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Federal officials arrested 43 people last week after an investigation into one of Southeast Texas’ largest drug organizations that lasted more than three years.
“Operation Wrecking Ball” focused on drug trafficking and related crimes across multiple states, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
In addition to the 43 people arrested Tuesday and Wednesday, four people were already in custody and nine others remain at large. Authorities have seized more than $3.1 million as part of their investigation.
According to an indictment filed in November and unsealed last week, the defendants trafficked cocaine and heroin from February 2016 through April 2018, and some conspired to commit money laundering and illegally transferred money.
The indictment alleges that smugglers brought drugs into the U.S. from Colombia and Mexico, then distributed them through Houston to Atlanta; Buffalo, N.Y.; Miami; New Orleans; New York; and Norfolk, Va.
“This operation is the result of countless hours of hard work by officers and agents from many different agencies,” Ryan K. Patrick, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, said in a statement. “The Department of Justice is committed to disrupting the work of international cartels and other drug trafficking organizations.”