The leader of an international drug-trafficking ring that funneled cocaine from Mexico into gated communities in Highlands Ranch and Greeley was sentenced Thursday to 16 years in prison.
Martin Vega-Beleta, 36, headed an organization that brought cocaine and marijuana to the Denver metro area from Mexico through Arizona.
Denver, according to agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration, was the distribution point for drugs that ended up in the Denver suburbs, Greeley and states to the north and east.
The seven-month investigation by the DEA and the West Metro Drug Task Force resulted in the seizure of more than $5 million in U.S. currency, six handguns, 13 pounds of cocaine worth $500,000; and 25 pounds of marijuana, with a street value of $8,000.
Authorities said Vega-Beleta’s ring brought 50 kilograms, or 110 pounds, of cocaine into the Denver metro area each month, with a street value of more than $4 million.
The sentence was handed down in Jefferson County District Court.
Jefferson County District Attorney Scott Storey praised the work of law enforcement agents who launched the investigation in September 2007 after a single “street buy” led to the investigation and eventual dismantling of the organization.
“The West Metro Drug Task Force and the DEA did an outstanding job,” said Storey. “With these offenders off the street, we have taken a significant step towards reducing drugs coming into our communities.”
At the time the indictments against the organization were announced, Jeffrey Sweetin, DEA agent in charge of the Denver field office, said the investigation revealed just how much drugs can impact the Denver community.
The case “clearly shows there are drug pipelines, particularly cocaine pipelines, that end in our communities,” Sweetin said.
The joint investigation was called “Operation Shoestring.”
Vega-Beleta regularly traveled between Denver and Phoenix to facilitate the transfer of money, cocaine and marijuana to Colorado.
Storey said today that the lower level participants are accused of buying and selling cocaine and marijuana from homes in Denver, Westminster, Wheat Ridge, Thornton, Arvada, Aurora, Fort Collins, Highlands Ranch and unicorporated Jefferson County.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
