The arrest of nine restaurant workers in Aspen on cocaine-distributing charges reflects a renewed effort to crack down on the area’s drug trade, authorities said Monday.
“This was a fairly large-scale operation, so this was just one part of it,” said Karen Flowers, spokeswoman for the federal Drug Enforcement Administration in Denver. “We think … we’ve identified a cocaine-trafficking organization that is using Aspen as a distribution point.”
She indicated that the arrests Friday and outstanding warrants for two other suspects are the “tip of the iceberg” and that other charges will be forthcoming.
Aspen Police Chief Loren Ryerson, however, put the odds at 50-50 that there would be other arrests, although he said he was pleased with the collaborative effort between local and federal authorities that nabbed the workers at two restaurants.
“It’s impossible to know how far the information will take us,” he said. “They certainly had to get their drugs from somewhere. It’s quite possible the information we have developed in this investigation … could take us to the next person or organization.”
As many as 50 officers raided Little Annie’s Eating House and the Cooper Street Pier about 4 p.m. Friday to round up the suspects as well as 11 other people suspected of immigration violations.
Authorities in the Roaring Fork Valley have noted that the cocaine trade seems to rely on Mexican nationals working out of bars and restaurants as small-scale dealers rather than on large operators.
“I’m glad to see this happened,” said Garfield County Sheriff Lou Vallario, who heads up the regional drug task force but was not involved in the arrests. “It seems that it’s being accepted very well in Aspen. I’m kind of getting that attitude that people are sort of tired of this whole thing.”
Staff writer Steve Lipsher can be reached at 970-513-9495 or slipsher@denverpost.com.
