Wikipedia

Joaquin Guzman-Loera is the head of the Sinaloa Cartel. He's also one of the richest men in the world.

​The Sinaloa drug cartel recently suffered what local law enforcement agencies are considering a "significant blow" -- a 15-month investigation has led to the arrest of more than 200 people, the seizure of hundreds of pounds of various drugs, and close to $8 million in cash.

Just how "significant" a blow the bust really is is debatable (more on that below).

The Tempe Police Department, in collaboration with the Phoenix DEA Strike Force Group, "were able to dismantle and take down an extensive trafficking cell" they say is connected to the Mexico-based cartel.

"These drug traffickers are conducting a dirty business," Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne says. "Their customers are both adults and children, their products are poison, and their profits enrich Mexican drug lords enabling them to continue this cycle of criminality, abuse and death."

According to Tempe police, the investigation, known as "Operation Crank Call," started after a Tempe police officer busted up a drug deal while on routine patrol. One of the two men busted was found to be delivery boy for the cartel, dropping off drugs to buyers in Tempe, Phoenix, and other Valley cities.

The investigation led to the following:

More >>

MCSO

Sara Petsinger

​Sara Petsinger, 31, is going to need a new job -- her meth/topless massage business was shut down yesterday when she was arrested for selling meth and heroin to an undercover Mesa police officer...in a school zone...as an 8-year-old slept in her apartment.

Petsinger and her co-defendant, 49-year-old Christine Petsinger, face nearly a dozen felony charges each for selling drugs to the officer on two separate occasions. In both instances, Christine Petsinger's 8-year-old son was in the apartment -- in one case, the two smoked meth with the boy in the home.

According to court documents obtained by New Times, Christine Petsinger arranged a meth deal between Sara Petsinger and a supposed tweeker on December 2. The tweeker, as we mentioned, was actually an undercover Mesa cop.

Court records don't say how the Petsingers are related, but their ages suggest Christine is Sara's mother.

More >>

Joseph Larosa

​Joseph Jamie Larosa is apparently so impressed with his "big cock" that he's spent that past several months cruising around Tempe offering to show it to children, which is what led to his arrest last week.

Larosa, it turns out, not only has a thing for little kids, but crystal meth, too.

Larosa was arrested at his home Friday after the Tempe Police Department released a composite sketch of a man who's been trying to lure kids into his car in several separate alleged incidents over the past seven months.

More >>

Brian Hopf

​A Chandler meth head who pleaded guilty in June to second-degree murder in the death of his 3-week-old daughter was sentenced to 22 years in prison this morning.

In addition to the 22 years for second-degree murder, Brian Hopf was hit with 14.95 years for child abuse.

The sentences will run consecutively, courtesy of Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Robert Gottsfield.

Hopf was initially charged with first-degree murder and was deemed competent to stand trial in April.

Hopf was arrested in September 2009 after his daughter, Isabella, was admitted to a Chandler hospital with life-threatening injuries, including multiple skull fractures, fractured ribs, and trauma to her body.

More >>

www.everfunny.com

​According to the Department of Homeland Security, a 67-year-old man tried to bring 51 pounds of crystal meth across the U.S./Mexico border yesterday.

Easy, border hawks -- he's a United States citizen.

DHS says the suspect, who the agency hasn't identified, was stopped at the Dennis DeConcini Port of Entry near Nogales and asked to submit to a secondary search of his vehicle.

More >>

MCSO

Kind of speaks for itself.

​Alan John Shepard was minding his own business Monday morning when his meddling neighbors decided to call the police accusing him of peddling meth.

Phoenix police officers showed up at his place, near 4th Avenue and Vineyard, with a search warrant in hand, and tagged him for dangerous drug transportation and misconduct involving weapons.

Shepard's a convicted felon so he doesn't have the right to own a firearm, let alone keep a shotgun next to his bed, which is exactly what he was doing according to court records obtained by New Times.

But his arrest isn't the real story here. The story is his face (or lack thereof), which looks even more haunting in his profile pic. Check it out after the jump.

More >>

MCSO

Mark Barrera Ramos

​Some things in life require intense courage and willpower -- like the guy who went to the Surprise Police Department to tell the cops he was raped by his meth dealer.

According to documents obtained by New Times, the man told police he was at the Surprise house of 41-year-old Mark Barrera Ramos trying to get back his mother's ring -- which Ramos took from him as a down payment for some meth in December.

More >>

Tags:

arizona, meth, meth dealer, meth dealer rape, surprise, surprise police

MCSO

Shane Christian Chavis was found having a naked picnic in a dollar store bathroom before covering the store in Silly String.

​If you think the restroom at a Phoenix dollar store is an inappropriate place to strip down for an impromptu naked picnic featuring items you stole from the store, you're right. However, if you just got out of jail and have been doing meth for four days, it might not seem all that taboo -- which apparently was the case for a Scottsdale man.

According to court documents obtained by New Times, about 9:45 p.m. Tuesday, two female employees at the Dollar Tree in the 3900 block of East Thomas Road in Phoenix noticed water flowing  from under the door of the store's restroom. The woman knocked on the door, and there he was: 31-year-old Shane Christian Chavis, naked and chowing down on food he'd taken from the store.

More >>

www.digitalradiocentral.com

​A Pinal County Superior Court judge this morning slapped the wrist of a Tucson woman convicted of peddling nearly $10,000 worth of crystal meth -- she was sentenced to a mere 18 months probation.

Perhaps stupidity creativity points were awarded to 27-year-old Vanessa Concepcion Gaxiola when Judge Howard Fell considered her sentencing after she pleaded guilty to facilitation to possess a dangerous drug for sale -- the meth was found stuffed into a bag of Lay's potato chips...barbecue-flavored, to be precise.

More >>

Maricopa County Sheriff's Office

Who keeps their ex-girlfriend's ID? Methheads.

​According to a Maricopa County Sheriff's Deputy, Isabel Beltran is one of the more-honest meth heads in the valley -- even though she was using an ex-girlfriend's ID and a forged prescription to buy drugs for a mysterious woman at Walgreens pharmacy last night.

About 8 p.m., Beltran showed up at a Walgreens on West Indian School Road in Phoenix with a prescription for an unspecified drug and her ex-girlfriend's ID. A Walgreens pharmacist noticed that Beltran did not look like the person on the ID and called the cops, who searched Beltran and found meth hidden in a cigarette box.

Beltran asked the arresting officer with what she was being charged. The cop responded that he would let her know once he'd read her her Miranda Rights.

"If it's about the prescription," she responded, "some girl gave it to me to get for her."

More >>