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A sweeping investigation of heroin and cocaine dealing near the 210 S. Rio Grande St. homeless shelter resulted in 35 arrests and the seizure of more than 70 pounds of drugs and $1.25 million in assets, officials announced Friday at the state Capitol.
Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes described the operation as a "huge takedown" of a sophisticated, foreign-based criminal organization — though drugs are still sold in plain sight near the downtown shelter.
"We feel we've eradicated an entire network," Reyes said. "Of course, the question is going to come: Does that mean somebody else won't step into the breach? No, we can't guarantee that another enterprising criminal group won't try to exploit the same environment, but word has gotten out, I guarantee you, that Utah is being highly aggressive."
Federal, state and local law enforcement agencies teamed for the investigation, which began by targeting methampetamine distributors in February 2016 but changed course in response to epidemic opiate abuse.
House Speaker Greg Hughes, who spoke at Friday's news conference, kicked off this year's legislative session by vowing to "eradicate this criminal element in the state of Utah" as part of a broader effort to reduce drug dependency and homelessness.
An average of six Utahns die each week from opioid overdose, according to the state Health Department.
Brian Besser, the Drug Enforcement Agency's district agent in charge, noted that much of the $1.1 million seized during the investigation was in bundles of dollar bills — demonstrating to an unusual degree the tie between the U.S. drug epidemic and foreign suppliers.
"Normally, drug traffickers can use $1 bills to heat themselves in the winter," Besser said. "They're nothing to them. You usually find twenties and above, because they don't waste their time. So when I see $1 bills in $10,000 bundles going down to Mexico, that means that came right off the street. It wasn't laundered. ... It went from the user's pocket, right to the cartel."
Many of the organization's Utah dealers are Honduran, and Reyes said Friday that some detainees whose mugshots were not featured on a nearby poster board might have been trafficked and forced against their will to take part in illegal activity.
The first seizure in the operation, dubbed "Three Letters" by the DEA, was made in late March 2016.
Twenty people had been arrested by February 2017, and 15 more were detained in March and May. Some are being held for deportation proceedings, officials said.
Among those detained is a 31-year-old man who is described in a probable cause statement as a major player in the organization, directing shipments of multiple kilograms of heroin and cocaine to Salt Lake and Tooele counties.
Drugs were seized in Utah County, Midvale and Murray, and an electronic communications intercept resulted in an arrest in Tooele, according to probable cause statements. The drugs were found stashed in concealed compartments of defendants' vehicles.
Reyes said the investigation was unique both in its duration and the degree to which investigators collaborated with prosecutors.
Besser called the operation "a very big one."
"These organizations, mind you, they make millions and millions and millions a year. But anytime they lose $1.2 million, [they're] like any corporation. They've got to take a deep breath, they've got to sit back and they've got to pause."
Twitter: @matthew_piper DEA Operation 'Three Letters'
Arrests • 35
Cars seized • 23
Cash seized • $1.1 million
Other assets seized • $150,000
Heroin seized • 35 pounds, worth $483,000 wholesale and $3.2 million sold as 0.1 gram street doses
Cocaine seized • 26 pounds, worth $327,000 wholesale and $2.3 million sold as 0.1 gram street doses
Methamphetamine seized • 12 pounds