9 arrested in federal drug trafficking investigation at New Mexico prison

MILAN, NM – Nine people were arrested this week in connection with a suspected drug trafficking operation at a federal prison in a small New Mexico town, authorities announced Friday.

The arrests were made Wednesday as the FBI and U.S. Marshals Service raided 13 homes in the northwestern part of the state, mostly in Albuquerque, New Mexico’s largest city.

Those arrested included two people currently incarcerated at the Cibola County Correctional Center in Milan, an hour’s drive west of Albuquerque. About 750 people, including some in immigration detention, are being held in the private prison.

In a news release announcing the arrests, authorities described the drug trafficking operation as a “significant drug trafficking network” that extended beyond the walls of the minimum security prison and included inmates’ spouses, family members and associates.

Recently, correctional officers found more than 1,000 fentanyl pills, heroin and methamphetamine at the jail, according to a copy of the federal government’s request to search the 13 homes this week. Authorities said they seized 15 firearms, ammunition, fentanyl, methamphetamine and thousands of dollars during the searches.

“The Department of Justice will not tolerate the exploitation of addiction for profit in our prisons,” Alexander Uballez, the U.S. attorney in New Mexico, said in a statement.