31 arrested in "Operation Arctic Chill"

Meth and Cocaine Drug Trafficking Organization Dismantled

By Jim Kouri
Saturday, July 4, 2009

Federal agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) along with state and local law enforcement officers have arrested 31 people following a lengthy investigation into a drug trafficking organization that supplied methamphetamine and cocaine from Mexico for distribution in Washington. Twenty of those arrested have been charged federally for attempt and conspiracy violations of the Controlled Substances Act.

According to court documents obtained by the National Association of Chiefs of Police, investigators identified Martin Oseguera-Chavez of Roy, Wash., as the leader of the Oseguera-Chavez Drug Trafficking Organization (DTO). He was responsible for purchasing methamphetamine and cocaine from sources in California and Mexico for distribution to DTO members in Washington.

The DTO involved a vast network of contacts in the Puget Sound region and in California. Drugs were transported along the Interstate 5 corridor in vehicles equipped with hidden compartments. Members of the DTO sought to conceal their actions, speaking with each other in coded language to describe the drugs, calling crystal methamphetamine “clothesâ€