News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: February 02, 2011
DEA RAC Dante Sorianello
Phone: (432) 686-4085
Midland PD: Tasa Watts
Phone (432) 685-7593


96 Charged and Dozens Arrested as the Result of a Joint Investigation

FEB 02 -- MIDLAND, Texas- Joseph M. Arabit Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) El Paso Division, United States Attorney John E. Murphy of the Western District of Texas, Midland County District Attorney Teresa Clingman, Midland Police Chief Price Robinson, Midland County Sheriff Gary Painter, and Ector County Sheriff Mark Donaldson announced that agents with DEA’s Mobile Enforcement Team ( MET) and Midland Resident Office, assisted by federal, state and local law enforcement officers, executed a number of arrest warrants this morning in Midland/Odessa, Texas. The majority of those arrested are among 79 defendants charged in 46 indictments that were returned by a federal grand jury in the Western District of Texas on January 26, 2011.

In total, 96 defendants face drug trafficking and/or federal gun charges as a result of this joint investigation. Today’s enforcement actions alone resulted in the arrests of 62 of the defendants, including: 45 defendants who were indicted on January 26 but had not yet been detained; 16 defendants who had been in state custody before being served with federal warrants today; and one defendant who was arrested and charged today with federal firearms violations. Another 16 of the total 96 defendants were previously arrested by state and federal authorities during the course of this investigation. Efforts to locate and arrest the remaining defendants in this case are ongoing. While the charges vary among defendants in these cases, the illicit substances targeted during the investigation include powder cocaine, crack cocaine, heroin, MDMA (Ecstasy) and marijuana. Some defendants also face increased penalties for conducting drug transactions near schools or playgrounds. Aside from the 78 defendants arrested thus far in this investigation, an additional 5 subjects were swept up today on unrelated outstanding warrants.

“These arrests are part of DEA’s ongoing efforts to target illicit drug distribution in West Texas communities where illicit drug abuse and associated criminal activity are having particularly negative effects,â€