DEA, cops bust 8 members of 'heavily armed' drug trafficking ring

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Federal agents and local police officers seized assault rifles, thousands of dollars in cash and several pounds of drugs as the culmination of a two month investigation, U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Hogsett and Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry announced Thursday as they announced the arrest of eight members of an Indianapolis drug trafficking ring.

In the series of arrests and seizures Tuesday in Marion and Hamilton Counties, agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration along with members of the Metro Drug Task Force recovered 27 weapons, nearly three pounds of methamphetamine and $33,950.

Child Protective services also took four children, including an infant, into custody.

Six of the eight charged in the busts are facing federal charges of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Those individuals are Ricardo Diaz, Irma Lorena Escalera-Avalos, Miguel Martinez, Leodegario Martinez-Rios, Daniel Sandoval and Alondra Villa.

The other two arrested, Eleazar Archuleta and Elena Garcia, are charged with possession of cocaine, possession of cocaine with a firearm, possession of methamphetamine and possession of marijuana. They are currently being held on $20,000 bond and an immigration hold.

"I commend the excellent work of the Metro Drug Task Force for stopping the flow of drugs by these traffickers," said Curry. "There are more guns and drugs off the streets today because a cooperative effort among federal and local law enforcement officers. We will vigorously prosecute this case to its conclusion."

U. S. Attorney Barry D. Glickman is prosecuting the case for the government and says that most of the defendants, if convicted, face a minimum of 10 year prison sentence.

Rick Frank, Marion County Deputy Prosecutor and MDTF Director, expects to file official charges by early next week against the two state defendants who face a two to eight years behind bars if convicted on the C-Felony charges.