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From The Hill: Attorney General Pam Bondi on Tuesday touted the “largest fentanyl bust in our nation’s history” — a coordinated takedown spanning five states that recovered 11.5 kilos of fentanyl, including about 3 million fentanyl-laced pills labeled as oxycodone that led to the arrests of multiple people tied to the violent Mexican Sinaloa cartel.
“It marks the most significant victory in our nation’s fight against fentanyl and drug trafficking to date,” Bondi said during a news conference, adding that the sweeping effort “targeted one of the largest and most dangerous drug trafficking and foreign terrorist organizations in our country.”
The alleged drug trafficking operation spanned across New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada and Colorado, and the multi-agency investigation began with undercover operations and surveillance six months ago, authorities said. In addition to the fentanyl haul, officers said they recovered 35 kilos of methamphetamine, 7.5 kilos of cocaine, 4.5 kilos of heroin, and 49 rifles and pistols.
“This was an incredible operation,” Bondi said. “It took months and months of work … to get this massive amount of drugs and guns off our streets.”
Among the 16 people arrested in the multi-state bust were at least six illegal aliens, including the ringleader of the bunch, Alberto Salazar Amaya, who was living in Salem, Oregon, and is allegedly a member of the Sinaloa Mexican drug cartel.
“I want them to stay in our prisons as long as possible. I have no desire to send them back to Mexico,” Bondi said of the arrested illegal aliens, adding that they will remain in American prisons if convicted.
Rob Murphy, principal deputy administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), said undercover agents were “able to infiltrate the organization at every level.”
“We knew how the drugs were being brought into the U.S.,” Murphy explained. “We’re exploiting them at every level… we continue to do that.”
WATCH full coverage of the Tuesday morning press conference in the video below:
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