Twenty-one people have been charged in federal court following a yearslong federal investigation into possible drug trafficking involving several universities in North Carolina.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office and the Drug Enforcement Agency began an investigation in November 2018, CBS 17 reported on Thursday. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s chapters of Phi Gamma Delta, Kappa Sigma, and Beta Theta Pi were all allegedly involved in the trafficking, according to court documents.
One of the defendants was a Delta Chi from Appalachian State University, and investigators said that drugs were being sold at Duke University.
The Justice Department said that the “drug ring funneled over a thousand pounds of marijuana, several hundred kilograms of cocaine, and significant quantities of other drugs into these college campuses. Estimates of the total drug proceeds are not presently available, but they exceeded 1.5 million dollars.”
The first person arrested as part of the sweeping investigation was 27-year-old Francisco Javier Ochoa Jr., 27, of California. Ochoa was indicted in November 2019 on drug distribution charges. As part of his arrest, authorities seized 148.75 pounds of marijuana, 442 grams of cocaine, 189 Xanax pills, steroids, and other illegal substances in addition to more than $27,000 in cash. Payments for the drugs were allegedly made through the mail and the mobile payment app Venmo.
From July until December, 20 people were arrested, all but one of whom were in their 20s. They have been given a variety of charges, including conspiracy to distribute cocaine, distribution of LSD, and conspiracy to distribute marijuana, among others.
The DEA said that the investigation is continuing.
