413 pounds, valued at $5.6 million
A countywide anti-drug task force has announced a pair of arrests in what it contends is the single, largest methamphetamine bust to occur in the history of Alamance County.
The Alamance Narcotics Enforcement Team, or ANET, issued a news release last week about this record-setting drug seizure, which reportedly yielded 413 pounds of meth with an estimated street value of $5.6 million.
According to ANET, the team’s members discovered this historic haul in the possession of 33-year-old Artemio Rivera Avilez of 2039 Burch Bridge Road, Burlington and 57-year-old Margarito Guzman-Galindo of 2431 North Church Street, Burlington.
The two Hispanic males were ultimately taken into custody on October 10 following an investigation that included assistance from the FBI, the DEA, High Point’s municipal police department, and the sheriff’s departments in both Orange and Alamance counties.
“This operation demonstrates the power of collaboration among our law enforcement partners,” Shelly Katkow-ski, a Burlington police lieutenant who oversees ANET, went on to elaborate in last week’s news release. “By working together, we can disrupt large-scale drug trafficking operations and make a measurable impact on the safety of our communities.”
Avilez and Guzman-Galindo have both been charged with trafficking in methamphetamine. Their bonds have been set at $750,000 apiece.
