OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – The U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma said federal, state, and local agencies worked to bring together the convictions of 275 people linked to drug trafficking networks, inside Oklahoma prisons.
The investigation, which was five years in the making, was four independent, separate and unrelated investigations of different drug trafficking organizations.
Other gang members and associates were convicted from multiple group.
“The Irish Mob, the Aryan Brotherhood and the fourth was just an independent organization,” said Bob Troester, U.S. Attorney for the Western District.
Troester said investigators learned 30 inmates, inside prison walls, were using contraband cell phones to organize drug trafficking operations with people on the outside.
“We used court approved wiretaps on those cell phones,” said Troester.
After investigating, federal, state and local agencies help bring convictions on four department of corrections workers connected to the crimes.
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More than 1,000 pounds of meth, heroin, and cocaine were taken off the streets. Nearly 400 guns and $1.3 million in cash was also seized.
Several local agencies helped in the investigations including Moore, Edmond and Oklahoma City PD. Oklahoma City police chief, Wade Gourley, said “this case demonstrates that an incarcerated violent offenders can still present a threat to public safety.”