New York ( CNN ) -- Seventeen people were arrested in Philadelphia in a multimillion dollar drug bust , with the help of a member of one of the world 's largest drug cartels , the Philadelphia District Attorney 's Office announced Wednesday . The city 's Dangerous Drug Offenders Unit seized almost $ 3 million worth of cocaine in the bust , as well as 16 vehicles and five guns , after a three-month investigation . Authorities said they were tipped off in February by a confidential informant who said garages and auto body shops in the city were `` equipping vehicles with special compartments to traffic drugs . '' The vehicles would pick up shipments of cocaine in New York and return them to Philadelphia , authorities said . The District Attorney 's office said the arrests Wednesday are a direct result of a series of arrests in September 2011 by the Dangerous Drug Offenders Unit that involved members of the Sinaloa Cartel , one of the largest drug cartels in the world , operating out of Sinaloa and Juarez , Mexico . Authorities said one of the defendants in those arrests became an informant for the unit and helped lead investigators to a garage , and subsequently other garages and auto body shops , involved in the drug ring . It is unclear if the informant who tipped the police off in February and the Sinaloa Cartel informant are the same person . `` Back in September we announced that we had effectively cut off the head of a dangerous and deadly monster before it ever had a chance of poisoning our streets , '' said District Attorney Seth Williams . `` Now thanks to those arrests , not only did we stop the Sinaloa Cartel from becoming a viable operation in Philadelphia , we have also shut down another drug ring that was trying to destroy our city . '' The defendants range in age from early 20s to late 40s and include a married couple from Puerto Rico . Charges include criminal conspiracy , possession with the intent to deliver and unlawful use of a communication facility .
Sinaloa drug unit informer leads to arrests , officials say . The unit says it has seized almost $ 3 million in cocaine . Members range in age from early 20s to late 40s , officials say .