Oklahoma raid nets 33 arrests in methamphetamine ring with ties to Mexican supply line

Law enforcement agencies in Oklahoma arrested 33 people Wednesday in a raid targeting a methamphetamine ring with ties to a Mexican drug cartel.

 
BY ANN KELLEY and SARAH BOSWELL | Modified: June 27, 2012 at 9:34 pm | Published: June 27, 2012   

SHAWNEE — In one of the state's largest rural drug busts, law enforcement officers arrested 33 people Wednesday and broke up a narcotics ring that imported methamphetamine by the pound from a Mexican drug cartel, authorities said.

photo - Shawnee patrolman A. Bizzell brings a suspect into the vo-tech center to be processed while a fellow officer removers another suspect from a patrol car in the background. Law enforcement personnel representing various municipal, county and state agencies spread out across multiple counties in central Oklahoma to arrest up to 40 individuals in a sweep that officials said targeted a substantial methamphetamine distribution network on Wednesday, June 27, 2012. Suspects were brought to the Gordon Cooper Vocational-Technical Center where they were processed before being taken to jail. Photo by Jim Beckel, The Oklahoman
Shawnee patrolman A. Bizzell brings a suspect into the vo-tech center to be processed while a fellow officer removers another suspect from a patrol car in the background. Law enforcement personnel representing various municipal, county and state agencies spread out across multiple counties in central Oklahoma to arrest up to 40 individuals in a sweep that officials said targeted a substantial methamphetamine distribution network on Wednesday, June 27, 2012. Suspects were brought to the Gordon Cooper Vocational-Technical Center where they were processed before being taken to jail. Photo by Jim Beckel, The Oklahoman

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Raid nets methamphetamine ring with ties to a Mexican drug cartel

Jun 27Oklahoma law enforcement officers, during Wednesday's...

Two of those arrested, Shawnee residents Linda Ellis, 48, and Steve Faulkner, 53, brought in as much as 6 pounds of methamphetamine a week, Pottawatomie County District Attorney Richard Smothermon. Depending on how the drug is cut, it could generate about $10,000 per pound.

About 125 officers from various agencies began serving arrest warrants Wednesday morning for complaints of drug distribution and conspiracy to traffic drugs. About 4 pounds of methamphetamine and $30,000 cash were seized. Most of the warrants were for people in Lincoln and Pottawatomie counties. Their names were not released Wednesday.

Local residents watched as officers took people into custody.

“It was an exciting morning,” Bob Fincher said outside his flower shop in Shawnee. Across the street, burly officers pulled people out of a house, handcuffed them and placed them on the ground in the front yard.

“We've seen a lot of activity at that house with a lot of people coming and going. I'm glad something was done,” Fincher said.

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