Alright. Yes, Sir.
Good morning I'm Bill Waybourn
Tarrant County sheriff.
Thank you for being here
on this incredible day.
You know veteran's day where the
country is pausing and thanking
those that served on the wall for
defending our liberties and freedoms.
And we should be celebrating
that throughout the day.
However, as we are celebrating
that and we're here today,
just to unfortunately remind are
good citizens that evil is still
among us and we have had a record,
a seizure over the last five weeks.
Over two incidents where we've seized
over 1400 pounds of pure methamphetamines,
that was right here in the greater
Tarrant County area and we continue
to seize these large amounts of drugs
and what we want our constituents
to know and the good citizens of
Tarrant County to know that this is
a clear and present danger to us.
Until we continue this fight.
But we also want to send a clear
signal to the bad guys that
as you look across here,
there are many patches here
from many different agencies.
We have federal agencies here,
state and local.
We are standing shoulder to shoulder in
this fight and we will continue to do that.
We will continue to go after the
bad guy as I like to say it with
a gust of a hound dog and we're
going to continue this fight and we
appreciate their incredible support.
There are some issues that are still
ongoing about these investigations
that we can't discuss this morning.
But however.
Nearly 1500 pounds of pure methamphetamines,
and if you see the pictures around here,
it's an incredible amount.
With a street value of almost $16 million,
so we believe that we're taking
the fight to the bad guys and
we're going to continue to do that.
And now I'd like to turn it over
to Chief Neal Knox.
Thank you, sheriff. First of all,
for including us in this and
thank you to our veterans
on this veteran's day.
What I want to add.
Is that every single day we have
dedicated professional men and women.
Many you see standing here.
They go out every single day.
With the job to make you safer
to make our community safer.
And to take dangerous criminals
off the streets and dangerous
drugs out of our neighborhoods.
This is just one example.
Of the amazing partnership.
All the law enforcement agencies
in this area have local,
county, state, and federal.
We want you to know that we
are all working together.
We're all in partnership and we're all
working to make sure Tarrant County,
Fort Worth and this is Greater North
Texas region to make sure it's
as safe as absolutely possible.
I'm going to turn it over to special
agent in charge with the DEA in Dallas.
Eduardo Chavez.
Hey good morning,
thank you for joining us again.
Thank you all. The veterans.
My name is Eduardo Chavez.
I'm the special agent in charge
for the DEA Dallas Field division
which covers Fort Worth.
When opioids and counterfeit
prescription drugs containing fentanyl
can dominate much of the airwaves,
DEA Fort Worth and our law enforcement
partners here still recognize that
methamphetamine is still the area's
number one illicit drug threat.
This seizure here,
in addition to the over 15,000 pounds
of methamphetamine seized over
the last 12 months in this area.
Represent 99% pure methamphetamine.
For a drug user that is putting
99% pure poison into their bodies.
The DEA Fort Worth and all of our
partners standing here today just
stand in unison to be able to take
that street level drug transaction
all the way up to seizures like this
all the way up into international
drug trafficking investigations
that will hold these criminal
organizations accountable.
Our lives depend on it,
our family and friends lives depend
on it and our community deserves it.
We appreciate the time this morning.
Turn it over to Calvin Bond with the
Tarrant County Sheriff's Office.
Good morning, open up to any questions
like has been said previously,
these these seizures are still
ongoing investigations at
the federal and state level,
so we have to be generic about this.
I was blessed to serve with DEA for many
years before I became one of the chief
deputies here for the Sheriff's Office,
so I've seen it kind of on both sides
and it's just the ability for an agency
like ourselves to call and ask for help.
Whether it's a fourth PD,
Mansfield DPS or DEA.
Is incredible tool for us and that's
one of the things I want to stress.
The community is that we do work together.
We have very strong partnerships,
were very transparent with each
other and it's a great situation.
I've been stationed all over the world
and this area right here in terms
of working together is outstanding.
So any questions on this?
I'll be happy to say what I
can say about him.
Road in on these these
stashes of methamphetamine?
That's a good question.
So one of the there's multiple seizures that
are represented here by the photographs.
One of them was started by
actually great police work.
One of our officers found a stolen
vehicle through a license plate reader,
which is a device mounted on our cars.
And when you drive by a vehicle that
stolen will get an alert and he stopped
and followed up the investigation,
which ultimately led to a search.
Warrant, which led to a seizure here.
So that's that.
That is very good.
Police work from the from the lowest
level up and then some of these
other investigations or the are
part of working with informants,
people that we've arrested that have
been involved in the operation that
we give them an opportunity to help
themselves and they work a lot of
surveillance and all that goes into this.
A lot of this drug bust
just put in perspective.
We heard the number 60 million,
but can you put it in
perspective with having these
are very. There's a very
very significant seizures.
Their cartel seizures.
I believe the cartels are here in the
Dallas Fort Worth area and I can let
other people here talk about that,
but they're here because they
can make a lot of money.
And they're here because of where
we are centrally located in EU.
S with the highways and
our proximity to Mexico,
and they've been here for a long time.
They're very strong here.
Unfortunately, it has a.
It is a clear and present danger
to our citizens in this area.
But this is cartel drugs and a lot
of people are involved with this.
These are ongoing, so there are a
lot of people that don't know yet.
They're going to be arrested,
so so we're still doing follow up.
Some people were initially arrested,
some people cooperate, some don't,
and then because of the federal
laws that we have with conspiracy,
were able to indict a lot of these people
later on that directed this to happen
that weren't necessarily at the scene.
