The Daily Southerner, Tarboro, NC

Local News

November 11, 2009

Officers arrest 'major link' in drug trafficking from Mexico

FROM STAFF REPORTS

The Edgecombe County Sheriff's Office announced a major arrest Tuesday involving a national effort to curb a Mexican drug cartel's activities.

Sergio Silva "Chino" Torres was charged with trafficking cocaine and conspiracy to traffic cocaine, along with pending firearm violations. That followed a nearly one-hour standoff at a residence at Jerry's Village Mobile Home Park, between Tarboro and Leggett on N.C. 33, Edgecombe County Sheriff James Knight said.

The incident occurred on Oct. 22, and Knight said that a State Bureau of Investigation SWAT team, as well as the Edgecombe County Sheriff's Office's SERT team, engaged Torres, who later surrendered. Torres reportedly had cocaine and a firearm in his possession.

"Torres was a major link between La Familia Michoacana drug cartel and the dealers who were getting the drugs on the streets of Edgecombe and surrounding counties," Knight said. Along with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, the SBI and the Sheriff's Office's drug unit, the sheriff added the case against Torres was built for more than a year.

The arrest was part of Project Coronado, a national, 44-month-long investigation into the La Familia Michoacana drug cartel's activities, with participation between federal, state and local authorities. In Eastern North Carolina, Knight said $1.7 million in cash, 22 weapons, 200 kilograms of cocaine, 15 pounds of methamphetamine and 200 pounds of marijuana have been seized in the operation. To date, 11.7 tons of narcotics have been seized nationally.

"Drug distributors do not abide by the county lines and neither can drug investigators," Knight added about the nationwide operation. "The continued cooperation between all agencies ensures that drug traffickers will not have their way in our communities."

The sheriff added thanks to the county's Narcotics Unit "and all the other agencies involved for their hard work and diligence in this investigation."

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