By AP/KWMU
St. Louis – A federal grand jury in St. Louis has indicted 36 people in a multimillion-dollar drug trafficking ring.
The indictment handed up a week ago was sealed until arrests began this morning.
The defendants range in age from 22 to 49 and are accused of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine, ecstasy and marijuana.
Thirty-one are from the St. Louis area, two from Atlanta, and one each from three cities in Texas: Houston, Mission and Bismarck.
U.S. Attorney James Martin says traffickers led by Jorge Trevino of Houston distributed drugs from Mexico to St. Louis. He says another organization led by Deron Gatling worked with the Trevino organization.
In 2003, after a rift, the Gatling group moved to Atlanta. Both allegedly continued to distribute drugs in St. Louis.