Drug task force breaks up alleged trafficking ring

By Randy Trick, Peninsula Daily News


FORKS - More than two pounds of cyrstal methamphetamine were seized and seven men were arrested in two counties after a three-year probe into what investigators call a major methamphetamine trafficking ring with possible international connections.

"I really sense that we will impact the availability of methamphetamine for a little while . . . in particular on the West End," said OPNET commander Ron Cameron of the Clallam County Sheriff's Department.

Three men have been arrested in Clallam County, and four in Grays Harbor County, the Olympic Peninsula Narcotics Enforcement Team, also known as OPNET, confirmed on Thursday.

The methamphetamine, which investigators estimate is worth $108,000 in street sales, was seized Tuesday in Forks after three search warrants were served by OPNET investigators and members of the federal Drug Enforcement Agency, said a written statement from OPNET.

Also seized was marijuana and $40,000 in cash.

OPNET began investigating the case in 2004, said Cameron.

The drug enforcement task force in Grays Harbor County was involved as the investigation uncovered links in Aberdeen and Hoqium, he said.

Three arrested in Clallam

Two men, suspected Mexican illegal immigrants, were taken to the Clallam County jail shortly after midnight Wednesday, then taken to the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Tacoma that morning.

The two in federal custody are Nicanor Farias-Barragan, 43, and Sergio Alvarez-Cerrato, 22, who were arrested without incident at their Forks residences, said a statement from OPNET.

Cameron said the pair could face local drug charges if they are not deported or tried federally.

Another felony arrest, that of James Allen Horejsi, 33, of Forks, occurred Aug. 24.

That arrest followed a traffic stop by rangers from the Olympic National Park and U.S. Forest Service on U.S. Highway 101 along Lake Crescent, which is in Olympic National Park.

The 2007 Lincoln Navigator that Horejsi was driving contained one-half pound of methamphetamine, one-half pound of marijuana and one-quarter pound of cocaine, along with $15,800 in cash, said a written statement from the park.

Horejsi fled on foot but was caught after a drug dog alerted the officers to drugs in the car, the statement said.

Horejsi was charged in Clallam County Superior Court on Wednesday on two unrelated methamphetamine delivery charges.

Cameron said that Horejsi was a member of the trafficking ring that was under investigation but that his arrest four days before the sweep in Forks was "coincidental."

Because he was on federal land, he could face federal indictment.

As Horejsi was in the county jail awaiting charges Tuesday, Emily Langlie, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's office in Seattle, said federal prosecutors are weighing whether to try Horejsi at the federal level or let the county pursue its charges.

According to court documents filed Monday and again on Wednesday, Horejsi sold methamphetamine to an informant of OPNET twice in January.

He posted bail on Wednesday hours before he was charged.

He is slated to be arraigned Sept. 7.


Sweep in the south
The Tuesday sweep was a joint operation with officers from the federal Drug Enforcement Agency and Immigration and Customs Enforcement as well as the Grays Harbor County Drug Task Force.

In Grays Harbor County, four were arrested and detained by federal agents, including a 26-year-old man that agents think is the leader of the group, Grays Harbor County Undersheriff Rick Scott told The Daily World in Aberdeen.

Others arrested in Grays Harbor County include three men - ages 18, 24 and 41 - and about four pounds of methamphetamine, four pounds of marijuana and $42,000 in cash were seized.

The people arrested were not identified.

The traffickers were bringing as much as 30 pounds of methamphetamine and marijuana into the state each week, Scott told The Daily World.

"This was a multistate organization that had ties to drug activities and distribution in Oregon and California and was based out of Mexico and being operated by a Hispanic organization," Scott told the newspaper.

"Its Washington activities were headquartered in the Hoquiam/Aberdeen area and Port Angeles."

OPNET comprises officers from 15 state and local law enforcement agencies on the North Olympic Peninsula.

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Reporter Randy Trick can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at randy.trick@peninsuladailynews.com.

Last modified: August 30. 2007 9:00PM

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