A federal grand jury has indicted seven people, most members of a Mexican Mennonite community working with a drug cartel, accused of moving tons of pot to Colorado Springs and North Carolina.
According to testimony at a detention hearing for one of those charged, Abraham Friesen-Remple, the ring first put the marijuana in the gas tanks of cars and later concealed it inside large farm equipment, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Denver.
So far, only Friesen-Remple is in custody, said Jeff Dorschner, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office. "The rest are fugitives," he said.
Originally, vehicles crossed the border and drove to Colorado Springs, where the marijuana was off-loaded at an auto-body repair shop. Drivers then took the weed to various places across the country.
When the person who ran the body shop was arrested, the organization moved their U.S. trafficking hub from Colorado to North Carolina, where trucks carrying farm equipment continued to distribute the marijuana across the country.
All but one of those indicted are members of a Mexican Mennonite community, Dorschner said.
"The fact that this case involves marijuana in no way reduces its status as a high priority matter, consistent with recent guidance from the Department of Justice on marijuana enforcement issues," U.S. Attorney John Walsh said, according to the release.
Also indicted are: Eduardo Tellez-Ponce, Ulises Castillo-Meraz, Enrique Harms-Groening, David Loewen, Juan Reimer and Pedro Dyke-Friesen.
--Sept. 12, 2013
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