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17 people arrested, accused of drug trafficking
17 people have been arrested and are accused of drug trafficking in Abilene.In a press release, the United States Attorney's Office said this operation involved
ktxs.com
17 people arrested, accused of drug trafficking
17 people have been arrested and are accused of drug trafficking in Abilene.In a press release, the United States Attorney's Office said this operation involved
ktxs.com
17 people arrested in drug bust: "It's ongoing"
by KTXS Staff
Thu, February 22nd 2024 at 1:38 PM
Updated Thu, February 22nd 2024 at 7:06 PM
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Alexandrea Delgado (Taylor county Jail)
ABILENE, Texas — 17 people have been arrested and are accused of drug trafficking in Abilene.
In a press release, the United States Attorney's Office said this operation involved more than 80 agents from several different agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office, the Taylor County Sheriff’s Office, the Abilene Police Department, and IRS – Criminal Investigations.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said those agents seized 29 kilos of meth, 721 grams of cocaine, 1370 grams of fentanyl, and 60 guns during the operation.
Taylor County Sheriff Ricky Bishop said the investigation started four years ago and blew up into an extremely complex case.
"For these amount of people, 17, it's huge, but this investigation is fluid," Bishop said. "It's continuing, and it's not gonna stop, and we anticipate many more arrests coming in the very near future."
Diana Perez, Orson Ortegon, Rafael Perez, Eddie Lomas, Angel Alvarez, Hannah Gongora, Jacob Deleon, Jason Deleon, Nathaniel Deal, Lisa Beckham, Gloria Santibanez, Petra Soliz, Alexandrea Delgado, and Laura Trevino have been arrested and are facing charges for drug trafficking.
All 17 people are facing charges for allegedly being tied to illegal drugs.
Gongora is also facing charges for illegally possessing firearms.
Bishop said the investigation began in Abilene but could stretch to at least 12 states.
"We're out there doing what we told people we're gonna do and we're gonna do our best to fight the war on drugs and get drugs off the streets and hopefully keep it out of the public's hands including any teenagers or kids that are trying to get in touch with this stuff," Bishop said.
The U.S. Attorney's Office will prosecute the defendants.
Some are facing up to life in federal prison.
Those trials should get underway within the next 90 days.