Feds Bust International Cocaine Ring Based In Greeley

DENVER, CO — A multi-state drug sting in Georgia and Colorado broke up an international cocaine trafficking ring headed by the Greeley owner of a trucking business, the Colorado Attorney General's Office announced.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's "Operation White Whale" resulted in the indictment of 16 people and the seizure of 134 kilograms of cocaine with a street value over $5.3 million, and $1.2 million in cash. Eight of the 16 have been arrested.

The group is accused in a Colorado Grand Jury indictment of importing cocaine illegally from Mexico to a distribution center in Atlanta, Georgia, then using money-laundering operations run by Chinese nationals to launder the proceeds through Chinese banks and back to Mexico.

“Cocaine use is making a comeback across the nation” said William McDermott, special agent in charge of the DEA Denver Field Division in a statement.

Greeley resident Jesus Arevalo-Arvizo, who owns the trucking business at the center of the accusations, is accused of conspiring with Julian Anchondo-Galaviz, Samuel Anchondo-Galaviz, Juan Carlos Garcia-Martinez and Tommie Leon Walker of Atlanta with violating the Colorado Organized Crime Control Act.

The indictment lays out how investigators using "court-authorized wiretap intercepts" on 18 cell phones stopped multiple shipments of cocaine leaving Atlanta from a warehouse run by Walker at 609 Cordell Dr. in Atlanta. According to the indictment:

• On Oct. 7, 2017, Georgia Department of Public Safety officers stopped a semi-trailer driven by Samuel Anchondo-Galaviz on Interstate 285 in Atlanta and confiscated 40 brick packages of cocaine, weighing (37 kilograms), concealed within a hidden compartment.
• On Nov. 20, 2017 another 40 bricks of coke were seized by Oklahoma Highway Patrol officers at a truck stop parking lot off Interstate 40 in Pottawatomie County. The drugs were hidden in a semi driven by Julian Anchondo-Galaviz.
• On Dec. 3, 2017, Georgia State Patrol officers stopped another semi driver, Jorge Alamillo, near Clark Howell Highway and Correll Street, in Atlanta. Officers found 40 bricks of cocaine weighing 44.4 kilograms concealed inside two duffel bags in the semi-trailer.
• In February and March, 2018, Arevalo-Arvizo and other conspirators allegedly made arrangements to deliver large quantities of U.S. currency to a defendant named Weijian Jiang in Atlanta, for deposit in Chinese banks and later wire transfer to banks in Mexico.

In Colorado, the investigation was headed by the DEA Denver Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) Strike Force with the West Metro Drug Task Force. Help was also provided by Denver Police Department, the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, the Internal Revenue Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the U.S. Marshall’s Office, the Colorado State Patrol, the Aurora Police Department, and the Northern Colorado Drug Task Force, the AG's office said.

“This case is the result of a collaborative effort at all levels of law enforcement across the country and internationally,” said Attorney General Coffman in a statement. “I am grateful to all our partners for their hard work. My office remains committed to protecting public safety and fighting against anyone who tries to bring poison into our communities and sell it to our citizens.”

On Aug. 13, a Colorado State Grand Jury indicted 16 defendants with nine total counts including violations of the Colorado Organized Crime Control Act (COCCA), conspiracy to distribute cocaine, and money laundering. On Aug. 15, eight members of the alleged conspiracy were arrested across the country by local and DEA officers in Denver, Atlanta, St. Louis and Boise, Idaho.

Image: Forty bricks of cocaine seized by Oklahoma Highway Patrol via Colorado Attorney General's Office.

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