I can't say that yes, Sir,
and this is a mixture of
several investigations as well.
This would be for you or for chief notes,
or for Sheriff Waybourn,
but you know, it seems like you
know almost every other month.
We're doing stories about
major methamphetamine busts,
and depending on what part
of North Texas here in,
I guess it's a lot of times it's
more in the more rural areas that
methamphetamine is a huge problem.
How do we get methamphetamine
off the streets once and for all?
Well, that would be great.
Andrea, we would love to do that.
Unfortunately, right now I think that
because of the border issues and the
border crisis that we're seeing a lot
of that dope come from down South.
And this is cartel drug.
And by the way I think,
or at least by the evidence I've seen,
is that we're kind of a hub.
We've got all these interstates
that come through here.
The dope shows up here,
and it's going to go to other places to LA
County or Middlesex County, Massachusetts.
It could show up anywhere,
but we have got to.
We are.
The sources are going to be in
another country right now that
we've got to be able to stop.
Personal view,
and that's what the evidence that
I've seen that leads me to say that.
Record for Tarrant County
Sheriff's Office absolutely.
You know the previous record. I think
that earlier this year, unfortunately,
we'd set a record of our own
where we seized 400 pounds
earlier in in with liquid math.
So we we'd like for that to stop,
but not that the good police
work don't misunderstand me.
Want to continue doing that,
but we believe that the bad guys are
are working and working at wheel,
and one of the things we want to do
this morning to send a message that,
from Dallas to Fort Worth to DEA to DPS,
we're coming for them.
And we're not going to put
up with it in Texas.
Statement in Spanish so I can do
it at the end 'cause anybody can
do that afterwards if you'd like.
Can you talk about the process where they?
Cooking map where they.
What were they doing, I mean.
I mean, when you when they're
processing is very dangerous.
Yes, exploded smells.
No one said anything.
Your officers just happened to
find a stolen vehicle right there,
determined that they were.
You came up with it,
right? So this is an evolution of
myth and how it's produced in the
US earlier 2030 years ago when I
was a street agent here for DEA.
It was cooked in small labs here.
Organized by or biker gangs were
involved with it and a lot of the meth
came from California at that time.
The situation is completely different.
Almost all of this meth is made in Mexico.
It's produced in Mexico.
At a high high quality situation as
you can tell by the purity levels
and then a lot of times it is,
it is converted into liquid form and
then smuggled across the US border.
It's easier for the cartels to get the
drugs across the border without detection.
If it's in liquid form.
In my career it's been in.
I've seen it in diesel trucks
with a different compartment.
Some of this was in paint,
commercial quantities of paint for your home.
I've seen it and I see I've seen
it in beer and so you know,
your imagination is your limit there,
but it's brought over in liquid form
and what we see here in the Dallas Fort
Worth area now or businesses and homes
that that received the liquid form
and then there they crystallize it out.
And so one of the common ways to do
that is actually heat alcohol up.
To boiling temperature and then you
put the alcohol in the methamphetamine
and it starts to crystallize.
They let it dry and there's it's
much more involved in that,
but that's kind of the idea.
So what our officers are seeing now
when they execute search warrant is a
home that may not have any furniture,
but they'll be methamphetamine
all over the floor and containers
that's drying and crystallising out.
And that's what they sell on the street.
Does that answer your question?
It is. It is because a lot of times
they're heating a chemical that
if it's not handled the right way,
can't explode or catch on fire,
and most of the unfortunately most
people we deal with not just in math,
but they're armed and they want to protect.
This represents a lot of money,
as you can see so.
I mean. I mentioned cartels.
Do you have a particular cartel or?
Talk about Aurora.
You know, not necessarily.
I mean a lot of the cartels
are obviously Mexican based
drug trafficking organizations.
You know from Sinaloa to the CJNG.
Or you know cut. They'll hollys,
conoil, Hennessy and a lot of that
responsibility for just the transiting
areas up into North Texas or theirs.
And So what? You see,
much like some of my colleagues have
mentioned or just simply the hubs,
the naturally occurring interstates
that passed through these,
these areas you know utilized to be able
to transport it not only for consumption.
Here in the DFW area,
but for other points further east.
We talk about the Chargers
these guys face when arrested.
Nothing can be federal local
combination of both. It'll
be a combination of both
and that's that's normal.
When we partner, not only do we
partner at the street level,
working with different
investigators and agents,
but we partner with the prosecutors.
And So what we try to do is
we the prosecutors along with
the case agents determined,
you know who has the best venue.
Basically who has the best evidence
and then under the federal laws,
the conspiracy laws are very,
very powerful.
That's how we end up getting a lot of
people that were not here physically.
But directed these activities so
it's a combination normally of
both federal and state prosecution.
There was some cash seized with it,
a lot of the cartels are very
good about keeping their cash
separate from where the drugs are,
so this is evidence of that.
About international cooperation.
From from the other countries
that are they cooperating with you
guys just to help you, you know.
Generally speaking,
this is a never ending process.
You know from the initial
seizure on a traffic stop,
perhaps to the initial idea of who's
in charge in this particular area,
to identifying those outside of this
area and even internationally. That is.
That is the the blessing, frankly,
that we have here with all of our colleagues.
We do not just stand up here
and have made introductions.
With each other five minutes ago,
we all know each other.
All of our officers and
our agents work together,
and so this process is ongoing with
DEA's offices and in Mexico as well.
We have that advantage to be able to
bring the fight to them in their backyard.