Thread: NC: Feds bust drug ring; more than 17 indicted

Feds bust drug ring; more than 17 indicted
By Hannah Winkler / Times-News
June 14
More than 17 men were indicted Wednesday on federal drug trafficking charges in the culmination of a two-year investigation.

The men, including seven from Burlington and one from Graham, are charged with running a drug trafficking ring in the Piedmont. Authorities allege they conspired to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine to Virginia, Texas and Mexico.

Local, state and federal authorities also charged some of the men with evading currency reporting requirements and possession of firearms.

Two more people are at-large, authorities say.

U.S. Attorney spokeswoman Lynne Klauer said there were five to 10 additional people who were indicted on Wednesday as a result of the investigation. They were not named in a press release.

Some of the men were charged with immigration charges, Klauer said.

Burlington Police Department Maj. Tim Flack said that city investigators assisted as a task force in the operation. They have been working on the investigation for the past 18 months, Flack said.

Also assisting in the bust were the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration; U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Immigration and Customs Enforcement; the U.S. Marshals Services; the State Bureau of Investigation; the Graham, Greensboro and High Point police departments; and the Alamance, Guilford, and Orange County sheriff’s departments.

Those charged had their initial court appearances in U.S. District Court in Winston-Salem on Wednesday, and are expected to go to trial in August. They include:

* Jose Maria Beltran Valderrama, also known as “Chema,â€

Now why does that story sound strangely familiar? Kinda like this one from Clatsop County, Oregon: " Suspects to Face Organized Crime Charges"

* Noe-Hernandez Carballo

* Mariano Zurita Ramirez

* Juan Gabriel Baiza-bal Cajina

* Daniel-Leon Medina