LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WHAS11) -- Millions of dollars flowing through organized crime groups and Kentuckiana is at the center of it all.
It's a dirty underworld that's taking place on Louisville streets right, and you'd never know.
"To me it just reflects the amount of money that is distributing and selling drugs, and what we are after is dismantling that organization," Thomas Gorman with the DEA said.
The DEA took us inside its operation to show us the big cases and some of the area’s most dangerous suspects. A frightening thought for local residents that we talked to.
The investigation into the Vasquez brothers ended in Louisville but the arrests spanned from Chicago to Atlanta. The DEA seized about $600,000, 150 pounds of meth, 70 kilos of cocaine and 17 people were arrested. Much of the cash and drugs were hidden in a car. It was hidden in an elaborate compartment.
"They are very sophisticated. You think of a car and it's not so big and they are transporting 10 pounds of meth. They are very creative making traps and it was part of an organization to set up and build those traps and they are very complicated," Gorman said.
But that wouldn't be the most elaborate way law enforcement saw to hide the evidence.
Their investigation into the Rivas brothers ended with 24 people arrested and most of them were Louisville residents.
"This organization in particular used the drive shaft…Pretty creative how they would do that leaving Louisville going back to a source city, roll up the money, tuck it into the drive shafts. It was difficult to find," Gorman said.
This organization was also linked to a local music production company called Bricklayer Entertainment.
Law enforcement said "brick” referred to a brick or kilo of cocaine.
But for the DEA their biggest bust was yet to come. An investigation that's still ongoing right now. So far they've already seized more than $6 million.
Officials say at the center of it was Michael McCarthy of Louisville.
The DEA says they found millions of dollars in cash stashed in a trailer hooked to a truck that carried a dragster.
Police say McCarthy's organization was bringing in 50 kilos of cocaine a month to Louisville.
McCarthy's attorney says that's not possible.
"He is not your normal alleged drug trafficker. Michael is a real nice, he's a young man. He’s soft spoken, he is handsome, good family man," Attorney Frank Mascagni said.
Mascagni says McCarthy has no prior felony convictions.
"It's surprising to me that he is allegedly one of the largest drug distributors in this area. I'm shocked by the allegation.”
Those who are working in organized crime groups are not going to be easy to spot.
“The higher level people in the organization, they want to remain anonymous if they are in your neighborhood; you are not going to know. They want the anonymity,” Gorman said.
The case with McCarthy is still ongoing. Thirty-two people have already been arrested. Those with the DEA say their investigations wouldn’t be possible without the help of multiple agencies from the local and state level. They’ve helped them nab even more suspects you would never think are involved.
