A year and a half undercover investigation into drug and gun trafficking is over. Spirit Lake police chief Jeff Hanson says his department spearheaded the operation, code named “Operation Broken Arrow.”
An undercover agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms infiltrated what’s described as a large network of drug and gun traffickers in the Iowa Great Lakes region. Twenty five people, whose names are not being released yet, are charged with over 50 felony counts.
Hanson says officials have seized one vehicle, cash, guns, marijuana, cocaine, crack cocaine and ecstasy. Authorities say the investigation was ended when one of the defendants hired the undercover ATF agent to violently assault and disfigure a local man. The intended victim wasn’t hurt and is in federal protective custody.
Fifteen local, state and federal agencies helped Spirit Lake with the investigation.
By Mark Bruggom, KICD, Spencer