Eideard

Guns, marijuana and cocaine seized during Operation Pipeline Express
Daylife/Reuters Pictures used by permission

At least 70 suspected drug smugglers with alleged ties to the powerful Sinaloa cartel have been arrested in Arizona, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.

The massive take-down of the drug trafficking network in Arizona included arrests of Mexican and U.S. suspects who allegedly smuggled more than 330 tons of illegal narcotics a year through Arizona.

More than 20 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies were involved in the 17-month multiagency investigation called Operation Pipeline Express. Speaking at a news conference Monday in Phoenix, law enforcement officials said the organization was responsible for smuggling more than $33 million worth of drugs a month…

Officials say the ring, organized around cells based in the Arizona communities of Chandler, Stanfield and Maricopa, used backpackers and vehicles to move loads of marijuana and other drugs from the Arizona-Mexico border to a network of “stash” houses in the Phoenix area. After arriving in Phoenix, the contraband was sold to distributors from multiple states nationwide.

Law enforcement officials seized thousands of pounds of marijuana, cocaine and heroin in a series of raids. They also seized more than 100 weapons, including multiple assault rifles and ammunition.

Authorities say the organization has been around for at least five years. According to a news release, officials say they “conservatively estimate the ring has smuggled more than 3.3 million pounds of marijuana, 20,000 pounds of cocaine and 10,000 pounds of heroin into to the United States, generating almost $2 billion in illicit proceeds.”

Most folks who feel – as I do – that drug use should be decriminalized, managed through price-fixed clinics still have nothing but contempt for the slimy gangsters who run the import business for American habits and addiction.

Throw away the key.

A Chandler man reportedly high on meth put his young toddler son in the freezer for several minutes while he fixed himself a meal, police said.

Chance Kracke told Chandler police he was on methamphetamine when he placed his 7-month-old son in freezer drawer as he prepared a meal at his apartment in the 600 block of East Commonwealth Avenue, said Sgt. Joe Favazzo, a police spokesman.

Kracke told police he placed his son in the freezer because the “kitchen floor was too dirty” and let him out after two or three minutes because the baby began crying. The child was fine, except for a cut and lump on the boy’s forehead, possibly from the freezer door, Favazzo said…

When police spoke with Chance and Leann Kracke, they admitted to smoking meth over the past month and a half, police said…

On Aug. 18, police searched the Krache’s home and were met with a “strong odor of feces and urine” and cockroaches “in the hundreds,” according to the statement…”Overall, the apartment was filthy with trash, dismantled electronics, sharp objects and alcohol within reach of the children.”

“X-rays showed the 19-month-old ingested a screw that was expected to pass,” according to the statement. Chance Kracke admitted to having anger issues and that he squeezed his son’s stomach one time because he wouldn’t stop crying, police said.

Chance Kracke was arrested on suspicion of four counts of child abuse, two counts of possession of paraphernalia, and one count of animal cruelty for kicking the dog.

Leann Kracke was arrested on suspicion of two counts of possession of drug paraphernalia and two counts of child abuse.

Throw the key away. Please! Don’t let them near children or dogs.