GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A federal investigation into drug trafficking has resulted in hundreds of arrests and a direct hit on a violent Mexican drug cartel believed responsible for shipping thousands of pounds of crystal methamphetamine across the border, including much of what arrives in western Michigan.
The investigation, called Project Python, “is the largest single strike’’ against the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, known as CJNG, federal authorities said.
More than 500 people with cartel ties have been arrested in recent months. Some 15,000 kilos of methamphetamine were seized and $20 million taken as part of the investigation, according to an Associated Press report.
CJNG has hubs in several U.S. cities; the closest to Grand Rapids is Chicago, said Steve VerDow, an assistant special agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration in Grand Rapids.
“They have really taken over the market and they have expanded their operations even into the most rural parts of our country,’’ VerDow said.
CJNG is responsible for a good share of the crystal meth that arrives in western Michigan, either hidden in trucks or sent through the mail, VerDow said.
“A lot of times it will come up with commercial vehicles, trucks, cars, in hidden compartments,’’ VerDow said. “Or intermingled with legitimate loads of produce or items like that.’’
Heroin traditionally had been the largest product shipped into western Michigan from Mexican cartels, but that started to change about five to six years ago, he said.
“At that time, we saw that they would ship in 10 kilos of heroin, but they’d also ship in two to three kilos of methamphetamine at really rock-bottom prices; almost giving it away,’’ VerDow said. “They wanted to push this drug into the market.’’
The flood of cheap, potent meth into western Michigan has taxed local law enforcement agencies.
The Kent Area Narcotics Enforcement Team conducted 37 meth investigations in 2017. Last year, the team handled 205 meth investigations, an increase of more than 450 percent.
U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge said meth prosecutions in the western district of Michigan have also increased.
His office last year filed 47 cases involving methamphetamine, compared with 38 cases in 2018. “Since 2018, meth has continued to be the most common drug we charge,’’ Birge said.
Although the federal investigation has hurt CJNG, VerDow says the group is still up and running.
“The whole impetus behind this is to try to disrupt their operations and eventually dismantle the cartel,’’ he said.
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