By: ABQRAW staff
Posted: 01/12/2024 @ 12:05PM
Alexander M.M. Uballez, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, and Towanda R. Thorne-James, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s El Paso Division, have announced the outcomes of a law enforcement operation resulting in charges against fifteen defendants for federal drug trafficking offenses. The operation, stemming from a DEA-led investigation, targeted a significant drug trafficking organization based in Albuquerque.
In the course of the enforcement operation, authorities executed federal search warrants at thirteen residences, seizing approximately 102 pounds of meth, 21 kilograms of cocaine, 2.8 kilograms of heroin, around 10,000 fentanyl pills, 34 firearms, and roughly $124,000 in cash. Notably, at least 8 of these firearms were “ghost guns” lacking serial numbers.
Throughout the investigation leading to the search warrants, law enforcement authorities confiscated over 20 kilograms of methamphetamine and 10 kilograms of fentanyl.
The defendants face charges for conspiring to distribute fentanyl, cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine between August 19, 2020, and November 29, 2023. Additionally, three defendants are charged with distributing a controlled substance within one thousand feet of Wilson Middle School in southeast Albuquerque.
It is crucial to note that a criminal indictment is merely an allegation, and defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty. If convicted, the defendants could be sentenced to at least five years in prison.
The Drug Enforcement Administration conducted the investigation with assistance from various law enforcement agencies, including the Rio Rancho Police Department, the Pojoaque Pueblo Police Department, the Laguna Police Department, the Albuquerque Police Department, the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office, the Sandoval County Sheriff’s Office, the New Mexico State Police, Homeland Security Investigations, the United States Marshals Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives played a crucial role in helping the Drug Enforcement Administration recover the 34 firearms mentioned earlier.
This investigation was designated as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program, a Department of Justice initiative that combines the resources and unique expertise of federal agencies, along with their local counterparts, in a coordinated effort to disrupt and dismantle major drug trafficking organizations. Assistant U.S. Attorneys David Hirsch and Joseph Spindle are prosecuting the case.
View the Superseding Indictment HERE