Law enforcement officials say they've executed the largest and most complex heroin bust in the history of the Rocky Mountain region: Operation Chump Change netted 273 pounds of brown heroin valued at $40 million, and methamphetamine and cocaine worth about $1.5 million.
In all, 54 state and three federal indictments were handed down in the coordinated effort between the Colorado Attorney General’s office, the US attorney, IRS, DEA and local law enforcement.
US Attorney John Walsh says the operation launched in 2013 to investigate heroin trafficking and money laundering in the Denver metro area, and it dealt a significant blow to a highly organized trafficking network that spread from Mexico across the western United States.