Montana drug operation convicts 20 defendants, seizes 25 guns and more than half a million dollars in methamphetamine

GREAT FALLS, Mont. — The completion of a multi-agency operation in Montana was announced Thursday in which 20 defendants were convicted for methamphetamine trafficking, firearm and money laundering charges, and resulted in seizing more than a half million dollars’ worth of “meth.”  Operation Highline Crystal Highway was announced in a news conference June 18 hosted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Montana.

Operation Highline Crystal Highway joined more than a dozen law enforcement agencies in Montana and California, and resulted in seizing an estimated 13 pounds of meth, and also identified another estimated 50 pounds of meth involved in the drug conspiracy.  Law enforcement also seized 25 guns as part of the operation.  The guns were either traded directly for meth or traded as payment for debt owed for meth.  The defendants are also responsible for a monetary judgment totaling about $2.4 million for the money gained from the meth-trafficking conspiracy, which includes nearly $56,000 in money laundering proceeds.

This case was investigated by Russell County (Montana) Drug Task Force, which includes representation from the following agencies:  Great Falls (Montana) Police Department; Cascade County (Montana) Sheriff’s Office; Teton County (Montana) Sheriff’s Office; the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Border Patrol; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.  This task force also collaborated with the following agencies:  Havre (Montana) Tri-Agency Task Force, Internal Revenue Service’s Montana Division of Criminal Investigation, Montana National Guard Counter Drug Task Force, the California Highway Patrol, and Orange County (California) Sheriff’s Office.

“This multi-agency collaboration is a testament to the power of strength in numbers,” said U.S. Attorney Michael W. Cotter of the District of Montana.  “This operation dismantled an acute and violent threat to the people of Great Falls, Montana, and surrounding communities and I am pleased to announce the conviction of the 20th defendant in this operation.”

“It was a great investigative effort between local, state and federal agencies targeting a very significant drug distribution network in the Great Falls area and a Mexican source of supply based in California,” said Resident Agent in Charge Joe Kirkland of the DEA.  “By dismantling a criminal organization of this size, the task force has had a huge impact on the distribution of methamphetamine in Montana.”

The 20th defendant who was sentenced June 18 in Great Falls was Joshua Alberto Rodriguez, 29, of Los Angeles, California.  He was sentenced after pleading guilty to crimes involving meth, firearm and money laundering conspiracies.  U.S. District Court Judge Brian Morris of the District of Montana sentenced Rodriguez to more than 22 years in prison, which is to be followed by five years’ supervised release.  The court also ordered that Rodriguez was liable, along with the other defendants, for about $2.4 million in proceeds and nearly $56,000 in money laundering proceeds. 

Operation Highline Crystal Highway is a major multi-agency drug investigation first launched in late 2013. Law enforcement discovered a large-scale drug- and firearm-trafficking organization in north central Montana and beyond, which included suppliers out of Los Angeles, routinely bringing pounds of meth to Great Falls.  Once in Great Falls, the meth was distributed in Great Falls, Havre, Montana and Butte, Montana.  In the final arrest that took place outside a Great Falls restaurant, law enforcement found one defendant with a loaded 9mm semi-automatic pistol in his waistband, as well as a loaded .40-caliber semi-automatic pistol in one of the take-out bags with about 70 rounds of ammunition.  Agents also seized about five pounds of meth from the defendant’s hotel room.  The DEA tested the meth and its purity level was 100 percent.  Meth seized during earlier parts of the operation also resulted in extremely high purity levels — ranging from 97 to 100 percent.

Law enforcement seized 25 guns, 19 of which were handguns and monetary judgments against defendants totaling about $2.4 million.  Based on evidence collected during the investigation, other guns discussed by defendants or used in trade for drugs, but not recovered, included the FN Five Seven (5.7mm, referred to as the “Cop Killer”), AR-15 and AK-47.  These weapons were likely attractive to this group because they are capable of piercing body armor.  A large-caliber handgun, the Desert Eagle .50-caliber pistol, was also seized.

“These convictions serve to put criminals on notice that if you bring illegal drugs into this community, we will employ whatever means necessary to find you and bring you to justice, wherever you are,” said Police Chief David Bowen of the Great Falls Police Department.

To assist in investigating the Great Falls meth influx, law enforcement began to use a variety of investigative techniques, including physical surveillance, obtaining phone records, financial documents and search warrants in order to ascertain the location information on cellular phones and vehicles, and utilizing undercover agents to infiltrate the organization.  Over the course of the investigation, agents obtained 49 search warrants and a wiretap to monitor phone calls and the location of suspects.

A Montana grand jury ultimately indicted 20 defendants responsible for the drug trafficking organization.  Nineteen of the defendants pleaded guilty and one was convicted at trial.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jessica Betley and Tara Elliott, District of Montana.