It is estimated that well over half of the people that are currently in prison or jail have substance abuse issues. And, one of the more common ways that drug addicts fuel their addiction is by selling drugs or committing other crimes. When a drug addict moves from using drugs to selling or manufacturing drugs, they open themselves to incarceration and a felony criminal record that can follow them for life.
Large Scale Texas Drug Busts
Texas ranks in the top 10 states for trafficking of for Heroin, Fentanyl, Hydrocodone and Oxycodone. As the size and scope of Houston drug busts continue to increase, those with a substance abuse problem should seek rehabilitation and recovery before criminal activity causes legal and financial problems that are difficult to overcome. Here are just a few of the larger Texas drug busts according to the DEA:
- In May 2017, the DEA San Antonio and Houston Offices seized 35 pounds of fraudulent oxycodone tablets containing suspected fentanyl along with four pill presses, one pound of fentanyl powder, 13 pounds of fraudulent Adderall and Xanax tablets.
- In May 2018, CPB in Texas seized almost 80 kilograms of marijuana that was concealed within various pieces of wooden furniture
- In November 2017, 14 Texas defendants were charged with felony offenses for their role in a Dallas-based criminal street gang that distributed cocaine, crack cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamine, and MDMA/oxycodone pills.
Drug addicts are likely to get caught in a drug sting while attempting to buy their drug of choice while meeting a drug dealer in person. When a drug user is caught in a sting operation, they could possibly face similar charges as the drug dealers unless they can prove otherwise.
Houston Drug Arrests Increasing
In a more recent, March 2019 drug operation sting, more than 4 dozen people were arrested and the police confiscated $3.1 million worth of cocaine and marijuana. The DEA worked 3 years in conjunction with other local and federal law enforcement agencies on this investigation they had given the name “Operation Wrecking Ball.” Over 300 agents executed 25 federal search warrants in the Houston metro area.
Just a few weeks before, on Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019, a K-9 unit sniffed out $700,000 worth of cocaine found in the possession of a 65-year-old woman in Fort Bend, TX. This woman now faces a first-degree felony charge of manufacturing/delivery of a controlled substance and a second-degree felony charge of unlawful use of a criminal instrument. It is not uncommon for a single person (usually a drug runner or drug addict) to take the fall for a large drug bust while the real criminal operatives remain on the large.