Grand Junction – A county that has gained national attention for its all-out efforts to combat methamphetamine use celebrated Thursday the dismantling of what federal agents called the the largest meth operation on the Western Slope.
In “Operation Zamboni,” an investigation that is ongoing, 30 suspects have been arrested. They are alleged to have worked for a distribution ring that was putting as much as 20 pounds of methamphetamine a month in circulation in Mesa County and spinning off related crimes ranging from attempted homicide to check fraud.
Tom Gorman, the Drug Enforcement Administration agent in charge of the Grand Junction office, told a crowd of local officials, law enforcement and Mesa County Meth Task Force members that the drug ring operated like a corporation, with alleged dealer and salvage-yard owner Stephen “Rick” Parsons as the chief executive and the others allegedly working in distribution, transport, enforcement and surveillance.
“This is a huge win for us. We have taken a very large organization down,” said 7th Judicial Assistant District Attorney Dan Rubenstein.
Jeffrey Sweetin, DEA agent in charge of a four-state region that includes Colorado, broadened the congratulations.
“The leadership in this county is legendary,” he said. “When I go back to D.C., I am asked, ‘What is Mesa County doing?”‘
Mesa County has been working for more than a year to gauge the methamphetamine problem and to come up with solutions for enforcement and treatment.
The county created a multi- disciplinary task force that has established a fast-track prosecution program for drug offenders and an in-house treatment center.
Bill Gardner, acting chief of the Grand Junction Police Department, reminded those attending that the bust helped accomplish the No. 1 goal identified in the meth task force’s recently released white paper: “To make the product as difficult as possible to sell.”
The DEA had some of the principals in the alleged Mesa County ring in its sights for more than a year. Arrests and the linking of ring members began in earnest in early February through the collaborative efforts of nine law enforcement agencies.
Officials said the intelligence they gathered during the investigation credited Parsons’ alleged drug operation with supplying about 75 percent of the methamphetamine on the streets of Mesa County.
The drug, including some of the purest form of methamphetamine, known as “ice,” was coming into the county from Phoenix and Colorado Springs, where another alleged dealer, Thomas O’Hara, was arrested Thursday.
Staff writer Nancy Lofholm can be reached at 970-256-1957 or nlofholm@denverpost.com.
