ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Today, leaders from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, and the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office join Jarod Forget, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA’s Washington Division, to announce the results of Operation Angels Envy.
Operation Angels Envy involved a set of multi-year investigations, identifying large networks of suppliers and distributors in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, working for a dangerous transnational drug trafficking organization with direct ties to the Sinaloa Cartel. The operation uncovered and dismantled seven (7) violent drug trafficking organization cells in the D.C., Maryland, and Virginia area, and resulted in 33 high-level individuals charged, hundreds of pounds of deadly drugs being taken off the streets, $5.4 million in US Currency, 32 rifles, 81 handguns, and other assets seized.
“This is good work. This is important work,” SAC Forget said at the press conference today. “All of us want and deserve safe neighborhoods. We need to act together to stop and hold those accountable who are bringing drugs and violence into our neighborhoods, and threatening our family’s safety and wellbeing, for their own, selfish gains. I am happy to say, together, we did that today.”
“Much like these drugs having a far-reaching impact in our country, I am proud to say the work of our detectives in Loudoun County in combination with other DEA Task Force members had an even further impact on the operations of the Sinaloa Cartel,” said Loudoun County Sheriff Mike Chapman. “Our law enforcement community must continue to fight this scourge and protect our citizens, and I am glad that we have such dedicated partners in our law enforcement profession that put their lives on the line every day to do just that,” Sheriff Chapman added.
Since May 2017, investigations under Operation Angels Envy led to the identification and takedown of seven independent, violent drug trafficking organizations operating in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area; their Los Angeles-based transportation network, which used tractor-trailers and shipping crates to move ton quantities of methamphetamine, heroin, fentanyl, and other drugs across the country; and their Sinaloa Cartel supply cell. These drug trafficking organizations would then transfer profits and trafficked firearms back to the Sinaloa Cartel. Investigations into the takedown of the transportation network and supply cell led to the identification and takedown of other violent drug trafficking organizations in California, Missouri, Ohio, New England, and New York.
Operation Angels Envy culminated in one of the largest cumulative takedowns in the area – with 33 individuals charged; seizure totals of 473 pounds of methamphetamine, 42 kilograms of fentanyl (enough to potentially cause over 21 million people to die of an overdose – more than the population of D.C., Maryland, Virginia, combined), 9 kilograms of heroin, 129 kilograms of cocaine, and 5,100 pounds of other drugs over $5.3M in drug proceeds 114 firearms (many of which were assault-style weapons); and over $700,000 in jewelry and vehicles.
Special Agent in Charge, Jarod Forget; Acting U.S. Attorney, Raj Parekh; and Loudoun County Sheriff Mike Chapman, made the announcement at a press conference at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Alexandria, Va., today.
SAC Forget would like to thank the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office; Fairfax County Police Department; Arlington Police Department; Alexandria Police Department; Virginia State Police; Vienna Police Department; Homeland Security Investigations, San Diego; U.S. Postal Service Inspection Service; Washington DC, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, Washington D.C.; DEA Los Angeles Division; DEA New England Division; DEA Miami Division; DEA Dayton Resident Office; DEA Mexico Country Office; and the DEA Special Operations Division for their work in Operation Angels Envy investigations. And a special thank you to the Baltimore/ Washington HIDTA and OCDETF for their assistance. SAC Forget would also like to thank the U.S. Attorney’s Office for prosecuting the cases.
