PORTLAND, Ore. – The U.S. Justice Department said Wednesday it has shattered a drug operation that started among high school buddies in Roseburg, Ore., 30 years ago and grew over the years to become an international operation that took in more than $20 million.
Eleven of the 12 people named in a federal indictment are in custody after arrests Wednesday in Oregon, Washington, Colorado and Idaho. Most are from Oregon.
U.S. Attorney Tom Moss of Boise, Idaho, said the arrests followed a classic strategy of “follow the money.”
The 194-page indictment, handed up in Boise in June but sealed until Wednesday’s arrests, said the operation began by growing and selling marijuana. But, the indictment said, it expanded to include smuggling of drugs from Mexico and South America, growing large quantities of marijuana indoors and on public lands, and manufacturing methamphetamines.
The government seeks forfeiture of more than $24 million in assets including boats, planes, business interests and real estate in five states.
More arrests possible
U.S. attorney spokeswoman Jean McNeil said more arrests could follow and that those in custody likely would be sent to Idaho after court appearances where they were arrested.
The case was handled in Idaho because it stemmed from the case of a convicted Clearwater, Idaho, drug trafficker, Leland Lang, who allegedly was supplied with large amounts of drugs by the operation.
In addition to drug distribution and money-laundering charges, six of the defendants are charged with operating a continuing criminal enterprise, which carries a minimum 20-year sentence.
“Lee Lang was a major distributor, and he was getting his drugs from somewhere,” Moss said. “We wanted to find out where, and now, thanks to the hard work and dedication of more than a dozen law enforcement agencies, I think we have.”
Gerald Francis McDonald, 55, of Costa Mesa, Calif., remained at large Wednesday. Two others, Gregory Sperow, 55, and Dennis Hammons, 59, already were in federal detention.
In the 1980s McDonald and Sperow were convicted in California of involvement in conspiracies to import and distribute 4,000 pounds of cocaine and 200,000 pounds of marijuana.
The indictments outline long histories of drug violations among the defendants.
Those detained Wednesday were Kent Allen Jones, 51, Vancouver, Wash.; Mark Daniel Kitzman, 49, Lake Oswego, Ore.; Harold Carl Ballenger, 54, Bend, Ore.; Jerod Lee Keyser, 31, Priest River, Idaho; Robert David Long, 52, Eugene, Ore.; Mark M. Alders, 54, Lakeside, Ore.; Damon John Marsh, 37, Portland, Ore.; Mark William Pursley, 32, Vancouver, and Dale Eugene Barker, 55, of Evergreen, Colo.
Jones, Sperow, Kitzman, McDonald, Ballenger and Hammons face the continuing criminal enterprise charges.
Elaborate networks
The indictment lists more than 470 overt acts and alleges illegal drug activities by some defendants dating to 1975.
It says the defendants used a variety of money-laundering techniques and relied on prepaid disposable cell phones and phone booths to avoid detection.
It said much of the criminal activity was carried out with the help of a lawyer identified in the indictment only as “attorney A.”
It said the suspects used shell corporations that included real estate groups, tire companies, a construction company, a wire rope company and what appears to be an airplane parts business.
The indictment outlines an elaborate network of meetings, planes, boats, cars and trucks used in the enterprise as well as car rental records, phone records and records of bank activities. It says the organization bought a twin-engine DC-3 to bring cocaine from Colombia.
The indictment makes no specific reference to the high school connection, but McNeil said the attorneys felt there were enough bits of information “to come to that conclusion.”
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