Mexican drug gang arrested in Colorado

DENVER, Colorado – The Colorado state attorney’s office announced this Friday the arrest of dozens of suspected drug traffickers, most of them Mexicans, accused of causing hundreds of fentanyl overdose deaths in the Denver area , as well as millions of dollars in distribution of other drugs and money laundering.

According to prosecutor Phil Weiser, the investigations began in March of 2019 and allowed “the dismantling of an international gang of drug traffickers”, associated with the Mexican cartels, that was dedicated to distributing fake oxycodone pills contaminated with fentanyl (synthetic opioid), in addition to cocaine and heroin.

“Colorado communities and families have suffered greatly from the opioid epidemic and that epidemic was made worse by the pandemic. For this reason, responding to this crisis is the top priority of our office ”, said Weiser at a press conference , when announcing the arrests and charges.

In total, according to the information provided, federal and state agents, in coordination with local police, seized 77, 000 fake oxycodone pills (with an estimated street value of $ 2.3 million), 110 kilos of methamphetamine, 26 kilos of heroin and 6.8 kilos of cocaine.

In addition, the authorities seized 19 vehicles (all of them with “secret” compartments used to hide drugs when crossing the border from Mexico to the United States), 12 firearms and $ 931, 000 cash dollars.

According to the document With the charges presented by a special jury against the suspects, the leaders of the gang would be José Roberto Moreno Olivas (alias Paul), Víctor Antonio Bautista Cervantes (alias Negri) , Jesús Alfredo Valdéz León (alias Alfredo), Baltazar Ibarra Álvarez, and Gildardo Valdéz Cruz (alias Lágrimas).

They and others 59 defendants face charges for crimes committed between January 1, 2020 and the 11 February 2021, including possession and distribution of controlled substances and money laundering.

“This is a significant amount of drugs that no longer circulate on the streets,” said Special Agent Deanne Reuter, from the Denver office of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), emphasizing that, although for the moment the Colorado community “is safe,” the problem of traffic drug co from Mexico continues in this state and throughout the country.

According to Reuter , DEA labs confirmed that 350 deaths in Denver during 2020, previously considered as opioid overdoses, were actually deaths caused by ingestion of pills with fatal doses of fentanyl (more than 2 milligrams).

Nationwide, he said, the DEA estimates that these contaminated pills brought from Mexico caused some 80, 000 deaths “and the problem continues to grow.”

For his part, Prosecutor Weiser indicated that the now accused used a “sophisticated system” of transfer of funds for their money laundering activities, and that an “advanced forensic analysis” was required to determine who was sending money to whom and from what way, and where it came from and where that money was going.

In most cases, the defendants sent the money to Mexico by electronic transfer or transported them in cash dollars.

According to Weiser, the investigations are continuing and there could be more arrests and charges because several cities (Arvada, Colorado Springs) and counties (Adams, El Paso) have not yet completed the investigations and investigations related to this case.