WASHINGTON -- A federal grand jury Thursday indicted eight people, including four connected with national race car competitions, in a $15 million cocaine trafficking scheme operating from Portland, Ore.
Federal officials said an investigation showed an international cocaine trafficking group centered in Portland was responsible for the smuggling and distribution of an estimated 500 pounds of cocaine with a wholesale value of $15 million.
Named in the 37-count indictment were James Barnard Jr. of Portland, and Jerry Ruth of Seattle, who both have been involved in 'top national fuel dragster competitions,' according to a government news release.
Barnard and Jose Carlos Chavez-Vernaza, of Lake Oswego, Ore., were identified in the indictment as the principals in the organization. They were charged with engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise that carries a maximum life imprisonment with no parole.
The government said the cocaine smuggled into the United States was believed to have come principally from Peru and involved conspirators and couriers from Argentina, Chile and Peru.
The investigation resulted in the arrests of five people a year ago in Lima, Peru, on charges of possessing a large amount of cocaine and six suitcases designed with sophisticated traps to smuggle cocaine into the United States.
One of those arrested in the crew operated a clandestine cocaine laboratory, the government said.
Money and cocaine couriers for the organization also have been arrested in Chile and Mexico as well as in Miami and Los Angeles.
Others charged with conspiracy and distribution of cocaine were Michael D. Gogan and Michael G. Palmer, both of Puyallup, Wash., who also have been involved in car races; Julio Rodolfo Morchio-Codoy, Jaime A. Santos-Chacon, and Diego H. Romani-Jimenez. The hometowns of Morchio-Codoy, Santos-Chacon and Romani-Jimenez were not available.
The case resulted from an investigation by the Northwest Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, one of 12 regional trask forces set up by the Justice Department in a crackdown on drug trafficking.
Justice Department officials said the investigation is continuing and there may be more indictments in the case.
