Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Roosevelt County court documents show all but one person charged with drug trafficking last month sold small amounts of methamphetamine to an informant.
One of the suspects sold prescription drugs. The others sold amounts ranging from a half gram to two grams of methamphetamine, the records show.
Street value of the meth ranged from $40 to $140 per sale, records show.
Ten people were arrested May 23 in what police called "one of the city's largest drug busts," that followed a four-month investigation.
Arrest warrants were issued for 17 city residents as a result of the investigation led by the Portales Police Department. Code named "Operation Ice Out," it enlisted the help of area law enforcement agencies and the Region V Drug Task Force.
One suspect has turned himself in since the sweep, while six remain at large.
Portales Police Chief Doug Jones said it was the largest amount of suspects arrested in a drug trafficking case within the last five years. He defined the suspects in custody as local traffickers.
"This was their job, this was their profession," Jones said. "Now with these ones in custody, it's going to be hard for the average drug user in this town to obtain drugs."
Court records show the majority of these transactions were one-time sales that took place between February and March.
According to arrest warrants, a Region V Drug task force member would supply an informant with money to purchase drugs. Records also showed that many of the suspects supplied each other with drugs.
Lt. Pat Gallegos with the Portales Police Department said transactions with one suspect helped lead to another.
"It just depends on who had the stuff that day," Gallegos said.
The transactions happened in multiple locations, from city parks to abandoned parking lots.
Gallegos declined to say if drugs were seized in the investigation because he said the investigation is ongoing.
Gallegos added that it is typical to see a reduction in other crimes such as burglary after the arrests of a group this large.
"The impact is very significant to stopping the drug trafficking," Gallegos said. "The citizens know we're not going to tolerate the drug trafficking in the city."
Jones said from his experience working with narcotics-related crimes, Portales is likely to see a reduction in crimes but surrounding areas are expected to see an increase because those looking for drugs will look for them in surrounding communities.
Gallegos said officials will continue to search for suspects who have not been arrested.
"The drug trade doesn't stop," Gallegos said.
District Attorney Matt Chandler said suspects could face a nine-year sentence for a first conviction of trafficking and an 18-year mandatory sentence in prison for a second conviction.
Scott Davis, president of the Roosevelt County Crime Stoppers, said the organization is offering cash rewards for information that may lead to the apprehension and arrests of the remaining six suspects sought in the drug trafficking investigation. The reward can be up to $1,000 per suspect.
Here are the names of the suspects still at large:
Contact Crime Stoppers: 356-8100.
