Overview
- A federal grand jury charged 15 people after a two-year investigation that agents say disrupted a Denver-area trafficking network tied to Colorado shipments.
- Authorities report seizing about 1,115 pounds in total, including a 733-pound cache hidden in boxes of chayote squash at a Lakewood residence.
- Investigators detailed the use of federal wiretaps, undercover operations, and surveillance across multiple busts in Vail, on a Colorado highway, and in Arvada, and they also seized $156,000, 22 firearms, and other drugs.
- Eleven defendants are in federal custody, while four others — including alleged leader Marco Antonio De Silva Lara — are believed to be in Mexico.
- All defendants face major drug counts carrying 10-years-to-life penalties, four face money-laundering charges, and officials cite ties to elements connected to the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels.