Utah residents snared in drug bust

Eighteen individuals were charged with trafficking in cocaine and methamphetamine in Utah and 12 people were arrested as part of a national effort to dismantle a drug trafficking cartel, authorities said Thursday.
The 19-month Utah investigation, known as "Operation Trifecta," targeted Mexican drug lord Ismael Zambada-Garcia, Utah officials said. Arrests were also made in New York; Phoenix; Providence, R.I.; Los Angeles and a number of other cities. Mexican authorities arrested four additional people at the request of U.S. authorities.
"This was a major operation," said Paul Warner, U.S. attorney for Utah. "These were not small fish."
Two of those named in the Utah indictment, 41-year-old Hector Manuel Erenas-Franco of Perris, Calif., and Vincente Campana, age and hometown unknown, were believed to be distributors for the Zambada-Garcia cartel, authorities said. Utah police believe the Utah cell was moving about 10 pounds of meth and about 11 pounds of cocaine into the state every 10 days to two weeks.
In Utah, federal, state and local authorities, including Salt Lake City, Utah police, the Salt Lake County, Utah Sheriff's Office and the Drug Enforcement Administration, have been participating in the national investigation for six months.
"It's really been six months of 18-, 20-hour days," said Daniel Reuter, DEA spokesman. "It doesn't do any good to put street dealers away; we have to get at their sources."
Warner said Thursday that he plans to seek forfeiture of at least two Utah businesses -- Rainbow Top and Upholstery Shop, doing business as Vilo's Low Show Upholstery, 4669 W. 3500 South, and Kolor Me Customs, 199 W. 4800 South. Operators of both businesses -- Maurilio Echevarria-Vazquez, 29, and Fernando Ruesga, 30, both of Salt Lake City, Utah -- were named in the indictment.
Warner also seeks to forfeit six vehicles and up to $500,000 in alleged proceeds from drug trafficking offenses. He would not comment on whether the businesses were fronts for drug trafficking.
A third Salt Lake City, Utah business is also named in the indictment, Frank's Hispano Cashcard Services, 1381 S. Main St. Warner said authorities believe the owner of the business and an employee, his wife, knew about the conspiracy to distribute drugs and did not report it. The two also are believed to have helped support drug dealers, he said.
Utah Investigators are still in the process of sorting out whether any of the 18 are undocumented residents, said Melodie Rydalch, spokeswoman for Warner's office. Additional charges may be filed against some of them, she said, as guns and other items were found during some arrests.
Hipolito Lopez, 34, of Kearns, whom Utah authorities allege was the ringleader of the Utah cell, was arrested in Las Vegas, Warner's office said.
Another person named in the Utah indictment, Pablo de Jesus Martinez-Inigues, 25, of Kearns, was arrested June 24 by the Utah Highway Patrol near Cedar City, Utah after a traffic stop. A Utah trooper pulled the driver over because he was swerving and traveling 10 mph under the speed limit, Utah Highway Patrol Lt. Lee Pyper said at the time. A drug dog found 11 pounds of cocaine floating inside the gas tank of the car he was driving. Martinez-Inigues has pleaded not guilty to charges resulting from that incident.
Nationally, more than 240 people were arrested over the past 19 months, 63 of them Thursday.
The Zambada-Garcia cartel is on a U.S. list of the most dangerous drug traffickers and has been linked to the torture and murder of a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent in 1985.
Suspects arrested in Utah include Echevarria-Vazquez; Ruesga; Armando Faudoa, 45, Salt Lake City, Utah; Jose Juan Rodriguez, 26, Salt Lake City, Utah; Jaime Vargas, age and hometown unknown, and Mario Zamora-Nunez, 25, Kearns.
Lopez; Pedro Luis Lopez, 36, Kearns, and Campana were all arrested in Las Vegas. Each was named in the Utah indictment. Jose Abel Carranza-Martinez, 27, of Perris, Calif., was arrested in Los Angeles, authorities said. Martinez-Iniguez and Erenas-Franco were already in custody.
The Utah defendants will begin appearing in court today.