Barragan Drug Trafficking Gang Busted
The Mexican crime family known to South Sound law enforcement agencies as the Barragan Drug Trafficking Gang source of much of the methamphetamine smuggled into Western Washington and the Western U.S.- was rolled up last week in a multistate wave of arrests. Authorities believe they have successfully dismantled the organization with the arrests of 22 members, many of whom lived in Thurston, Cowlitz, Grays Harbor and Pacific counties. Nineteen others also face charges in connection with drug trafficking. The Barragan business was no small enterprise. Officials say the tight-knit crime ring efficiently smuggled about 200 pounds of crystal methamphetamine into the United States each month. In Western Washington, the outfit used the Olympia-Lacey region as a staging area, selling about half its product locally and shipping the rest to other parts of the country. The organization's activities in the region stretch back a couple decades, and it controlled the meth trade along the Interst...