A notorious group of drug traffickers from the state of Alabama has finally been arrested according to a police report.
The twenty-one suspects were arrested after several law enforcement organizations joined forces to bring down the well-organized cartel.
This arrest is seen as a significant milestone in fighting drug traffickers; according to the police officials, the operation which led to the arrest of the twenty-one traffickers took more than eighteen months to bear fruits.
According to United States Attorney Louis Franklin from the Middle District of Alabama, more arrests are to be made as more of the organization's members are out there.
He said that the criminals are hiding in the general society and is pleading with them to cooperate and bring down the cartel for good. Law enforcement started the investigation of the trafficking of methamphetamine and heroin in three states: Alabama, Georgia and Florida.
The two drugs have been taking over the market in many U.S. states, causing law enforcement agencies to have a hectic. According to the police officials who made the arrest, they have not quantified the amount of drugs seized in the arrest.
The only information which the police officials gave was that a significant amount of methamphetamine and at least one kilogram of heroin was confiscated during the investigation.
Mr. Louis Franklin said that in the last twenty-five years he has been in office, he has encountered no more than three instances of at least one kilogram of heroin seized.
According to the report given by the police, those who were arrested have been selling the drugs openly, oblivious that had sold them to an undercover agent. This allowed agents to get concrete evidence which would be presented in court and used as evidence against those arrested.
The arrest is said to have affected the day-to-day running of the drug traffickers, although it did not wholly mitigate and stop their activities.
It is seen that most drug traffickers working in cartels are opting to use Tor-based darknet markets in collaboration with postal services to sell and distribute their drugs.
As drug dealers continue to leverage more avenues to smuggle and sell their drugs, law enforcement is continually evolving in their tactics to catch the drug dealers.
The twenty-one who were arrested were charged with varying federal charges, with each facing different periods of imprisonment.
The cartel at large is a well-organized and well-financed group that has been in business for years. Most of the leaders in the cartel are said to be indirectly involved in any of the day-to-day running of the traffickers, which has made arrest and prosecution difficult.
According to the Office of the United States Attorney, several federal and local agencies were involved in the two-year long investigation, noting that the trafficking operation crossed state borders.
A few of the many agencies involved included the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Agency, Houston County Sheriff's Office, and Georgia State Police. This was said to be one of the most extensive law enforcement cooperation in Alabama.
For now, only time will tell what will happen to the rest of the organization that avoided arrest and prosecution, but the cat and mouse game is expected to continue between law enforcement and the drug traffickers.
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