Tempe traffic stop led to big drug bust
A traffic stop in Tempe fifteen months ago has led to the arrest of 200 people. On Tuesday investigators say the probe also led to the seizure of millions of dollars in cash and drugs, investigators say. KJZZ’s Al Macias reports.
AL MACIAS: Tempe police confiscated cocaine, heroin, marijuana and methamphetamines worth twelve and a half million dollars. Investigators also seized another 8 million dollars in cash. Police say the drugs belonged to the Sinaloan cartel and that’s where the money was headed. A Tempe officer set off the investigation after he made a traffic stop last year. Tempe spokesman Sergeant Steve Carbajal says other police departments and agencies joined in.
STEVE CARBAJAL: As the investigation progressed we kept coming up with the same names that the DEA was dealing with as well. So we kind of put everyone together and said yeah we’re seeing the same names over and over again and we decided the best approach would be to pool resources.
AL MACIAS: Carbajal says this bust is the largest investigators have ever seen in Tempe.
