The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced Thursday that it would be expanding its Operation Crystal Shield to include the cities of Chicago and San Francisco.
DEA Special Agent in Charge Robert J. Bell with the Chicago Field Division said the two cities have been designated “transportation hubs” in 2021 and will join other cities across the country in attacking the methamphetamine supply coming into the country. The operation now encompasses 11 cities.
“When DEA initially announced Operation Crystal Shield last February, we pledged to adjust, adapt, and expand our efforts based on the actions of the dangerous drug trafficking cartels, and today we are fulfilling that pledge,” said Special Agent in Charge Bell. “This is an ever-evolving initiative to protect the American people from the dangers of methamphetamine. It is imperative that DEA and its law enforcement partners continue to keep up the intensity and reverse the trend of increased meth on our streets and deaths from meth use and overdose. This action is an important step to stymie this dangerous drug from flooding our neighborhoods and communities.”
Operation Crystal Shield was launched in February 2020 as a coordinated effort by law enforcement to target methamphetamine transportation hubs throughout the country as a way to stop the narcotics from hitting the streets. So far, the operation has generated more than 800 investigations that have resulted in more than 2,100 arrests, the seizure of nearly $5.4 million in drug proceeds, as well as more than 300 firearms and more than 60,000 pounds of methamphetamine.
Chicago was identified as a hub of methamphetamine distribution for communities in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Michigan. San Francisco was identified as a hub for northern California to Oregon and Nevada.
Officials said nearly all of the methamphetamine coming into the country is produced in Mexico in industrial-scale labs and then smuggled into the country through major ports of entry along the Southwest Border before being transported to the rest of the country via tractor-trailers and personal vehicles along U.S. highways.