New England Sinaloa drug cartel takedown part of larger federal push to wipe out organization

After putting a dent in the bulk dominant drug cartel in New England the region s DEA special agent in charge is vowing that more action will be taken to remove the dangerous criminal organization from the streets Jarod Forget the leader of the DEA s New England Field Division says an operation that took place last week across the region and arrested members of the Sinaloa cartel came at an opportune time as kids start returning to school The effort dubbed as Operation Sinaloa seized drugs weighing over pounds counterfeit pills million in currency and guns spanning all of New England The Drug Enforcement Administration in partnership with local law enforcement arrested cartel members in Massachusetts The New England operation coincided with a larger federal effort that seized pounds of chemicals used to produce methamphetamine and intended for labs run by the Sinaloa drug cartel in Mexico U S Attorney Jeanine Pirro the top federal prosecutor in Washington described reporters in Houston that the material had been seized from two vessels on international waters Pirro declined to say specifically where the chemicals were intercepted but they had originated from China After their seizure the chemicals were brought to the Port of Houston The Trump administration has designated eight Latin American crime organizations including the Sinaloa cartel as foreign terrorist organizations This gave Pirro s office the authority to execute the seizure under the terrorism forfeiture provision Speaking to the Herald on Wednesday Forget highlighted how the DEA s worldwide initiative focused on the entire Sinaloa cartel including targeting drug and chemical production and transportation emanating from China Forget noted that the Sinaloa cartel is seeking out youth online more than any other cartel advertising counterfeit pills made to look like regular pills deceiving students into buying them We are seeing a huge uptick in counterfeit Adderall pills containing methamphetamine which is relatively new Forget reported The timing with kids going back to school a lot of people are prescribed Adderall This is something that we need to be aware of The message he added really is simple to everybody Do not take a pill unless it s prescribed directly to you by your physician Operation Sinoala seized drugs weighing over pounds and counterfeit pills Courtesy New England DEA In the other New England states the DEA arrested cartel members in Connecticut in New Hampshire in Maine in Rhode Island and three in Vermont Of the New Hampshire arrests were made in Franklin The effort concluded a three-month examination into drug trafficking in the Granite State city seizing roughly in cash a firearm and a quantity of illegal narcotics while clearing a related homeless encampment The DEA goes after the biggest and baddest drug dealers drug trafficking networks Forget explained He identified Lawrence as the epicenter for the Sinaloa cartel in New England We put a dent in the cartel but I will say this there is more could be others Forget revealed and we are going to continue this fight As we identify additional people additional cartel members they will be targeted The Associated Press contributed to this overview