Authorities in Pueblo County, along with federal agents, seized about 21 pounds of methamphetamine and arrested two people as part of a year-long investigation into a drug ring with ties to Mexico.
Investigators called the bust one of the southern Colorado city’s biggest ever.
Sheriff Kirk Taylor said the total drug seizure — which included several ounces of cocaine and heroin — amounts to about $1 million.
“These drugs were being transported along the I-25 corridor from Arizona to Pueblo,” he said at an afternoon news conference. “We know that these drugs were being sold locally.”
More than $21,000 also was seized.
The two people arrested in the case were identified as 46-year-old Benito Granado-Valenzuela and 33-year-old Aleyda Lopez. They were taken into custody May 19.
Authorities say Granado-Valenzuela is a Mexican national who has been deported several times and was living in the country illegally at the time of his arrest. He was a central part of the drug investigation, according to the sheriff’s office.
Authorities discovered the drugs and money during a series of three busts.
“The I-25 corridor is a massive route for drugs being brought up from the border,” Tim Scott, resident agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, said. “This is a typical example of an investigation where your sources are based in Mexico — or Arizona and New Mexico — and they are bringing drugs up to Colorado.”
Investigators say the methamphetamine seized was 95 to 100 percent pure — what’s called “supermeth.”
Authorities said more arrests are possible.
