Thread: Deputies seize 70 pounds of meth

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/ ... h0423.html

Deputies seize 70 pounds of meth

After receiving tip, police raid home, arrest 4

Josh Kelley
The Arizona Republic
Apr. 23, 2006 12:00 AM

In the fight against illegal drugs, a methamphetamine bust of a couple of pounds is considered very significant.

That's why Maricopa County sheriff's deputies were so taken aback by a seizure this weekend of 70 pounds of the drug.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio said Saturday that this was the largest drug stash his agency has ever found in one place.

Undercover narcotics detectives with the Sheriff's Office on Friday seized 70 pounds of methamphetamine hidden inside a Chevrolet Tahoe in west Phoenix and arrested four undocumented immigrants suspected of smuggling the illegal drug.

Arpaio emphasized that the meth was pure and estimated its street value at $2.5 million in Arizona and up to $6 million on the East Coast.

"That meth is just an unbelievable amount," said Lt. Dave Letourneau, who oversees the Sheriff's Office special investigations division.

For perspective, Letourneau said the largest amount of meth he had previously seen confiscated at one time was 3 pounds.

After receiving a tip, about which the Sheriff's Office chose not to give details, detectives began tracking the Tahoe around 1 p.m. Friday and followed it to a rental house in the 8400 block of West Hilton Avenue near 83rd Avenue and West Lower Buckeye Road, Letourneau said.

Once there, detectives said they found about 2 pounds of cocaine and nearly $250,000 in cash inside the house around 6 p.m.

They arrested four undocumented immigrants from Mexico: Gerardo Felix Ramirez, 54; Samuel R. Lopez, 20; Rigoberto Ochoa Soto, 23; and Juan Ochoa Soto, 19.

Inside the Tahoe, detectives said they discovered 70 1-pound packages of meth wrapped in cellophane and black electrical tape stuffed beneath the floorboard under the back seats.

Investigators said the smugglers were also operating from a second rental house nearby.

Letourneau said the houses were in a well-kept area that appeared to have relatively new homes, characteristics of a neighborhood where smugglers often choose to operate stash houses.

"Because of the boom in real estate that just hit, . . . there's a lot of rental properties out there," Letourneau said.

"These guys (drug smugglers) thrive on rental properties."

There was no evidence indicating the men arrested Friday were manufacturing the drugs, Letourneau said.

Arpaio, who credited federal drug and immigration enforcement officials with helping in the case, said the methamphetamine may have been smuggled from Mexico but he could not confirm the drug's origin.

Despite seeing suspicious activity at drug houses like the ones found Friday, people often fail to contact police to report concerns, Letourneau said.

"You don't know your neighbors," he said. "Everybody's coming and going and doing their own thing."

Detectives have just begun their investigation into the men arrested Friday and do not know whether they are part of a larger drug operation, Letourneau said.

While Arpaio was impressed by the amount of meth seized, he said, "It won't surprise me if we find five times that amount. But the main thing is to try to get it off the street and arrest the people that are smuggling this stuff into the country."

Arpaio was quick to say that not all meth comes from Mexico and noted that meth labs are abundant in the Valley.

"Let's not forget we have a problem producing methamphetamine right here," he said.

In a separate incident overnight, the Sheriff's Office said deputies seized 405 pounds of marijuana valued at about $200,000 and arrested two undocumented immigrants suspected of smuggling the drug.

They arrested four undocumented immigrants from Mexico: Gerardo Felix Ramirez, 54; Samuel R. Lopez, 20; Rigoberto Ochoa Soto, 23; and Juan Ochoa Soto, 19.

Oh, but these people are just here to work, right? They are not criminals.

they are working, and making meth, then undercutting the price the rednecks in KS charge.