A major bust puts an end to an operation that was delivering several pounds of illegal drugs to Grand Junction.

Wednesday, 11 News learned new details on how that drug operation worked, and how it was stopped.

There's 14 people in custody right now, 13 of them from right here in Mesa County.

The last arrest was made Wednesday in Denver, a final piece to an investigation that's been in the works for over six months.

"This is a ring we've been aware of for quite some time, they've been dealing fairly large amounts," Dan Rubinstein, the chief deputy district attorney for the drug division, said.

And by fairly large, we're talking around 1 kilo, or 2.2 pounds of cocaine into Mesa County every ten days. That's what Federico Lerma and his family are accused of bringing into Grand Junction.

On Sunday, Lerma was arrested after police say they found a kilo of cocaine in the air filter of his car, and another fourth of a pound back at his house.

"He was using his family members to distribute with him, doing things like bringing his 7 month old granddaughter along so as to appear like a family so they wouldn't get stopped," Rubinstein said.

Lerma's wife, Dolores Flores, their daughter, Blanca Lerma and their 16 year old son were all arrested on various drug charges, and child abuse.

According to an affidavit, back in July, a state confidential informant bought cocaine from Lerma twice. The buys were controlled by a drug task force.

Investigators recorded phone calls and used several wire taps to listen to the phone conversations of their top targets.

"This investigation was targeted at the organization, we were aware of who the players were in the organization and we were prepared with arrest warrants on all those people,” Rubinstein said. “The manner and order in which we took them down was a tactical decision."

Today, Ismale Caloca Corez, identified as Lerma's supplier, was taken down in Denver.

Investigators say they think the dismantling of the drug ring will make for a safer community.

"We think we've made a pretty good dent in the cocaine trafficking, we'll be able to tell that much more accurately as we start to see prices rise, and people have a lack of supply," Rubinstein said.

In fact, the 2.5 pounds already seized in the first month of 2012 is ¼ the amount taken the entire year of 2010.

The DEA says that sometimes large busts such as this one can skew numbers on how much police seize.

It says that drugs in Mesa County actually have pretty specific demographics of who uses what drug, so it doesn't expect a spike in methamphetamine use, a drug the task force has been fighting a lot lately.
Lerma and Corez have no bond amount, and will remain behind bars until the 1st appearance before a judge.

Blanca Lerma and Delores Flores each have bonds of $25,000.