'This Organization Was Preparing For Battle': Colorado Authorities Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. 64 people indicted after bust of international drug trafficking ring in Colorado Sixty pounds of heroin, 77,000 counterfeit oxycodone pills containing fentanyl and $931,000 was seized. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated. DEA agents began the investigation in April by focusing on a single person, Samuel Padilla Romo. Four others are in Mexico and one is at large in the U.S. The indictment comes as drug overdose death rates in Colorado have risen to a horrific high. Denver residents can also get that medicine, along with fentanyl test strips, sent to them for free from the city. They seized almost a pound and a half of suspected cocaine, a slightly larger amount of a substance believed to be meth, more than a quarter of a pound of suspected ketamine, 32 grams of psilocybin mushrooms, 60 tabs of LSD, 36 pills of Xanax and 53 Ritalin pills. The indictment does not mention the cartel, though it said Beltran received a call from a Mexican phone number and discussed drug dealing with the caller. Candelaria Vallejo-Gallo, who is in the U.S. illegally, was arrested at her home in Aurora last week and charged with operating a continuing criminal enterprise (CCE), also known as drug kingpin charge. Andrew Cogliano out for Game 7 with fractured neck after Jordan Eberle's hit leaves Avalanche miffed at lack of suspension, Denver airport makes Food & Wine's list of top 10 U.S. airports with best restaurants, Celebration of life for Alexa Bartell, killed by rock thrown through windshield, draws hundreds to Arvada church, Skier killed in avalanche near Breckenridge, With Andrew Cogliano out for rest of Stanley Cup Playoffs, Kraken's Jordan Eberle discusses hit that fractured Cogliano's neck, Colorado lawmakers "belly flop" on water crisis, opting for further study of Colorado River over action, experts say, Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. So what this group did is they all registered as caregivers and then pooled all their pot together. Requests spiked to 1,200 after investigators said fentanyl likely caused the deaths of five people in Commerce City. By Shelly Bradbury. Kiszla: Avs embarrass themselves with silence about Valeri Nichushkin's mysterious absence following reported 9-1-1 call. Drug bust - definition of drug bust by The Free Dictionary So there are well-established markets in both states that have legal cannabis and in states that don't. Keeler: Chris Paul got dirty. New episodes of "The Syndicate" debut every Tuesday. RCMP arrest 14 people, seize 'significant quantity of drugs, firearms and cash' in major drug trafficking bust. Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge Dean Phillips said the technique aims to increase profits and prevent users from knowing the lethal consequences of their narcotics. That included nearly 35 pounds of meth, nearly 10 pounds of heroin, cocaine and fentanyl. 2023 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Eagle County Detectives Make Major Drug Bust Involving Coke, Meth And More than $60,000 in cocaine seized from Edwards mobile home, Fentanyl-laced tablets linked to 8 overdoses in Northern Colorado, Activity must be a felony under federal drug laws, Activity must take place as a continuing series of violation, Must undertake the activity with five or more people, Defendant must as a supervisor or organizer or manager of the criminal enterprise, Must obtain substantial income or financial gain. If convicted as a drug kingpin, she faces 20 years to life in federal prison. In the past 20 years. Provisional data from 2021 indicates that fentanyl is present in nearly 50% of all accidental drug-related deaths in Denver, according to the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment. Was that a fear of yours? "The influx of fake prescription opioids is a growing and deadly concern for this office. Milinovich said as of July 31, Peel Region has seen 71 overdose-related deaths, 80 per cent of which are suspected to be linked to opioids. Officers found more than $760,000 worth of drugs. Drug ring busted in Larimer County as authorities seize pot, cocaine 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. But that's not to say that there isn't also a thriving black market in states that have legalized weed. It's official: Jamal Murray, Nuggets are in Phoenix's heads now. The investigation began in late 2018. So I approached the state and say, "Hey, I can tell you spent a lot of resources and time on this investigation, and I want to help you spotlight the work that you did, and also find out what this says about the black market.". In response to this data, DDPHE urged caution around drugs bought from any source other than a pharmacy, as those drugs could contain fentanyl and vary greatly in strength and contents. "This criminal enterprise was responsible for poisoning our community and furthering the meth and opioid epidemic, but today our community is safer" said. two thirds of Americans favor recreational pot and around 80% favor medical marijuana. You were living in Colorado when the major drug bust happened, right? Woman charged as federal 'kingpin' in major metro Denver-wide drug bust by: . 110,000 fentanyl pills seized from Denver stash houses; 19 indicted in This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Noun 1. drug bust - seizure of illegal drugs by the police drugs bust impounding, impoundment, internment, poundage - placing private property in the. Devin Booker sulked. You need some of those more cinematic elements to just kind of coax your audience into some of the more intellectual questions that arise from these types of stories. 