

Marshals arrested Hasson at about 11:20 a.m. in the 22300 block of Victory Boulevard on a warrant from a July 2005 indictment out of Albuquerque, N.M. He is charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, continuing criminal enterprise and conspiracy to launder money.

Hasson had been under surveillance at his apartment, according to investigators. More details of the arrest were expected to be released this morning from Washington, D.C.

Hasson, who went by several aliases including Keith Osborne and "Psyche," was added to the most-wanted list earlier this month.

Investigators have spent thousands of hours working the case in the last several years, U.S. Marshal Tom Hession told KTLA-TV.

"It's always satisfying when we can take somebody of this stature off the street, put a hurt on his organization, lock him up for a long time," Hession said.

Along with his brother, who was sentenced to more than 24 years in prison in the same case, Hasson is accused of shipping cocaine and marijuana from L.A. to cities such as Detroit, St. Louis and East St. Louis, Ill. They used couriers and large trucks to transport drugs and money, according to the indictment.
The drug money was then deposited in various bank accounts, used to buy money orders and invested in property in San Bernardino County, Las Vegas and Georgia in an attempt to launder it, according to the indictment.

"Only a handful of fugitives have as far-reaching a criminal enterprise, or such an extensive, continued history of violent behavior as Keith Hasson," Geoff Shank, Assistant Director of Operations for the U.S. Marshals Service, said in a statement.

Hasson's rapsheet dates back to 1981 and includes arrests for attempted murder, robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, vehicle theft, burglary and possession with intent to distribute, according to the federal authorities.

He is also wanted for questioning in two gang murders and was previously convicted in federal court for conspiracy to deliver cocaine.

Investigators believe Hasson had access to "significant financial resources" and suspect that he continued criminal activities while evading authorities.

He is expected to be facing extradition to New Mexico.

Hasson's arrest comes less than a week after the capture of James "Whitey" Bulger, a Boston mob boss who topped the FBI's 10 most-wanted list, in a Santa Monica apartment.

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