5 hours Ago
HOUSTON — A massive $1 million drug operation with links to a violent Venezuelan gang has been shut down following a year-long undercover investigation, Pct. 1 Constable Alan Rosen said Wednesday. Officials say the organized crime ring was operating a "drive-thru drug trafficking hub" out of an apartment complex on Antoine and Tidwell in northwest Houston.
The suspects were selling black tar heroin, cocaine, meth, MDMA and weed to as many as 30 cars an hour, Rosen said. Five men were arrested in the largest drug bust in Precinct 1 history. They may have ties to Tren de Aragua, a notorious gang out of Venezuela, DPS Lt.
Craig Cummings said. Two more people were turned over to ICE custody for immigration issues. Here's what was confiscated: They even found a large religious shrine in one apartment, possibly intended to protect them from law enforcement, Rosen said.
"I mean, I can't imagine a family living in this complex and the amount of traffic coming through there and the amount of people that were addicted to drugs and the illegal activities that were going on there," Rosen said. "I'm sure they saw it every day, their kids saw it every day and you know, we're sick and tired of it." He said people who noticed what was going on may have been too scared to report it.
"People, people are, you know, they've watched a lot of TV, they've seen a lot of things that have happened and they want to raise their families in peace and they want to not involve themselves in things," Rosen said. The investigation started when a couple of patrol officers noticed suspicious activity at the complex and pulled over some suspicious vehicles. They found drugs in all of the vehicles and quickly realized they'd stumbled upon a major organization.
Pct. 1 contacted the Texas Department of Public Safety to help with the undercover and surveillance operation along with special agents assigned to the DPS Texas Anti-Gang Center in Houston. The U.
S. Marshal Service and Houston Police Department also joined the investigation. Rosen said the investigation is ongoing and more arrests could happen.
"People deserve to live in peace and they deserve to be in a drug-free zone," Rosen said..
