KALAMAZOO (WKZO AM/FM) — A drug ring that has shipped over 400 pounds of crystal methamphetamine into Kalamazoo over the past two years has resulted in two arrests. We reported the raid on Reed Street yesterday morning. It’s the third major meth ring operating out of South West Michigan that has been penetrated and busted up in the last year and a half.
Det. Lt. James Lass says they use the U.S. Mail or commercial package delivery services or mules to ship the drugs to Kalamazoo, where its broken down into marketable packages and distributed throughout the area.
On Tuesday the Southwest Enforcement Team got a tip that another shipment was on the way and intercepted it in a car occupied by an elderly couple. They seized 27-pounds of ICE hidden in the vehicle.
That led to the arrest of Andre and Tyrone Hollin at the home on Kalamazoo’s south side.
The two men in their 50’s, were arraigned yesterday afternoon in Federal Court in Grand Rapids. It also resulted in a raid in California and the seizure of another 30 pounds of the highly addictive drug.
They believe as President Trump pointed out in his address Tuesday night that it is coming over the Mexican border where huge batches of the drugs are being manufactured by drug cartels. They believe it’s being smuggled through checkpoints in the millions of vehicles that cross the border every week.
These arrests are the result of a 6-month long investigation into this particular group of smugglers, and more arrests may follow.
