Police: Indiana man trafficked meth from California to Midwest
Published 8:56 am Saturday, March 11, 2017
ANDERSON, Ind. — Police in Indiana say a man leading a major methamphetamine ring that extended to a neighboring state drove from the Midwest to California as many as three times a week to pick up shipments of the drug for distribution.
The Drug Task Force in Madison County in Central Indiana Friday revealed details of “Operation Crystal Palace,” a months-long investigation that led to the arrest of Justin Shaul and 25 of his associates.
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According to a press release from the Anderson, Indiana Police Department, Shaul, a former Indiana resident now living in Indianapolis, drove to California one to three times a week, received about five to seven pounds of meth each time and brought the drugs back to Indiana.
The Drug Task Force determined Shaul’s distribution network extended from Evansville to northern Indiana and into parts of Ohio.
Shaul was initially selling the crystal meth from motels in Anderson but, at some point during the investigation, he established residency in Indianapolis. Shaul is suspected of selling methamphetamine in the area with his associates for eight to 10 months.
Shaul was arrested in Elko County, Nevada, while he was driving crystal meth back to Indiana to sell, according to the press release. Investigators did not say when he was arrested. He is currently in custody at the Elko County Jail.
The Anderson, Indiana Herald Bulletin reports about 25 people have been arrested since January with direct or indirect ties to Shaul’s distribution network, including 11 people arrested on methamphetamine-related charges this week.
The probe is believed to be the largest methamphetamine investigation in Madison County history, Drug Task Force officials said.
Law enforcement officials began to see a spike in the amount of crystal methamphetamine-related arrests when the investigation began about 8 to 10 months ago. Investigators said the presence of crystal meth began to replace the typical “shake-and-bake” method, which they called the standard form of production of methamphetamine in Madison County, according to the press release.
Complaints from residents near a house that was raided in relation to the investigation Monday were also part of the success of the operation, said Anderson Police Chief Tony Watters.
“If it wasn’t for them, we really wouldn’t have gotten into this,” Watters said. “Without their information that was sent to us regularly, we wouldn’t have known.”
Filchak writes for the Anderson, Indiana Herald Bulletin.
