Drug raids net 19 arrests

Jace Radke

Friday, July 2, 2004 | 11:14 a.m.

A six-month FBI-led investigation into a Las Vegas methamphetamine and cocaine trafficking ring resulted in 19 arrests Thursday as federal agents and police conducted raids throughout the day.

Of the 19 people arrested 11 were charged with immigration violations and eight are facing narcotics-related charges, FBI spokesman Special Agent Todd Palmer said.

The case involved a North Las Vegas Police officer, who shot and killed a man in April while trying to serve a narcotics search warrant. Cipriano Gerardo Lopez, 44, reportedly fired a shot at officers on April 27 as they served the warrant, and one of the officers fired back, killing Lopez.

North Las Vegas Police, who usually release the names of officers involved in shootings after 48 hours, continued to withhold the officer's name, despite the fact that the case came to an end with the raids.

When asked if Thursday's drug busts were in fact the end of the ongoing investigation involving the officer, North Las Vegas Police spokesman Officer Tim Bedwell said he couldn't comment.

Bedwell said that North Las Vegas Police may make a statement as early as Tuesday regarding the officer and the shooting of Lopez.

Local police worked with agents from the FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal agencies to serve search and arrest warrants at two residences and at Salon Mexico, a bar located at 2440 Las Vegas Blvd. North at the corner of Carey Avenue.

"It was an ongoing investigation over the last six months, and a lot of law enforcement agencies have put in a lot of time and effort," Palmer said.

Palmer said he could not comment further on the drug bust, saying that the court documents involved in the case, including search and arrest warrant affidavits, remain sealed. Drugs were seized in the raids, but Palmer said he couldn't comment on the amount until the documents were unsealed.

Natalie Collins, a spokeswoman with the U.S. attorney's office, said prosecutors were preparing a motion to unseal certain court documents in the case, but as of this morning those documents remained sealed.

The public should learn more about the shooting of Lopez at a coroner's inquest scheduled for July 23.

The shooting occurred about 1:50 p.m. in an apartment in the 500 block of North 15th Street near Bonanza Road and Maryland Parkway.

All of the officers who went to the apartment to serve the search warrant, including the officer who shot Lopez, were wearing masks to conceal their identities. The officer who shot Lopez is a six-year veteran of the department and had never previously fired his weapon in the line of duty, Bedwell said.

Police later found 100 grams of methamphetamine and 144 grams of marijuana in the apartment along with measuring scales and other paraphernalia.