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. I mean, California is experiencing problems on that front because weed is so heavily taxed there that many people are still choosing to use their street dealer rather than buying it a dispensary. This is a part of the story that is told very differently depending on who you talk to. In a news release, DDPHE said from 2020 to 2021, fentanyl-involved deaths have increased by 41%, from 159 to 222. U.S. Attorney Jason Dunn, at the lectern, speaks with reporters Feb. 19, 2020 providing details of a massive drug bust involving Aurora suspects. "The work of this team has potentially thwarted over 40,000 deaths in our community," 18th Judicial District Attorney John Kellner said. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. In his new podcast "The Syndicate," journalist Chris Walker goes beyond some of the case's flashy details, speaking to both the members of the criminal organization and the law enforcement agents who took them down, and uncovers how the push for legal marijuana in some states actually drives up black market demand nationally. One person also faces federal firearms charges. 23 hit with "Numbers" in 2020. by: Deborah Takahara. DENVER (KDVR) Police have announced a significant drug bust in Denver that turned up more than 200 pounds of drugs, including meth, cocaine, heroin, crack and thousands of fentanyl pills. From skydiving planes to DEA moles, "The Syndicate" explores the fall The unforgiving cycle of methamphetamine and opioid addiction is causing catastrophic damage to American families. If you want to plan the perfect spring picnic, food and drink are important, but its certainly not the only factor to consider. I think it is an argument for taking cannabis off the schedule of drugs, or at least getting it out of Schedule I drug classification at the federal level. "This investigation demonstrates and corroborates the alarming trend in counterfeit prescription pills laced with fentanyl flooding our streets, as well as the continuing nexus between drug trafficking and violent crime impacting our communities. If convicted of being a kingpin, Vallejo-Gallo faces at least 20 years and potentially life in prison. PHOTO BY QUINCY SNOWDON/Sentinel Colorado. Well, and something that I found interesting about this reported podcast is that there are a lot of flashy details like, skydiving drug mules, buried bags of cash, partying, cocaine. Daniel Valentine, 42, was arrested in the bust that happened last week. Had these pills reached the streets, thousands of unwitting end users would have been at significant risk of overdose and death. DENVER A woman who's accused of being the ringleader of a large drug ring operation in the Denver metro area has been charged as a kingpin, a charge rarely sought, federal authorities announced Wednesday afternoon. And they did have registered patients as well, but they were using all their allotted plants to really grow for the black market and ship it out of state. And then in conjunction with what I was saying earlier, too, they could establish their warehouse right next to the hundreds of legitimate ones that are spread throughout the city. Denver-based drug cartel busted | 9news.com 21 charged in Cartel-linked drug distribution ring in Colorado - KMGH This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The charges were announced Friday by Colorado Attorney General Phil . Arthur Mills, 59, was arrested on Thursday, according to the Denver Police Department. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated. The reason for that is that one personally actually went on the lam and it took until 2019 to locate him in North Carolina and prompt extradite him back to Colorado. And what we're seeing right now is a sort of corporatization in the cannabis industry and big Wall Street-backed companies that are starting in multiple states. Yeah, it's tough because I feel like in these situations, the truth always lies somewhere in between, right? Copyright 2021 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. It can be up to 50 times more potent than heroin and up to 100 times more potent than morphine, according to DDPHE. Following Colorado drug bust, DA calls for harsher laws surrounding drug trafficking - The Denver Post Whenever we take drugs off of our streets, we make our community a safer place in which to live, Mason said in a statement. Example video title will go here for this video. The Syndicate had made 12 million dollars in 4 years, and 32 people involved were indicted. 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Malik Beasley. How much of that was present in the initial media coverage surrounding "The Syndicate" drug bust? / CBS Colorado. Tweet. Fentanyl is an opioid known for its potency. First published on February 19, 2020 / 10:59 PM. Using that statistic, Colorado law enforcement estimated the 110,000 pills they seized couldve contained more than 46,000 lethal pills. Agents identified Beltran as the leader of the group. Peel saw 191 fatal drug overdoses in 2021 -- up from. "With 28 firearms seized, multiple hand grenades, high-capacity magazines and several sets of body armor, this organization was preparing for battle," Olesky said during Wednesday's news conference. The influx of fake prescription opioids is growing and deadly concern for this office and law enforcement community as a whole. The indictment outlines the extensive investigation by a coalition of Denver-area agencies working with the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area into the trafficking ring. Between 2016 and 2020, the number of fentanyl deaths has increased tenfold. SUGGESTED VIDEOS | Local stories from 9NEWS. Agents said Colorado communities are safer now with the seized drugs and weapons off the streets, but the work is far from over. DEA Denver Field Division Acting Special Agent in Charge David Olesky said a year ago, a large seizure would have been anywhere from 5,000-10,000 . Drug overdoses whether it's opioids or other types are preventable," she said.