‘Blowfish’ Dismantles Massive Drug Group

ICE agents seized more than $48,000 in cash, three ounces of cocaine, one ounce of cocaine base, one pound of marijuana and a set of scales during the arrest of just one of the more than 30 persons indicted as a result of Operation “Blowfish.” ICE Photo

NORFOLK, Va.(ICE) — ICE agents, leading a joint operation, have dismantled a large-scale drug and money laundering organization that spanned much of the southeastern United States.

As part of Operation “Blowfish,” ICE agents arrested 36 individuals on drug and money laundering violations in Virginia, Maryland, Texas, Georgia, Kentucky and other states. The individuals are charged in 324-count indictment issued in the Eastern District of Virginia January 14.

ICE worked on the two-year investigation with the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Internal Revenue Service and the Peninsula Narcotics Enforcement Task Force of Virginia, which is comprised of officers from the Hampton, Newport News and Poquoson Police Departments and the Virginia State Police. Also assisting in the investigation were officers from the Henrico County and City of Norfolk Police Departments.

Mike Netherland, Resident Agent-in-Charge for ICE in Norfolk, Va., said, “This was one of the most significant and successful Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force investigations ever conducted in the Hampton Roads area. The coordinated arrests in Virginia and other states around country would not have been possible without unnumerous federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.”

According to the indictment, beginning in September 1996 the drug ring moved about $20 million in illicit drugs across several states, including Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri and Texas. The indictment charged members of the group with establishing fictitious businesses and laundering the illegal proceeds of the drug sales through bank accounts and credit unions. Some purchased real estate, and some threatened people and carried firearms.

One of those arrested January 24 was Pamela Y. Hoffler-Riddick, an assistant superintendent in charge of 35 schools in Price George’s County, Md. Hoffler-Riddick, 43, was arrested by ICE agents at her home in Rockville, Md., and charged with five counts of money laundering. Hoffler-Riddick allegedly used proceeds from laundering illegal drug money to pay off loans on two houses and a car.

ICE agents seized more than $48,000 in cash, three ounces of cocaine, one ounce of cocaine base, one pound of marijuana and a set of scales during the arrest of just one of the more than 30 persons indicted as a result of Operation “Blowfish.”