Observant bystander travelling through Indiana led DEA Chicago Field Division to historic 225 pound methamphetamine seizure

TERRE HAUTE – DEA Assistant Special Agent in Charge, Michael Gannon said, “On September 15, 2020, an alert citizen noticed six duffle bags in the grass area off of Interstate-70 East by mile marker 37 (halfway between Terre Haute and Indianapolis, Indiana).  Upon receiving the information, members of the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office and the DEA Terre Haute Post of Duty responded to the scene, resulting in the seizure of 225 pounds of methamphetamine.  This amount of methamphetamine has an estimated street value of over ten million dollars and is the largest single seizure of methamphetamine for the state of Indiana and the DEA Chicago Field Division.  Taking this much methamphetamine off the street is a huge win.  DEA commends the concerned citizen who made this seizure possible.”

“The vast majority of low-cost, high-purity methamphetamine entering the United States is manufactured in industrial-scale labs in Mexico and ultimately smuggled into the United States. The two major transnational criminal organizations responsible for the production and trafficking of methamphetamine are the Sinaloa Cartel and Cartel Jalisco New Generation (CJNG), which are flooding our communities and country with methamphetamine,” Assistant Special Agent in Charge Gannon stated. “It is important for these drug trafficking organizations to know that DEA and our state, local, and federal partners are using all available resources to prevent them from peddling poison into our communities.”

Anyone with information about the 225 pounds of methamphetamine is urged to call the DEA Evansville Resident Office at (812) 465-6457.