Three men were arrested and four others were indicted in April for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances in connection with a months-long, multi-agency federal investigation of a transnational drug and firearms trafficking organization, court records show.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Louisville Field Division, Drug Enforcement Administration and other local and federal agencies hosted a joint news conference May 2 to tout the results of the investigation. To date, ATF agents have seized 43 firearms and DEA agents have seized roughly 62 kilos of cocaine and more than $700,000 in cash in the investigation, spokespeople for the federal agencies said.
Officials opened the investigation in early 2024 into a drug and firearms trafficking organization that investigators said is responsible for bringing large amounts of cocaine and firearms into the Louisville area from Mexico. Investigators have accused local members of the organization of taking cash back to Mexico and laundering other portions of drug proceeds through fraudulent transactions at El Rey grocery stores, DEA Louisville Division spokesperson Kevin McWilliams said.
Officials from the ATF Louisville Field Division, DEA and other federal and local law agencies hosted a news conference May 2 to discuss a long-term investigation of a transnational drug and firearm trafficking operation.
McWilliams said investigators identified a target in Jalisco, Mexico, as a leader in the organization who facilitated shipments of cocaine to Louisville, finding that shipments were being stored in concealed compartments of “trap vehicles.” The drugs would be divided for local distribution when they arrived in Louisville, he said.
Investigators stopped three of the four “trap vehicles” identified during the investigation, in which they found “large quantities” of cocaine and money, McWilliams said.
ATF Louisville Field Division spokesperson Jennifer Hicks said investigators were able to link some of the firearms seized in the investigation to a 2022 homicide and a 2021 incident when someone fired shots at a Louisville Metro Police officer. Many of the recovered guns were “straw purchased,” she said, meaning they were bought legally and transferred to an individual who is not allowed to own a gun under the law.
Officials from the ATF Louisville Field Division, DEA and other federal and local law agencies hosted a news conference May 2 to discuss a long-term investigation of a transnational drug and firearm trafficking operation.
A total of seven people have been indicted in federal court in connection with this investigation, though four have not yet been arrested, McWilliams said.
The three individuals who have been arrested, Jose Martin Romero, Toshaunbe Bell and James Gibson, have all pleaded not guilty and will stand trial in late June, according to court records filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky.
Contact reporter Killian Baarlaer at kbaarlaer@gannett.com or @bkillian72 on X.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: 3 arrests in gun, drug trafficking investigation in Louisville