Dozens of people have been arrested across multiple South Plains counties in a series of operations that began Wednesday morning.
Drug trafficking, illegal gambling, prostitution, illegal weapons and conspiracy were some of the charges that resulted in the arrest of 24 people. The FBI, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Cochran County Sheriff's Office, and the Levelland Police Department were involved in the operations.
Eleven people were arrested on gambling, drug and prostitution charges after police raided seven illegal game rooms in the county. A person was arrested for violating parole. There are more charges pending for organized crime and financial crimes.
The FBI said 13 people were arrested in Levelland, Morton and Brownfield in support of federal indictments relating to methamphetamine and weapons traffickers.
"This has been a long time coming," the sheriff said at the news conference. People would ask what we were doing about the game rooms. We've been working on the game rooms for the last year.
The game rooms have been magnets for criminals.
For people who engage in criminal activity, these are a good place to stay. The gambling operations are important, but what it allows is even more important. It's what draws people to those locations, and that's what we disrupted today.
The FBI Dallas Field Office's acting special agent said the agency's Wednesday arrests are in support of a November indictment.
The FBI and our law enforcement partners executed 13 arrests related to our operation this morning. 18 people are charged with various federal crimes, including distribution of meth, unlawful possession of weapons and conspiracy. There are state charges for most of the federal subjects. In addition to the game room subjects that the sheriff mentioned earlier, the subjects I mentioned here are also related.
We are sending a loud and clear message to criminals that we will continue to protect the communities that we serve.
Several people have been charged in connection with an investigation into a large-scale meth ring. It's not clear if the charges are related to the operations in the area.
A 16-count indictment was returned by a federal grand jury in late November. "Acid", Jose Angel Marquez, Juan Luis Quezada, Ernest Michael Chavez, and others.
The charges are listed.
There is a conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, distribution and possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, and distribution and possession with intent to distribute five grams or more of methamphetamine.
Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, distribution and possession with intent to distribute five grams or more of methamphetamine, and possession with intent to distribute five grams or more of methamphetamine are all included.
Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, distribution and possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, and possession with intent to distribute five grams or more of methamphetamine are included in the definition.
There was a conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute meth.
There is a conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, and possession with intent to distribute five grams or more of meth.
A.K.A. is the name of the man. Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, distribution and possession with intent to distribute five gram or more of methamphetamine, and possession with intent to distribute five gram or more of methamphetamine are all related to acid.
There is a conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine.
There is a conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, distribution and possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug crime, and possession of a firearm.
Ernest Michael Chavez was found guilty of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine.
There is a conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine.
There is a conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine.
Records show that eight people were arrested on Wednesday and are currently in the Lubbock County Detention Center. According to jail records, Chavez, Clem, Perez, and Ruiz were arrested in Levelland.
They will be appearing before a judge on Friday.
24 people were arrested in West Texas in multi-agency operations.
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