DEA arrests suspects in early morning drug raid in Colorado, weapons and ammunition seized
Drug Enforcement Administration agents along with Denver police officers, arrested several suspects in an early morning drug raid Wednesday. DEA said they were investigating a drug trafficking operation in Lochbuie.
"There is a renewed sense of purpose in our mission which is removing violent criminals who are trafficking dangerous drugs like fentanyl into our communities," said Assistant Special Agent in Charge, DEA Rocky Mountain Division David Olesky.
Olesky said this is part of a larger operation that is removing members of the criminal Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and two other cartels, Jalisco and Sinaloa.
"It's not just drug trafficking. We've seized weapons, and thousands of rounds of ammunition today just in this location," said Olesky.
Olesky said DEA is working as part of the HIDTA Front Range Drug Task Force which is made up of task force officers and other departments. He said this investigation has been underway for months.
"Fentanyl, fentanyl, fentanyl… that continues to be our priority at DEA and it's about saving lives, especially as we talk about firearms and thousands of rounds of ammunition," said Olesky.
Lochbuie is northeast of Brighton in the Denver metro area.
Olesky said this is part of the effort put in place on Sunday that includes arrests in New York City and Chicago. The raids came as White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters during a briefing Tuesday that anyone who enters the country illegally is considered a criminal and subject to deportation.
A Venezuelan gang member wanted in Aurora on felony warrants, was arrested Tuesday in New York City. Anderson Zambrano-Pacheco, 26, was arrested early Tuesday morning by Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S. Homeland Security Investigations officers in the Bronx borough of New York City.
In Aurora, DEA agents took a suspect into custody overnight at The Edge at Lowry apartments at 12th Avenue and Dallas Street.
The early morning arrests come less than a day after CBS News Colorado learned that the Denver metro area is among the next targets for the stepped-up immigration arrest operations that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been conducting under the Trump administration.