Feds: International heroin ring that targeted Mid-Atlantic busted

Federal authorities say they’ve busted the leaders of an international heroin ring that targeted the mid-Atlantic region by smuggling drugs through Washington Dulles International Airport. Eight people — two from Alexandria, two from Maryland and four from Ghana — are charged in the case, the ringleaders of an organization that used human couriers to bring suitcases lined with drugs to the D.C. region, prosecutors said.

International drug rings “pose a sustained, serious threat,” said U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Neil MacBride. “We must confront them head-on.”