NEWPORT NEWS, VIRGINIA - A federal indictment charges 32 people with importing more than ten-thousand pounds of marijuana and 40 kilograms of cocaine to Virginia and other areas of the country. <br>
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To avoid police, couriers sometimes drove the drugs across the country in cars carrying women and children and bearing ``pro-family'' bumper stickers, according to a 168-page indictment unsealed Wednesday. <br>
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George Franklin Haugen, formerly of Poquoson, Virginia, is accused of being one of two kingpins in the operation. The indictment alleges that Haugen received, stored and packaged drugs at a waterfront home. <br>
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The other man charged as a kingpin, Anthony Joseph Pacheco, shipped the drugs from Albuquerque, New Mexico, to southeastern Virginia, according to the indictment. Some drugs also were sent to Harrisonburg and Staunton, Virginia, and Chicago, Atlanta and Pittsburgh. <br>
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Assistant U.S. Attorney Fernando Groene said a significant drug trafficking and money laundering operation has been dismantled. <br>
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Police were rounding up 32 people charged with 122 counts in two separate indictments. <br>
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The drug ring's activities stretch back to at least 1996, according to the indictment.
