KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Fourteen defendants were named Monday in a 33-court indictment handed down by the U.S. District Attorney’s Office for the District of Kansas.
According to a release from U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister’s office, federal agents seized more than 220 pounds of methamphetamine during drug trafficking investigation centered on Kansas City, Kansas.
“Opioids are often in the news,” McAllister said in a release. “But methamphetamine remains our biggest drug problem in the Midwest.”
The massive trove of meth — part of a Drug Enforcement Administration investigation that lasted more than a year — was found during the search of a house, where one of the defendants lives.
All but one of the people charged were in their 30s or 40s:
- Luis Martinez-Carrango, 57, Kansas City, Missouri — conspiracy, interstate communications in furtherance of drug trafficking, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine;
- Alfredo Rey, 34, Kansas City, Kansas — conspiracy, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine;
- Antonio Edder Calderson-Reyes, 31 — conspiracy, distribution of methamphetamine, interstate communication in furtherance of drug trafficking;
- Raul Gutierrez-Zamaripa, 31 — conspiracy;
- Jose Rosa-Pacheco, 34, Kansas City, Kansas — conspiracy, distribution of methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine;
- Carlos Rosa-Artia, 35: Kansas City, Kansas — conspiracy;
- Enrique Rodriguez, 42 — conspiracy, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine;
- Rusbein Galicia-Lopez, 31 — conspiracy, distribution of methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, interstate communication in furtherance of drug trafficking;
- Abraham Gutierrez-Ojeda, 36 — conspiracy, distributing methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, interstate communication in furtherance of drug trafficking;
- Jerry Taylor, 44 — conspiracy, interstate communication in furtherance of drug trafficking, distributing methamphetamine;
- Yader Arita, 30 — conspiracy. possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine;
- Manuel Leyva-Quijada, 43, Kansas City, Kansas — conspiracy;
- Mary Cain, 38, Kansas City, Kansas — conspiracy, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine;
- Christopher Hite, 36 — conspiracy, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.
The conspiracy, distribution and possession with intent to distribute charges each carry a penalty of not less than 10 years in federal prison and up to a $10 million fine, if convicted.
The interstate communication charges carry a sentence of not more than four years and up to a $250,000 fine, if convicted.
