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Editorial
Mexican drug cartel making inroads in state
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Most of us live in rural America by choice. A slower pace of life, friendly people, a good place to raise our children and/or retire.
We hear about big-city problems and troubles in foreign countries, but for the most part, it's just a story in the news.
Now, some of those problems -- drug battles in Mexico and gun trafficking -- are hitting close to home.
Federal U.S. Attorney Deborah R. Gilg, a former county and private attorney in Ogallala, issued a news release Monday about 12 men sentenced in connection with a drug investigation in Scotts Bluff and Morrill counties.
Called Caballo de Troya -- Trojan Horse -- the case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration with assistance from members of the Western Nebraska Intelligence and Narcotics Group -- WING -- Task Force including local law enforcement from the Gering Police Department, the Scottsbluff Police Department, the Scotts Bluff County Sheriff's Department, the Alliance Police Department and the Chadron Police Department.
The operation snagged 15 grams of cocaine and 3.5 pounds of methamphetamines, but more frighteningly, three assault rifles, two small rifles, a pistol and two sawed-off shotguns.
Authorities also seized a Cadillac Escalade, a pickup truck, $9,000 cash and $16,000 in stolen jewelry as part of the investigation.
Nine of those sentenced to prison, for as long as 188 months, have Nebraska addresses, but two were from the Mexican state of Sinaloa -- the Mazatlan area in southwest Mexico -- and one was from Arizona.
It's tempting to look the other way with illegal drugs like marijuana -- there are even efforts to legalize it for recreational use -- but with assault rifles, sawed off shotguns and thousands of dollars in cash and jewels, these were not the typical neighborhood potheads.
"These convictions and prison sentences demonstrate that we cannot be complacent about the far-reaching grasp of the Mexican Cartel into Nebraska," Gilg said. "Protecting our children and communities from the tragic combination of drugs and guns is one of our highest law enforcement priorities."
Clearly, Nebraska is isolated no longer.