US Trans-Continental Crime Probe Nets 29 Hard Drug Trade Suspects

Twenty-nine people have been indicted for trafficking methamphetamine and heroin, the US Department of Justice stated.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Twenty-nine people have been indicted for trafficking methamphetamine and heroin from Bakersfield, California to the Bakken region of North Dakota, the US Department of Justice stated in a press release.

“Acting US Attorney Christopher C. Myers of the District of North Dakota… announced the indictment of 22 individuals in western North Dakota and seven defendants in Bakersfield, California,” the release, issued on Wednesday, said.

The Bakken Organized Crime Strike Force is a multi-agency effort aimed at identifying and dismantling organized crime in the Bakken region of Montana and North Dakota, including human trafficking, drug and weapons smuggling, according to the Justice Department.

“After only a few months we are seeing the efficiency, strength and extended reach provided by the strike force model,” Myers said. “The results here are exactly what we hoped for when we designed the strike force.”

The defendants were captured after two years of cooperative efforts by various US federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem said.

The force was created in June 2015.