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Fellowship members and students at the University of North Carolina and Duke University were part of a massive drug trafficking ring that, for years, smuggled drugs across three college campuses, have federal prosecutors announced Thursday.
Federal law enforcement officials recently charged 21 people in connection with the scheme following an investigation that began in November 2018.
The illegal drug activity involved members of the Phi Gamma Delta, Kappa Sigma and Beta Theta Pi fraternity chapters of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill between 2017 and the spring of 2020, according to court documents.
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The drug network funneled more than half a ton of marijuana, several hundred kilograms of cocaine, and significant amounts of other drugs to UNC-Chapel Hill, Duke University, and the State University of Appalachian Mountains, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said the total amount of money generated by the trafficking program was not immediately available, but exceeded $ 1,500,000.
The suspects are between 21 and 35 years old, the majority being in their twenties. It is not known how many are or were students in the three schools.
“I want to be very clear: this is not the situation where you have unique users – where you have a 19 year old sipping a beer or you have someone taking a puff of joint on the porch. back of a “frat house,” US attorney Matthew GT Martin said at a press conference, according to The News & Observer of Raleigh. “These are 21 hardened drug dealers.”
In an emailed statement Thursday afternoon, UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz said none of the suspects were currently registered as a UNC student, but the school “will remain vigilant” in the fight against the consumption of illegal drugs.
“The University is committed to working with law enforcement to fully understand the involvement of any individual or academic organization so that disciplinary action can be taken,” Guskiewicz said.
Court documents say investigators used information from sources and defendants, as well as undercover and surveillance purchases. They determined that the suspects were shipping cocaine from California via the U.S. Postal Service and transporting marijuana in motor vehicles.
The investigation was conducted by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, the United States Attorney’s Office in Greensboro said in a press release.
Authorities have identified Francisco Javier Ochoa Jr., 27, of Turlock, Calif., As the first person charged in the investigation. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Ochoa was indicted in November 2019 with conspiracy to distribute 5 kilograms (11 pounds) or more of cocaine and conspiracy to distribute 100 kilograms (220 pounds) or more of marijuana.
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According to court documents, Ochoa provided approximately 90 kilograms (200 pounds) of marijuana and 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) of cocaine each week to a person who cooperated with Orange County investigators from March 2017 to March 22, 2019. .
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Ochoa pleaded guilty and was sentenced last month to 73 months in prison and five years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay a confiscation judgment of $ 250,000, prosecutors said. Ochoa’s lawyers did not immediately respond to an email Thursday requesting comment.
Between July and December 2020, 20 more defendants were indicted, the U.S. prosecutor’s office said. Five were indicted by a grand jury with conspiracy to distribute cocaine and conspiracy to distribute marijuana. Eight others were charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine and seven others were charged in October and December with various offenses.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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