Fifteen people have been indicted in federal court after a years-long investigation into a Colorado drug ring.
The indictments are against an alleged drug kingpin, Marco Antonio De Silva Lara, and 14 of his associates, officials said in Denver on Wednesday. All 15 defendants face federal drug charges, and four face additional charges for money laundering. The investigation found more than 1,000 pounds of methamphetamine associated with the organization.
Lara was charged with operating what officials called a continuing criminal enterprise, which carries a minimum sentence of 20 years and up to life in prison.
Eleven of the indicted individuals are in custody. The other four defendants, including the alleged drug kingpin, are believed to be fugitives in Mexico, officials said.
“This successful investigation boasts the largest methamphetamine seizure in Colorado history and took more than 1,000 pounds of methamphetamine off of the streets before it could be distributed into our community,” said Peter McNeilly, the United States Attorney for the District of Colorado.
McNeilly said the investigation is a culmination of several drug busts, which included wiretapping, undercover operations and surveillance work between multiple agencies.
David Olesky, the Drug Enforcement Administration special agent in charge, said the criminal organization was based in Denver, but its operations touched Adams County, Lakewood and Arvada.
The first in a series of busts for this investigation was last year, when agents seized 96 pounds of methamphetamine from a Greyhound bus in Vail in December, McNeilly said. In February, agents seized 101 pounds of methamphetamine and a half kilogram of fentanyl powder from another member of the organization.
The big bust came later. In April, officers found 733 pounds of methamphetamine in a home in Lakewood, with quarter-pound bundles hidden in the corners of filled boxes of pair squash produce imported from Mexico. Officials said that was the largest single seizure of methamphetamine in Colorado.
In August, more methamphetamine was seized from a home in Arvada. During the course of the investigation, officials also found $156,000, 22 firearms and various controlled substances, like cocaine and fentanyl.
“More than 1,000 pounds of meth are off the streets, along with illegal firearms. This is one supply chain that needed to be broken,” said Acting Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent In Charge Marv Massey. “This intelligence-driven investigation led to what is likely the largest single seizure of methamphetamine in Colorado history. That means deadly drugs failed to reach their targets and fewer people were exposed to addiction and possible death.”
During the two-year investigation, 1,115 pounds of methamphetamine were seized, according to officials. Olesky said the ring has ties to other investigations in Mexico, including both the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels.
Earlier this week, officials announced a recent record-breaking fentanyl seizure in Highlands Ranch with connections to the Sinaloa cartel. Officials warned that both substances contribute to overdose deaths.
“While fentanyl is absolutely the deadliest drug threat our nation has ever seen, the purity and potency of the methamphetamine produced by the Mexican cartels in super labs down in Mexico is a major contributor to the overdose epidemic, which our nation has experienced over the course of recent years,” Olesky said.
