CHICAGO, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Members of a Mexican drug cartel distributing thousands of pounds of cocaine and collecting millions of dollars in the Chicago area in recent years were indicted on Friday, U.S. authorities said.

    Most of those indicted were arrested in August as part of an investigation known as Project Coronado, a multi-agency drug trafficking investigation that resulted in more than 300 people being arrested that month in 19 states. The cell operated throughout the Chicago area.

    The indictments released on Friday alleged that 15 people of the drug cartel and others were part of the Chicago drug-distribution cell of La Familia Michoacana drug cartel. The Drug Enforcement Administration has seized more than 8 million dollars and more than 550 pounds of cocaine during the investigation in the suburbs of Chicago, authorities said.

    Those who ran the cartel's branch in Chicago worked closely with a contact in Mexico to organize drug distribution, according to a press release from the U.S. attorney's office.

    Those indicted face charges of conspiracy to possess and distribute large quantities of cocaine, and some also face other drug-trafficking related charges.