FBI arrests nearly 200 people in push against large-scale drug-trafficking organizations

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced charges against nearly 200 people over the last several weeks as part of a nationwide crackdown on drug-trafficking organizations.

Arrests were made from seven different field offices: Los Angeles, Columbia, Anchorage, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Richmond, and Omaha.

“As demonstrated by the sweep of arrests and criminal charges filed nationwide over the last two weeks alone, the FBI will never stop until violent criminals are taken off the streets and brought to justice, making our communities safer,” FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate said. “The FBI works relentlessly day and night alongside local, state, and federal law enforcement partners across the country to arrest and neutralize the most dangerous violent offenders and dismantle the criminal enterprises behind them.”

The FBI’s Los Angeles office arrested 10 people as part of two federal indictments charging members of an organized crime syndicate accused of conspiring to traffic and import hundreds of kilograms of cocaine and other controlled substances from Mexico through Los Angeles for redistribution either in the United States or in Canada. In conjunction, approximately 845 kg of methamphetamine, 951 kg of cocaine, 20 kg of fentanyl and 4 kg of heroin, along with $900,000 in cash were seized. The estimated value of the narcotics alone was between another $16 million to $28 million.

From Columbia, S.C., the FBI and its partners arrested more than a dozen people and charged them with narcotics, firearms and conspiracy offenses and seized multiple firearms, ammunition and various drugs. Further north, the Anchorage, Alaska, office and its partners announced 53 people were charged through nine indictments targeting a crime ring based in the state. Drug trafficking, violent crime and charged related to conspiracy to distribute fentanyl were among the targeted crimes, as part of a year-long case that also saw the interception of 36 kg of fentanyl, 27.3 kg of meth, 11.3 kg of heroin and 118 grams of cocaine, largely through the U.S. Postal Service.

A collective investigation by the FBI Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and Richmond offices meanwhile yielded indictments of 82 people by a grand jury for drug trafficking related to fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine.

“In a coordinated effort across three states, the FBI and our partners worked seamlessly to degrade the capabilities of a criminal enterprise that endangered the lives of our children and neighbors by pedaling illegal narcotics into our communities,” Acting Special Agent in Charge Mike Shanahan of the FBI Pittsburgh Division said. “Today, their illicit activities came to an end.”

Finally, the FBI Omaha office and the Nebraska State Patrol arrested 19 people on at least nine indictments for alleged ties to a methamphetamine distribution ring, as well as distribution conspiracy and firearms charges.