Task force breaks up large-scale Mexico-to-Washington drug ring
SEATTLE -- Prosecutors say a federal task force has taken down a "wide ranging drug trafficking" ring that was responsible for shipping huge quantities of methamphetamine and heroin from Mexico to Washington State.
More than a dozen Mexican nationals living in Washington were arrested Thursday for allegedly taking part in a conspiracy to funnel drugs into the state.
Over the the course of the investigation, which began in October 2011, law enforcement seized more than 56 pounds of heroin and more than eight pounds of highly-pure methamphetamine, according to prosecutors.
"This case exemplifies the drug trafficking we see in Western Washington from Mexico-based crime groups. These criminal groups are bringing in heroin, meth and cocaine and poisoning our communities," U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan said in a Thursday statement.
Durkan said the organization smuggled drugs across the Mexican border into Texas and California and then north to Western Washington.
Law enforcement made two large drug seizures earlier this year as part of the investigation.
In the first bust, officers found two kilos of meth hidden in paint cans in the back of a truck that had been stopped in Oregon. In the second bust, investigators found more than 53 pounds of heroin inside the gas tank of a vehicle in Aberdeen.
Each package of heroin was covered in mustard and red pepper, which prosecutors say is a method drug traffickers use to mask the smell of the heroin and throw canines off the scent.
The alleged traffickers were arrested Thursday when law enforcement searched 14 different locations throughout the state. During Thursday's raids, officers found two more pounds of meth, an unknown quantity of heroin, two weapons, six vehicles and more than $20,000 in cash.
The defendants live in Kennewick, Vancouver, Pasco, Aberdeen, Kent, Monroe and Everett. If convicted, each person faces a mandatory minimum ten years in prison because of the quantity of drugs involved, according to prosecutors.
More than a dozen Mexican nationals living in Washington were arrested Thursday for allegedly taking part in a conspiracy to funnel drugs into the state.
Over the the course of the investigation, which began in October 2011, law enforcement seized more than 56 pounds of heroin and more than eight pounds of highly-pure methamphetamine, according to prosecutors.
"This case exemplifies the drug trafficking we see in Western Washington from Mexico-based crime groups. These criminal groups are bringing in heroin, meth and cocaine and poisoning our communities," U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan said in a Thursday statement.
Durkan said the organization smuggled drugs across the Mexican border into Texas and California and then north to Western Washington.
Law enforcement made two large drug seizures earlier this year as part of the investigation.
In the first bust, officers found two kilos of meth hidden in paint cans in the back of a truck that had been stopped in Oregon. In the second bust, investigators found more than 53 pounds of heroin inside the gas tank of a vehicle in Aberdeen.
Each package of heroin was covered in mustard and red pepper, which prosecutors say is a method drug traffickers use to mask the smell of the heroin and throw canines off the scent.
The alleged traffickers were arrested Thursday when law enforcement searched 14 different locations throughout the state. During Thursday's raids, officers found two more pounds of meth, an unknown quantity of heroin, two weapons, six vehicles and more than $20,000 in cash.
The defendants live in Kennewick, Vancouver, Pasco, Aberdeen, Kent, Monroe and Everett. If convicted, each person faces a mandatory minimum ten years in prison because of the quantity of drugs involved, according to prosecutors.
Mexican nationals,  now there is a news flash.
Make them shoot them up with all of the crap they were caught with. That's about one and a half heroin sausage each. Then they have to do all of the meth. If they live they can walk free.
Heroin and meth in Aberdeen? No way, this must be some kind of mistake. Hey, isn't kurt cobain from there?
10 years minimum - smokin' deal!
Sex,drugs,and rock-n-roll,huh,yeah it all adds up to the "highway to hell" ,or a 'fast track' to being homeless and looking 20 years older ,physically ....I would say, 'stop using', but folks have the, "can`t help it,the boys & girls,can`t help it"..........therefore,have fun killing your selves in that 'suicide-by-slow' style...........lol
@olympus It's an effective form of population control ain't it?
Come on people, the new Marijuana law was suppose to stop and put the Drug Cartel out of business.
@Tacobender50Â Marijuana had nothing to do with this drug ring. It was heroin and meth.
@Tattooed_Angel2Â @Tacobender50Â What, you think Marijuana is exempt from the Cartel from smuggling?
Oh, I can see the Cartel saying now, "Pot legal in Washington State we can't smuggle there now"
Check in your stupidness next time you log-in.
Guarantee this ring was smuggling pot at one time.
@Tattooed_Angel2Â @Tacobender50Â We should give him a break, he found himself on the Taco Bender after the purple sticky punch.
"More than a dozen Mexican nationals living in Washington"
The media just flat will not say 'illegal alien" even when it involves scum like this. The propaganda minister never rests.
@komoispropaganda people like you focused on politics are a bore. Organize a revolution or just keep complaining.
@yourbuddy @komoispropaganda people like you are just ignorant. They are illegal aliens and what I am wondering is how many people have they killed for those drugs while they have been illegally here. You are ignorant of the mexican warlords who kill abundantly. It is attitudes like yours which are the reason we have such a huge drug problem.
This is just the tip of the ice-berg in our state, even the US as a whole. The cartels have a strong hold throughout Washington - look how horrible Yakima has become I wouldn't dare go hiking anywhere Yakima for fear of running into these people (drug runners/growers) Don't believe me? Take a minute and cruise the Craigslist Rants and Raves section. These people who run these drug rings are ruthless. I've seen video of them cutting bodies into pieces, stitching skinned faces to soccer balls and mailing them to Mexican politicians, chainsawing someones head off while they are alive, shooting up drug re-rehabilitation clinics leaving everybody in-side the clinic dead. Since 2006 there is an estimated 50,000 people who have died in Mexico. Don't try to rationalize this by saying,"America has a drug habit, we supply them with guns, ect". Mexico has always been problematic and now is leaching more than ever into our country. I believe Mexico is a tremendous threat to our country, just wait...One day all of you who think they should be granted amnesty, I promise you, you will all eat crow in regards your foolishness.
@rightandexact You must be reading to much MSNBC.
@Tacobender50 @rightandexact you must not be reading the news.
SEND THEM TO COLLEGE WITH OUR TAX PAYERS MONEY..
@wiseguy %$#&*@($&$%%@&!!@^@! Illegals qualifying for financial aid makes me so mad...
I guess these aliens were illegal in more ways than one.
Ah yes, lets keep the illegal immigration strong all the while creating safe zones for the illegals in Washington. I mean what could these people be doing up here? It's not like they are smuggling drugs over the border as they also smuggle people across the border. I am surprised that lawyers have not filed racial profiling lawsuits against the federal task force for pulling them over in the first place. And why not reward these people by providing social services and financial aid to illegals and their children. I am sure this is just a drop in the bucket of what is actually coming across our borders. The drug smugglers know that there will be losses and this is all figured into their profits.Â
Good job! Meth, heroin, cocaine and gangs is where law enforcement resources should be focused.Â
EXECUTION would be a better option as both drugs are making america go down the toilet.
@32jim2Â You forgot the users, without them these scumbags would be out of business.