TEMPE, AZ (CBS5) -
Drug cartels are in our backyard, and we're not talking about Mexico. Tempe police just wrapped up a six-month-long investigation where they took cash, drugs and even a plane. They said it's all tied to the Sinaloa cartel.
Three homes were raided in the Valley - one in Phoenix, a stash house and two in Tempe, which were basically the Sinaloa cartel's office headquarters for their operations here.
"It's really dangerous because we don't really imagine things happening like that," said Cristina Estrada, who lives one of the neighborhoods that were raided.
The two homes in Tempe were just a few blocks from a police station and ASU. And officers found lots of drugs.
"Rooms full of them, and they also had an operation there where they were packaging and that took up a lot of space," said Tempe police lieutenant Noah Johnson.
After a six-month-long investigation, Tempe police and other agencies say the Sinaloa cartel is now down 20 people, 14 guns, $2.4 million, three tons of pot, 30 pounds of meth and a plane. So how can an operation like this go unnoticed in a Tempe suburb?
"They try to blend into the community just as anybody would," Johnson said.
Despite U.S. Department of Justice information released a little more than a year ago saying cartels have distinctive calling cards, like bumper stickers or logos on their clothes, narcotics experts said these days they're trying to stay under the radar.
"People that are involved in organized criminal activity don't want to draw attention to themselves," said former Mesa cop Bill Richardson.
He said instead, look for cars coming in and out and activity around the clock, including late into the night - because they could be setting up shop where you live.
"If their family is with them they're probably going to pick a neighborhood just like anybody else, they're going to want to have good schools, they're going to have access to shopping," Richardson said.
Luckily, no children were in any of the stash houses. The 20 people arrested now face charges for trafficking dangerous drugs.
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