Federal law enforcement officials announced May 6 they arrested over a dozen people and seized millions of fentanyl pills in a multi-state operation against a major drug trafficking ring.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi asserted in a press conference it amounts to a takedown of one of the largest fentanyl trafficking operations in the country’s history. Officials allege the leader of the network, who they identified as 36-year-old Heriberto Salazar Amaya, has ties to Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel. Of the 16 arrested on conspiracy and drug charges, he was one of six that Bondi says were living in the United States illegally.
“This historic drug seizure, led by the DEA, is a significant blow against the Sinaloa Cartel that removes poison from our streets and protects American citizens from the scourge of fentanyl,” Bondi said in a statement.
However, in court documents, including a motion by prosecutors to detain Salazar Amaya before trial, there is no allegation of a connection to the cartel, according to Reuters.
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The State Department in February designated the Sinaloa cartel a foreign terrorist organization. It is one of the oldest and most powerful organized crime groups in North America and a significant player in fentanyl trafficking.
The network allegedly operated across six western states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon and Utah, law enforcement said. In addition to fentanyl pills and powder, authorities say they seized cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, dozens of firearms, millions in cash and several vehicles in five of those states.
Fentanyl is a controlled substance that is similar to morphine, but about 100 times more potent, according to the Drug Enforcement Agency, with most illegal fentanyl manufactured in foreign labs and smuggled into the United States through Mexico.
‘Perhaps Alcatraz’
Bondi has sought to bolster Trump administration assertions that illegal migration poses a large-scale public safety threat to the U.S., and added in the press conference that “they’re flooding our cities with a weapon of mass destruction, fentanyl.”
Bondi said she wants those arrested to stay in American prisons if convicted, alleging they were crossing the southern border illegally, even suggesting the notorious Alcatraz prison President Donald Trump floated reopening earlier this week.
“No longer will they be able to do that. But, the amount of drugs, the amount of money, the amount of weapons − most of these individuals, if convicted, will remain in American prisons,” Bondi said. “Perhaps Alcatraz.”
Contributing: Reuters
Kathryn Palmer is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach her at kapalmer@usatoday.com and on X @KathrynPlmr.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Busted fentanyl trafficking ring had presence in 6 states: DOJ
