US Attorney Barry Grisson credits the “tireless investigative work” of a Kansas deputy sheriff for bringing down a multi-million dollar designer drug ring in Olathe.
Grissom says Johnson County deputy sheriff Christopher Farkes led a three-year investigation that resulted in federal indictments against 13 individuals including the owners of an Olathe-based business, Tracy Picanso and Roy Ehrett.
Deputy Christopher Farkes received the U.S. Attorney’s 2015 Guardian of Justice Award Tuesday.
“Chris Farkes is very intelligent, with great intuition and a great passion for law enforcement,” Grissom said. “He was born to do the work he does.”
In December, Picanso and Ehrett each pleaded guilty to producing and selling misbranded and counterfeit drugs and conspiring to launder the proceeds. They admitted producing and selling dangerous controlled substances and controlled substance analogues of THC (the active ingredient in marijuana) and cocaine-like stimulants. The products were sold under exotic names such as Head Trip, Black Arts, Pump It, Grave Digger and Voodoo Doll.
The operation stretched from Kansas to Missouri, California, Texas, Georgia and Colorado, involving more than 15 companies with more than 40 financial accounts at more than 10 financial institutions.
“Chris has great analytical skills and an incredible memory,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Tanya Treadway, who is prosecuting the case. “He has the tenacity and the ability to review mountains of documentary evidence and to weave together an evidentiary chain we can rely on at trial.”
Also receiving the Guardian of Justice Awards on Tuesday were FBI Special Agent Ryan Williams and Detective Joseph Daneff of the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department. They worked on Operation Broken Bone, an investigation and successful prosecution of a drug trafficking ring that distributed more than $1.6 million worth of cocaine, crack cocaine and marijuana in the Kansas City metro area.
The traffickers employed couriers for transporting drugs and money, and maintained multiple residences where drugs were stored and distributed. Part of the investigation required tracking drug proceeds that were laundered through gambling casinos.