RAPID CITY — A multi-agency effort to disrupt cocaine trafficking resulted in 14 total arrests of people from Colorado and the South Dakota cities of Pine Ridge, Box Elder and Rapid City, authorities announced Tuesday.
Representatives of federal, tribal, state and local agencies gathered in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Rapid City to speak about the operation.
“Every time I see an amount of drugs seized, the only thing I can think about are the people that were not poisoned by that drug, the families that didn’t suffer because those drugs were taken off the street,” said Ron Parsons, the U.S. attorney for South Dakota.
The FBI spearheaded the investigation in coordination with other agencies. The operation seized 5 kilograms of cocaine intended for distribution in South Dakota, authorities said, along with 37 firearms and $61,000. The operation’s first phase happened last month in Colorado, and the latest arrests occurred Tuesday in South Dakota.
Those arrested have all been charged in federal court with conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, and some face additional charges related to alleged financial crimes and firearms offenses.
The operation was aided by a broader FBI effort known as Operation Steadfast Promise, which launched in April to target violent crime on tribal lands. Some of the people arrested were living on the Pine Ridge Reservation in southwest South Dakota, and the Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety was part of the operation.
Parsons declined to divulge details about the origin of the seized drugs, citing the ongoing investigation, but said illegal drugs in western South Dakota typically come from South America or Mexico via Denver.
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