This Is The Largest Drug Bust In The History Of Colorado

Colorado has been linked to drugs, and in a lot of ways, it is unfair. 

Get our free mobile app

Everyone outside of the state thinks all Coloradans are a bunch of stoners. In fact, I’d wager that many think we’ve got the most potheads in the US. However, we’re not even in the top 5.

However, it’s been found that Colorado does have a bit of a drug problem. This absolutely isn’t to say that the majority of Coloradans do have an issue, but in a study, the state got ranked #5 for states with the biggest drug problems. 

With that being said, let’s take a look back in history to find the biggest drug bust in Colorado’s history. 

February 9, 2012 Was Likely Colorado’s Biggest Drug Bust of All Time

Sure, 2012 was the same year that recreational marijuana was legalized, but it was also the same year that a seriously huge amount of hard drugs were seized by the FBI. 

On February 9, 2012, the FBI uncovered a truly unbelievable amount of cocaine, crack, and methamphetamine from a large web of people. 

In fact, the total number of people who were apprehended and charged in the bust, with 80 individuals being arrested and 17 on the run at the time. The over 100 people across the Front Range who were charged in the bust is what makes this quite possibly Colorado's largest drug bust.  

It took 500 state and federal officers that spanned 40 different agencies to apprehend each of the suspects.

In total, 26,129 grams of cocaine, 1,000 grams of crack, and a pound of methamphetamine were confiscated by police.

Honorable Mention: The Drug Bust on July 6, 2022

Another massive drug bust occurred just under two years ago, and its scale was also extreme. While the number of suspects apprehended were not nearly as many as the aforementioned case, the sheer volume is what was shocking.

In December of 2021, the Drug Enforcement Agency began a probe that involved a wiretap investigation. 

Through the probe, officials found 9.4 pounds of heroin, a kilogram of cocaine, and a truly shocking number of fentanyl pills, 200,000 in total.

They also confiscated stolen merchandise that totaled $60,000, along with four guns.