26 suspects arrested in drug ring bust
After secretly listening to telephone conversations for months, a drug task force arrested 26 suspects accused of being part of a crime ring that distributed huge quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine in the Inland Northwest, authorities said Friday.
The investigation was dubbed “Operation Replacements” because, at the outset, every time midlevel participants got arrested they were immediately replaced, and the drug ring operations continued, said Rodney G. Benson, regional boss of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
The drug ring was responsible for selling $250,000 worth of cocaine and methamphetamine a month in the Spokane region, said Selby Smith, who heads the DEA’s Spokane task force.
Drug and other arrests in September 2002 led investigators to conclude they were tapping into a large organization with similar sources of supply, and that’s what they found, said Benson, in charge of the DEA’s Seattle regional office.
“They operated with businesslike efficiency,” Benson said of the operation that brought cocaine and methamphetamine from Mexico to Spokane and the Tri-Cities.
The dope not sold in Eastern Washington was moved on to dealers in Idaho and Montana, Benson said.
As the investigation broadened, federal prosecutors last fall sought a court order to begin tapping the telephones of the drug dealers, who were frequently on the move, using cell phones, said U.S. Attorney Jim McDevitt.
Low-level dealers in the ring – “mopes” – led to midlevel and above, McDevitt said. “I don’t know that we got to the CEO-of-dope level,” he said, “but we got up to the vice president level, let’s put it that way.”
His staff, including Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tom Rice and Russell Smoot, sought the warrants allowing the task force agents to monitor phone calls – an unusual and highly regulated legal step.
The court orders allowed task force investigators, operating from a command center, to listen to telephone conversations to track drug movements and sales. When eavesdropping agents heard conversations about something other than drugs, they had to tune out.
Assistant Spokane Police Chief Al Odenthal called the drug investigation “probably the most labor-intensive I’ve seen” in the Spokane region.
After getting wiretap authorization on Nov. 3, agents had to monitor certain telephone numbers 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in addition to conducting surveillance in Spokane and the Tri-Cities, Rice and Smoot said. Hundreds of hours were logged.
“Not one single agency could have undertaken this thing,” Odenthal said of the task force.
The Spokane Police Department, the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office and Spokane Valley are involved in the task force, which includes DEA and other federal agents.
Valley Police Chief Cal Walker said the investigation “tapped a significant drug pipeline,” and will have the short-term effect of driving up illegal drug prices, possibly resulting in more burglaries.
Fifteen suspects have been arrested so far on federal drug charges and others are being sought. Nine suspects, including a 17-year-old girl, face state charges.
The arrests involved the purchase or seizure of 10 pounds of methamphetamine, worth an estimated $80,000, and eight pounds of cocaine, worth that same amount, Smith said.
Arrested on federal charges were: Jose Luis Carrillo-Mendez, 21, residence unknown; Carlos “Charlie” Santos, 31, Santa Ana, Calif.; Hilario Lopez-Salas, 23, Spokane Valley; Christopher Pardun, 45, Spokane; Gerald Bruce Fennen, 47, Spokane Valley; Eli Stover, 32, Spokane Valley; Todd “Titi” Stamps, 37, Spokane; and Serena Dunn, 26, Spokane.
Also facing federal charges are: Shadow Burnett St. Paul, 33, Valleyford, Wash.; Varsal M. Jarnagin, 27, Coeur d’Alene; Howard P. Kanitz, 58, Spokane; Patrick S. Davis, 32, Spokane; John “Jack” N. Wollett, 64, Spokane; Mario “David” Garcia Cebreros, 24, Spokane; and Gorgena Patrick, 38, Spokane.
Arrested on state charges were: Kelli Hart-Bryant, 41; Michael Callaghan, 35; Peter D. Fellroth, 52; Terri L. Massey, 41; Michael Lester, 33; Darrin Salmon, 35, Janae Skinner, 29; and a 17-year-old female. The names of one other adult and two illegal aliens were unavailable from DEA officials.