BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) - Six people have pleaded not guilty to federal charges of trafficking methamphetamine from California to the Northern Plains.
The Billings Gazette reports (https://tinyurl.com/m9cojhr ) the defendants entered pleas Tuesday in Billings federal court.
They’re among 11 people arrested in March. FBI affidavits described an operation that shipped more than 2 pounds of meth to suspects in Billings and Roundup, Mont., and Rapid City, S.D., this year.
Authorities say those locations could serve as staging points to move drugs into the Bakken oil field.
A multi-count indictment was filed Friday but remains sealed.
The arrests represent at least the third major trafficking ring to be targeted by state and federal law enforcement as authorities crack down on drug dealers trying to profit off the oil money flowing into the region.
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