BRIGHTON, Colo. – A grand jury in Colorado has handed down indictments for nine members of a Mexican drug cartel. The Sanudo-Rivera Drug Trafficking Organization members are accused of trafficking substantial quantities of fentanyl, methamphetamines, and cocaine into Colorado.
Over a six-month-long investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) says it uncovered direct connections between the Sinaloa Cartel and the Adams County region in Colorado. Furthermore, investigators successfully identified an extensive distribution network involving co-conspirators that linked Mexico to multiple states, including Colorado, Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona.
“The Sinaloa cartel has tapped into resources within our community to drive substance use and profit off of devastation and death,” said DEA Rocky Mountain Field Division Assistant Special Agent in Charge James Stroop.
In addition to these indictments, law enforcement seized a significant amount of illicit drugs, including 84.3 pounds of fentanyl pills with the potential to claim the lives of more than 290,000 people.
The DEA’s operation also led to the confiscation of 66 pounds of methamphetamine, 1.4 kilos of cocaine, 14 grams of heroin, one active methamphetamine lab, five firearms, and $93,000.
This is the latest in a series of sanctions and indictments against Mexican drug cartel members. As Emily’s Hope reported earlier this year, federal prosecutors have charged 28 members and associates of the Sinaloa Cartel, including sons of the former drug lord known as “El Chapo.” One of those sons, 33-year-old Ovidio Guzmán López, was arrested and extradited to the U.S. earlier this year. The Justice Department has also pressed charges against several Chinese companies for their alleged involvement in drug trafficking, and the Treasury Department has sanctioned dozens of individuals and entities in China and Mexico. These sanctions effectively cut off their access to the U.S. financial system and prohibit any business transactions with them by American entities.