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Arrests tied to nationwide cartel
Authorities say Knoxville ring made ordering heroin easy

By JAMIE SATTERFIELD, satterfield@knews.com
August 16, 2006


An illegal immigrant and two alleged heroin junkies accused of turning to dealing were nabbed in Knoxville on Tuesday as part of a nationwide sweep of a drug cartel authorities said made ordering dope as easy as ringing out for a pizza.

Roberto Rojas Andrade, 26, was arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Guyton on charges that he was a minion of a Mexican drug cartel that stationed him and other illegal immigrants in Knoxville to peddle black-tar heroin.

"He and other defendants were placed here as a cell to this organization," Assistant U.S. Attorney David Jennings said. "We allege he is a member of a large organization out of Mexico that is responsible for multiple kilogram (drug sales)."

Also arraigned at a hearing in U.S. District Court in Knoxville on Tuesday were Brooke M. Tipton, 30, and Terry R. Strange, 29, both of whom Jennings said were recruited to sell the drug.

"I know for a fact these two are severely addicted to heroin," Jennings told Guyton. "(Strange) is obviously ill. He has open sores on his body. Judge, these defendants, I would have bet money they were using heroin as late as last night."

Guyton ordered all three defendants, named in a conspiracy indictment handed up by a federal grand jury in secret last week, jailed pending trial.

The arrests were part of a coast-to-coast operation led by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration dubbed Operation Black Gold Rush.

Beginning before dawn, authorities conducted arrest raids and searches, seeking up to 150 people, about half of them illegal immigrants, according to senior drug enforcement officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity before the official announcement.

By early afternoon, the investigation had produced 131 arrests in 15 cities, from Charleston, S.C., to Los Angeles, based on 10 federal indictments and state charges, the officials said.

Officials gave this account of how the ring operated:

The ring grew its own poppies and refined them in Mexico, smuggling an unusually pure variety of black-tar heroin across the U.S.-Mexican border, mostly in Arizona, with couriers on foot or in vehicles. Mexican black-tar heroin, a dark and sticky substance, is usually only about 30 percent to 40 percent pure. But among the more than 37 pounds of heroin seized in this case, some was 85 percent pure, officials said.

Among other marketing strategies, the gang preyed on recovering heroin addicts like Tipton and Strange, officials said. It sent street dealers out from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and operated outside methadone clinics where addicts receive treatment.

More sophisticated techniques were available for trusted clients. Agents conducted surveillance that showed the gang distributed telephone numbers for clients to call. At first, a courier would be sent to deliver the heroin to the customer in a car in a parking lot, but later, after several sales, clients could call and order delivery of heroin to the front door of their home.

Jamie Satterfield may be reached at 865-342-6308. The Associated Press contributed to this report.