Law enforcement agencies including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Agency recovered cash, drugs and guns while serving at least 16 federal search warrants across the state Sept. 1.
According to the FBI’s Violent Gang Task Force, all the contraband has been linked to several violent gangs in Albuquerque, including notorious prison gang Syndicato de Nuevo Mexico, a Sept. 2 KRQE news report said. In recent times, federal agents say local gangs have set up shop across the state to traffic drugs.
“Just like Brittany Spears said oops we did it again, except we do it again, we do it again and we do it again,” FBI Albuquerque Office in Charge Special Agent Raul Bujanda told KRQE. “And the whole purpose of that operation yesterday is, like every other operation, is simply to make sure our communities are staying safe, that our communities are safe."
In all, officers recovered $3 million in cash, more than a million fentanyl pills, 37 firearms, grenades and more than140 pounds of meth at 10 properties during the latest searches, where they also took five suspects into custody including one on federal charges, KRQE reported.
KRQE noted, of the 15 targeted suspects, all have extensive criminal records that total more than 239 cumulative arrests. With at least two of the 15 targeted suspects still at large, charges filed thus far include several violent felonies, with the U.S. attorney involved describing the seizure as the biggest of his career and one that could mean less crime in the community.
In one instance, a suspect member of the Surenos 13 gang named Jessie Young was found and arrested at a home on Atrisco Drive and is now facing federal drug charges, according to KRQE. Young is also a suspect in the murders of two SNM members.
“You’ve taken one big piece out of the equation so we hope that at least in the short term we’re going to see a reduction in crime," Bujanda added, according to KRQE.
Overall, this marks the fifth time federal organizations have gone after the SNM prison gang in the state, with the warrant outlining that anyone who tries to testify against them faces danger, KRQE said. Federal agents add the drugs supplied by the Sinaloa drug cartel that land in New Mexico are ultimately sold in states like New Mexico, Colorado and Oklahoma.
