Drug sweep nets 51

LAS CRUCES -- A firefighter, the brother of a District Court judge, a high school student, a grandmother and a number of confirmed local gang members are among those behind bars as part of a massive year-end Metro Narcotics sting dubbed Operation Rio Grande that resulted in 51 arrests and hundreds of felony charges Friday.

Metro Narcotics Sgt. Bobby Holden said the sting hit an estimated 20 to 25 percent of the low-level drug dealers in Do-a Ana County, and law enforcement now expects "an influx" of calls from other residents reporting tips about the house on the street with traffic at all hours, or the creep who sold their teenage sister cocaine.

"People see you're doing something," he said. "Every phone call we get, people might think it's nothing, but it helps us quite a bit. A lot of these cases -- at least half -- started with information, people just calling in and giving information: 'My neighbor's selling drugs, can you help?' Sometimes, we can solve the problem today, but most of the time, it takes a month or two, or three."

The culmination of months of surveillance and investigation gathering intelligence and sources and completing undercover drug buys, Friday's operation began in the frozen dark, at 4:30 a.m., when more than 90 officers, representing every local, state and federal agency in the area, from Las Cruces police to the U.S. Marshals, assembled in county commission chambers and broke into multi-agency teams heading to every town in the county.

The

bulk of the arrests (a handful had been executed earlier in the week) began just after 6 a.m. -- the earliest warrants can be executed. Most of those arrested went quietly, without barricades, pursuits, shots fired or disruption to their sleeping neighbors. A few were tipped off and ran, though U.S. Marshals expected to easily apprehend them before the weekend was out. By the time the sun was up, a few minutes before 7 a.m., 48 of the 58 arrest warrants had been executed, a rate Holden admitted was far better than expected.

Agent Alan Franzoy, a 12-year sheriff's deputy who has been with Metro for one year, said while people might think towns like Radium Springs or Arrey are less afflicted by drugs, the opposite is true.

"Any kind of drug you can imagine down here (in Las Cruces) is up there," he said en route to Hatch's eight scheduled stops in an unmarked vehicle Friday morning. "People used to say, 'Oh, small towns,' but like any small town in America, it's been inundated by dope."

Indeed, just two of Hatch's warrants Friday were for felony marijuana trafficking, while the rest were for cocaine, with some individuals connected to a roundup of 17 suspects in Truth of Consequences in November. The entire county, Franzoy said, has become a "major smuggling point" due to the crossroads of Interstates 10 and 25 and U.S. 70, as well as its proximity to the border.

"If you're selling one gram, two grams (of cocaine) at a time, it adds up to an ounce in three days," he said. That's almost $3,000 in business. "It's a down market. We're in a recession. But people got money for dope."

Still, echoing Holden's remarks, Franzoy said the drug trade isn't much of a business to be in -- at least a quarter of those arrested in Hatch were working the fields at the time of arrest -- both in terms of money and risk.

"It always surprises them who (turned them in)," Franzoy marveled. "The weird thing is, they all turn on each other. There's not much honor among dopers."

The sting, Holden estimated, cost less than $10,000 and was, for the most part, paid for in seized assets. Those arrested ranged in age from 19 to 61, are accused of selling cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana, and included 13 women.

"These are quality-of-life issues," Holden said. "The low-level drug trafficker next door is just as important as the person running kilos of coke across the state line."

And though it certainly wouldn't extinguish the drug market in Do-a Ana County, Franzoy said residents should see a difference in the neighborhoods where those arrested Friday once operated.

"It sends a message to all the thugs that you're going to get caught and do time. It sends a ripple through, that way. You send a message to the bad guys and the community up here is going to know we're up here," he said.

He compared the work to the modern fable about the boy walking along the shore, throwing stranded starfish back into the ocean, even as hundreds around him died. Even if his work, Franzoy said, just kept one teenager from trying cocaine or scared another away from selling methamphetamine, it would be worth it.

"Every time you get a dealer off the streets, anywhere in the county, it makes a difference in somebody's life," Franzoy said. "Sometimes it feels like you're holding the ocean back with a teaspoon, but ... my family lives here. My friends and neighbors live here. I want this to be the safest place in the world."

He added, "How much do we do to try to save one of these kids?"

Ashley Meeks can be reached at (575) 541-5462.

Locked up

Jailed in Friday's felony sweep:

• Fausto Acosta, 26

• Russell Allen, 25, of Hatch

• Willie Amador, 41

• David Arcienega, 19, of Hatch

• Robert S. Arrieta, 51

• Juan Arzola, 40

• Juan Manuel Avila, 23

• Jose Banuelos, 48, of Hatch

• Judith Barela, 32

• Robert Carr, 53

• Edgar Carrillo, 20, of Hatch

• Ramona Clark, 52

• Martin Fernandez, 25

• Jose Flores, 26

• Armando Gallegos, 31

• Daniel Garcia, 39, of Las Cruces

• James Garcia, 24

• Clarence Garner, 30

• Debra Gibson, 46

• Robert Gibson, 44

• Antonio M. Guerra, 27

• Teresa Hernandez, 51

• Chayna Holguin, 29

• Daniel Holguin, 61

• Kimberly James, 21

• Ernest Lucero, 43, of Las Cruces

• Jose Martinez, 30

• Angela Marie Mora, 45

• Marcella Mu-oz, 36

• Merlinda Nu-ez, 38, of Las Cruces

• Oscar Robles, 25, of Sunland Park

• James M. Saiz, 52

• Roy Santos, 30

• Leigh Ann Smith, 39

• Rosa Sosa, 32

• Herman Torrez, 43

• Diego Villanueva, 19

• Rena M. Washington, 52, of Las Cruces

• Leslie Celeste Williams, 45

• Ruben Zarazua Jr., 27, of Chaparral