MILWAUKEE (SPECTRUM NEWS)- Two massive drug busts in the Milwaukee area have put 37 people behind bars, and have taken heroin, cocaine, guns, and fentanyl off the streets.
“Last year, more than 370 people died from drug overdoses just in Milwaukee County,” says Wisconsin’s US Attorney for the Eastern District, Matthew Kreuger. “That’s more than twice as many deaths as we saw ten years ago.”
Law enforcement officials are calling the first and most substantial drug bust “Operation Island Hopper.” They say the investigation began in September of 2018. That’s when the US Postal Service intercepted a package containing three kilograms of cocaine. This would happen two more times, before arrests were made.
“It’s fair to say that it’s been a long time since a drug investigation, led out of Milwaukee, resulted in significant arrests and seizures outside the continental US,” Kreuger said.
22 of the 26 people charged in this case have been arrested. Officials say drug dealers were transporting goods from Puerto Rico to Milwaukee, via the US Postal Service. US Attorney Kreuger says most of the distribution happened in Southeastern Wisconsin. Some, however, made it to the East Coast and the Southwestern border
“The complaint alleges two of the defendants, Jose Manuel Gonzalez-Collado and Hector Yamil Rodriguez-Rodriguez led a cocaine and heroin trafficking organization here in Milwaukee,” says Kreuger.
More than 300 Wisconsin officers, as well as investigators in Puerto Rico helped to charge those accused. Search warrants issued for 16 Milwaukee residences, tied to several suspects, resulted in the seizure of 15 kilograms of cocaine, 35 guns, $267,000, at least 50 grams of heroin, and at least 80 grams of crack cocaine.
“The main Puerto Rican sources of supply included Roberto Orench-Feliciano, Carlos Omar Concepcion-Rivera and David Quinones-Rios,” says Kreuger.
Kreuger says the two Milwaukee drug dealers sent back about $1.3 to Puerto Rico through the mail.
“The complaint further alleges the members of this drug trafficking organization discussed the willingness to use firearms to protect and to further their drug trafficking,” says Kreuger.
If convicted, the 26 charged face a minimum of ten years in prison. Many appeared in federal court Wednesday. The others will appear in Puerto Rico, before being extradited to face charges in Milwaukee.
The second, separate drug bust resulted in 11 people being charged with heroin and fentanyl trafficking in the Milwaukee area. 10 of them have been arrested. Officials say they seized 800 grams of heroin, 200 grams of fentanyl, and one firearm. Officials say two of the accused are undocumented immigrants from Mexico and subject to immediate removal. Each defendant faces a minimum of five years in prison.
The criminal complaint mandates the accused forfeit $1 million, representing the amount of unsealed proceeds obtained as a result of the offenses.