Massive Heroin Raid In Novi, Possible Connection To Mexican Cartel

NOVI, MI -- On the morning of July 10, a barber, a horse groomer and a pediatrician were in a Novi condo in the Brownstones complex. That's when federal agents burst through the door and raided the building, yielding the second-largest heroin bust in Detroit history.

The condo was barely furnished, with only a couple blow up mattresses, a couch, a dining room table and a TV. Agents also found a heat-sealing machine and a digital scale. The Detroit News reported that the Brownstones staff never met the renter, who always paid with money orders and communicated online. Oftentimes, these are signs of potential illegal activity.

“The condominium is located in a subdivision community, providing a buffer from law enforcement detection, as it poses inherent difficulty in conducting surveillance,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrea Hutting in a court filing, according to the Detroit News.

“The strategic location and nature of the rental of the condominium is indicative of a sophisticated drug trafficking organization,” Hutting said.

The three men in the condo when agents raided the place were Adolfo Verdugo Lopez, the 51-year-old pediatrician, Manuel Arnulfo Barajas, a 21-year-old horse groomer at Los Alamitos Race Course near Los Angeles, and Andre Lee Scott, 25, a barber from San Bernardino, Calif., the Detroit News reported.

Five days before the raid, agents were tracking Scott's cell phone, which showed him regularly visiting the Brownstones condo.

Lopez hails from Sinaloa, Mexico, home to the Sinaloa Cartel. The DEA said the cartel is the "the most powerful drug trafficking organization in the world," and was formerly run by the infamous Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán. The cartel has an established presence in Metro Detroit, according to the Detroit News.

The Defense

Elias Escobedo, Lopez's lawyer, realizes the connection but refutes that his client is involved in heroin trafficking. “There’s a whole community there," he said. "It doesn’t mean the whole damn community is selling heroin."

Gerald Evelyn, Scott's defense lawyer, said there is nothing backing accusations of his client being a drug trafficker. Scott, besides being a barber, started the LA clothing line Aymhiigh in 2010. "He is caught up in a situation," Evelyn said.

Michael Severo is Barajas' defense lawyer, and said his client's involvement was minimal, claiming he was simply an escort and translator for Lopez. Barajas lied to federal agents, Hutting said, when he told them he had traveled to Mexico twice since 2013. Hutting said that documents show he traveled to Mexico six times since that year.

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