Mexican drug cartel indictment leads to seizure of fentanyl pills, meth, cocaine in Adams County
Grand Junction resident Andrea Thomas knows the lethal power of even one fentanyl pill.
"Ashley was 32 years old and she was the mother to a young son," said Thomas.
In 2018 Thomas's daughter, Ashley, took half of a pill given to her by someone she trusted for pain.
"And it looked like a prescription medicine, and she took half of one of these pills which was a usual dose for her, and died," said Thomas.
Now, 381,000 fentanyl pills are off the streets thanks to an extensive investigation by the North Metro Task Force.
"We also seized 66 pounds of methamphetamine, 1.4 kilos of cocaine, 14 grams of heroin, one active meth lab, five guns, and 93 thousand dollars in cash," said Adams/Broomfield District Attorney Brian Mason.
Investigators first got a tip on the operation back in May. It was given the name "Operation Dress For Less" because several seizures occurred in the parking lot of a clothing store. Now, six months later it's led to what the DA calls a massive bust and a 47-count indictment.
RELATED: Mexican drug cartel members indicted, accused of funneling fentanyl, meth, cocaine into Colorado
Nine members of the Sanudo-Rivera drug trafficking organization, a sub-group of the Sinaloa cartel, have been indicted for allegedly funneling large amounts of drugs from Mexico into the U.S. Three of the indicted cartel members are in custody, the other six are still at large.
"The task force uncovered an entire distribution network of coconspirators that connected Mexico to Colorado as well as Nevada, Oregon, and Arizona," said Mason.
The DA says a wiretap of a "big fish" made the bust possible.
"If we didn't have the capability to do a wiretap and to follow who was bringing these drugs here and where they were bringing them, these drugs would be out on the street right now and I am confident more people would be dead because of it," said Mason.
"The seizures that we're seeing are a minute amount of what's out there," said Thomas.
Thomas wants to spread awareness about the danger of the fentanyl still on Colorado's streets.
"No ones immune and so we've got to get that message out there," said Thomas.
The message Thomas wants to get out is that fentanyl is a risk to drug user and non-drug users alike.
You should never take anything not prescribed to you and purchased from a legitimate pharmacy.
The DA also urges every single parent to have a conversation with your child about this.
