15 men charged in drug trafficking operation

Fifteen people charged accused of taking part in a transnational drug trafficking operation that imported massive amounts of drugs right here into D.C. Sydney Persing is live in our newsroom tonight with new details. Sydney? Well, Jim, Angie, those 15 defendants, they are charged under a 12-count superseding indictment in connection with what prosecutors call a sprawling transnational drug trafficking organization. They say it brought massive amounts of meth and GBL, a popular date rape drug, right here to D.C., along with other East Coast cities. Take a look here at some of those drugs pictured. You might remember five months ago, federal authorities announced 11 arrests of people accused of helping orchestrate this trafficking operation, bringing drugs here from as far as South Korea. Today, prosecutors announced a spinoff to that investigation. They say they've charged four additional people now. U.S. Attorney for D.C. Janine Pirro said authorities arrested those four new suspects in a takedown yesterday that involved five residential search warrants, three warrants for storage units and two vehicle warrants. She said, interestingly, three of those defendants did not have extensive drug trafficking history despite the complex nature of the alleged operation. These were, relatively speaking, well-educated individuals trafficking massive amounts of dangerous narcotics in our nation's capital and bringing them directly to the streets to do business. business. Now, what's interesting is methamphetamines in the nation's capital are rising. That is a fact that we take extremely seriously right now. We see the trend and it is real. Pirro said the defendants face a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison if convicted. Jim, Angie.