Judge sentences 56th defendant in Albuquerque federal sting operation

By Christen Smith

Special Agent in Charge Thomas G. Atteberry, of the ATF Phoenix Field Division, stated that Albuquerque is a violent town and it was one reason that the ATF-multi-agency law enforcement operations took place there. (Photo: Jim Thompson/Albuquerque Journal)
A federal judge sentenced the 56th defendant last week arrested during a sting operation in Albuquerque in 2016 targeting the area’s “worst of the worst” criminals.
Antonio Perez-Contreras, a 30-year-old Mexican national, will spend up to 108 months in prison for dealing methamphetamine in New Mexico’s Bernalillo County and illegally possessing a firearm as an undocumented immigrant.
Perez-Contreras pled guilty to owning the gun and selling more than 415 grams of the drug to an undercover cop in May 2016. He will be deported upon completion of his sentence.
The sentence follows a multi-agency four month sting operation in the Albuquerque metro area culminating in 104 arrests and the the seizure of 127 firearms, 17 pounds of meth, 2.5 pounds of heroin, 14 ounces of crack cocaine, over a pound of cocaine and some Ecstasy — according to a report from the Albuquerque Journal.
“The premise is some individuals commit a disproportionate amount of crime,” U.S. Attorney Damon Martinez told the newspaper in August 2016. “We can take control

Source: Guns.com