Feds charge 19 in drug trafficking scheme across U.S., Mexico and Canada

Washington — The Justice Department on Tuesday announced charges against 19 people from the U.S., Canada and Mexico for allegedly trafficking large amounts of narcotics like meth, cocaine, and fentanyl throughout North America.

Investigators said the international crime syndicate allegedly purchased the illicit substances wholesale from Mexico and shipped them to U.S. cities like Los Angeles. Canadian "handlers" and "dispatchers" are accused of taking short trips into the U.S. to load the drugs onto long-haul semi-trucks for shipment north of the border, where they could fetch a higher street price.

In all, 12 of the defendants have been arrested and seven remain at large. Investigators said one of the defendants, Robert Scoppa, has ties to Italian organized crime in Montreal. Another, Jesus Ruiz Sandoval Jr., is an alleged large-scale drug trafficker from Mexico, according to the Justice Department, and remains on the run.