Thread: 76 Arrests, 110 Guns, 30 Tons of Pot, $750,000 Cash Seized

AZ Smuggling Bust: 76 Arrests, 110 Guns, 30 Tons of Pot, $750K in Cash Seized

Updated: Monday, 31 Oct 2011, 5:18 PM MST
Published : Monday, 31 Oct 2011, 5:56 AM MST

PHOENIX - Drugs, guns and a whole lot more. Now we're learning the details behind last week's massive raid in Arizona involving multiple law enforcement agencies.

All we knew then was that this was drug related, but now after a 17-month long joint investigation, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security, the Arizona Attorney General and Pinal County Sheriff's office have announced their results.

In the Operation, named Pipeline Express, authorities seized 30 tons of marijuana, 200 pounds of cocaine, 160 pounds of heroin, $750,000 in cash along with 110 weapons -- some of them were assault rifles. 76 people were arrested.

The agencies say the ring is believed to be tied to the Sinaloa cartel, Mexico's most powerful, and that it has been in operation for at least the last five years.

The massive operation began with a traffic stop in June 2010 in Stanfield, near Interstate 8.

"Our investigation has revealed that organization was smuggling more than $33 million of drugs a month into Arizona. And yes, that is per month," said an ICE spokesman during Monday's news conference.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers estimate that the ring is responsible for smuggling more than 3.3 million pounds of marijuana, 20,000 pounds of cocaine and 10,000 pounds of heroin into the country during that time. They estimate the profits at somewhere around $2 billion.

ICE and the Pinal County Sheriff's Office arrested 22 suspected smugglers tied to the ring on Thursday, the latest of three busts that they say have brought it down following a 17-month investigation.

You might be wondering about the 110 seized guns that were on display. Were any of them linked to Operation Fast and Furious? The botched gun tracing program initiated by ATF has been the subject of a lot of discussion and controversy.

FOX 10's Steve Krafft asked that question specifically to ICE and says he was given a very terse "No comment" as a response.

http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/news/cr ... x-10312011

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