Federal authorities have indicted a Minnesota man and fourteen others in connection with an alleged Mexico-based drug trafficking operation that authorities say distributed massive amounts of narcotics in the Twin Cities and surrounding areas.
An indictment announced this week charges 45-year-old Clinton J. Ward with engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, known as the “kingpin statute”, which is rarely pursued by prosecutors and carries lengthy minimum prison sentence if convicted.
He’s also facing charges related to the distribution and possession of meth.
Over the course of the lengthy investigation, more than 50 suspects with connections to Ward have been charged with methamphetamine trafficking and other drug trafficking offenses, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
At least 14 suspects have been federally indicted in connection with Ward’s alleged operations in Minnesota.
“Today’s indictment disrupts one of the most sophisticated and significant drug trafficking organizations we have prosecuted in my tenure as U.S. Attorney, and I am grateful to the DEA and FBI for their hard work bringing this operation to justice,” U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger shared in a statement Tuesday. “The Department of Justice would also like to recognize the Mexican authorities for their assistance on this case.”
Court documents show that on January 4, 2019, Ward was arrested in the parking lot of a motel in Vadnais Heights with more than eight pounds of methamphetamine.
However, Ward fled to Jalisco, Mexico, within weeks of arrest. There, prosecutors allege he met up with Mexican and American drug traffickers who had ties to the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).
From January 2019 until his arrest in March of this year, Ward allegedly operated his own Mexican-based drug trafficking organization, sourced by the cartel, which distributed thousands of pounds of meth to Minnesota, according to federal authorities.
Prosecutors allege Ward used an existing cartel pipeline to move large drug loads into the U.S. The shipments were later broken down into smaller batches and taken into Minnesota through private vehicles and semi-trailers.
Law enforcement have allegedly seized more than 1,600 pounds of meth, four kilograms of cocaine, two kilograms of fentanyl, 30,000 counterfeit fentanyl pills, 45 firearms, and more than $2.5 million in drug profits related to the ring.
On March 11, Ward was arrested by Mexican authorities and returned to the U.S. to face prosecution.
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