The Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office is taking its drug awareness program on the road.
The program “Criminal Groups and the Drugs They Bring Into Our Communities” will be held Dec. 16 at 6:30 p.m. at the Lewis-Arriola Community Center, 21176 Road S, in Lewis.
Audience members must be at least 18.
The presentation is given by Detective Victor Galarza and Sheriff Steve Nowlin. It previously was presented at the Montezuma-Cortez High School. A question and answer session will follow the two-hour presentation.
Law enforcement highlights the trafficking of hard drugs into Southwest Colorado, including meth, heroin and fentanyl.
Galarza says narcotic investigations in Colorado and across the country often link drug sources to Mexican cartel organizations. He describes the threats and practices of Mexican cartels, supply chain of illicit drugs and social impacts of drugs.
Cartels used to rely on the importing marijuana to the U.S., Galarza said during the Cortez event, but that market dried up when it became legal in many states.
“Their focus has changed. Now we see more powerful narcotics,” he said. “They pose the No. 1 threat to the United States and use Colorado as a drug trafficking corridor.”
Drug busts in Montezuma County and the Western Slope have links to the Sinaloa Cartel and Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación, commonly known as CJNG, Galarza said.
Galarza studies the cartels and teaches classes about their operations to law enforcement and government agencies.
He is from Mexico City and worked for six years as a Mexican diplomat in the U.S. before becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen. Galarza has a career in law enforcement and has worked for the Sheriff’s Office since 2012.
