Operation Blue Storm was a successful police investigation of an illegal

marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...

smuggling ring operating in

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

and

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

. During a lengthy investigation in 2012, police investigators uncovered links between the South Family Bloods street gang of

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

, and the Sinaloa Cartel of northwestern Mexico, which was supplying South Family with illegal marijuana smuggled into and out of Arizona. The Nebraska investigation resulted in the indictment and conviction of 15 individuals, and the seizure of $60,000 in property, while the investigation in Arizona resulted in the indictment of 11 others, who, according to police, were directly linked to the Sinaloa Cartel. Police officials also announced that the illegal marijuana ring was responsible for smuggling 16,000 pounds of product into the United States, with a street value of approximately $7.75 million. On May 13, 2013, the

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal c ...

's office released an assessment of Operation Blue Storm, and credited it as the "most outstanding regional drug trafficking case" of 2012. Six police officers and one civilian were honored with a national ceremony on May 7, 2013, including Officer Dennis O'Connor, Sergeant John Brazda, Officer Shawn McAlpin, Officer Zeb Simmones, Officer John Stuck and Officer R.J. Radik (retired). During the ceremony, U.S. Attorney Deborah Gilg made the following statement: "The outstanding work done by this collaboration of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies disrupted a major tentacle of the Sinaloa Mexican Cartel to the Midwestern region.... This demonstrates law enforcement teamwork at its best." The following police agencies participated in Operation Blue Storm: Bellevue Police Department (Nebraska),

Omaha Police Department The Omaha Police Department (OPD) is the principal law enforcement agency of the city of Omaha, Nebraska, United States. It is nationally accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies. The OPD is the largest law enfo ...

(Nebraska), Peoria Police Department (Arizona) and the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

(FBI).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blue Storm, Operation Battles of the Mexican drug war 2012 in Arizona 2012 in Nebraska Operations against organized crime in the United States Bloods Sinaloa Cartel

See also

References