Pubdate: Wed, 20 Mar 2002
Source: News Herald (FL)
Copyright: 2002 The News Herald
Contact:  http://www.newsherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1018
Author: Daniel Jackson
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

THREE ARRESTED IN PANHANDLE'S BIGGEST METHAMPHETAMINE BUST

The largest methamphetamine bust in the history of the Panhandle took place 
Saturday at a hotel on West Beach Drive in Panama City. It resulted in 
three arrests and the seizure of a half-million dollars worth of the 
illicit drug.

Reynaldo Hernandez-Reyes, 34, Alfonso Quintana-Ruiz, 23, and Hugo Nelson 
Figueroa, 39, were charged with possession of 21 pounds of methamphetamine 
with conspiracy to distribute.

"Given the average dosage, that amount of methamphetamine could intoxicate 
several hundreds of thousands of people," said Carl Pike, an agent with the 
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

The DEA, U.S. Marshal's Service and the Bay County Sheriff's Office 
conducted a joint surveillance operation and drug bust based on 
investigative leads developed in South Florida, Sheriff Guy Tunnell said.

"I'm extremely glad we can get this off the street," Tunnell said. "It was 
a textbook operation."

The three suspects, who made their first appearance in federal court 
Tuesday, are suspects in a methamphetamine distribution organization, 
deputies reported. If convicted, they face a minimum mandatory prison 
sentence of 10 years.

Pike said the local operation was brief, but the DEA has had knowledge of 
this organization for some time.

Both Hernandez-Reyes and Quintana-Ruiz are Mexican nationals who were 
working at local restaurants in Panama City. Nelson Figueroa is an El 
Salvadorian national who was employed at a local hotel.

Tunnell said the drugs are believed to have been manufactured at large labs 
in Mexico and smuggled into the United States for distribution.

"My understanding is that this meth organization has its roots in Mexico 
where it is common practice for a number of large clandestine labs to mass 
produce this stuff," Tunnell said.

Pike said the DEA is experiencing unprecedented cooperation with the 
Mexican government in stopping the flow of illegal drugs into the United 
States over the Mexican border.

However, the drug continues to gain popularity in the U.S. because it is 
easily produced and relatively inexpensive for users, investigators said.

"We are conducting numerous operations in cooperation with Mexico, but it's 
a large border," Pike said. "You stop it in one place and it pops back up 
somewhere else."

Pike said there is no doubt that Americans are doing business with foreign 
drug dealers who also may be involved in terrorist activities aimed at the 
United States.

"It's well known that certain groups of people, who have no interest in 
seeing America make any more progress than it already has, are selling 
large amounts of drugs in this country," Pike said. "For instance, 
Afghanistan is the world's largest producer of heroin. It's an efficient 
way of making money."

Tunnell said that his office has seen a consistent increase in 
methamphetamine manufacturing, distribution and use in Bay County.

"We've had a lot of local labs taken down," Tunnell said "We're seeing a 
definite increase in meth use in our area."
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