A Grand Jury indicted 16 people after the Boulder County Drug Task Force seized 55 pounds of fentanyl and methamphetamine, breaking up an alleged large drug ring operation.

“Operation Blue Steal” investigators seized 30 pounds of fentanyl, which is about 124,000 pills with a street value of about $500,000, and 25 pounds of methamphetamine, which has a street value of $100,000, according to a Boulder County Sheriff’s Office news release Friday.

Additionally, 2.5 pounds of heroin and 0.36 pounds of cocaine were seized during the investigation, according to the release.

The District Attorney’s Office presented the case to the Boulder County Grand Jury, which indicted 16 people after a four-month investigation involving drug trafficking in Boulder County.

The 16 members were indicted on charges of narcotics distribution. Eight of them were also indicted on charges of violating the Colorado Organized Crime Control Act and five were also indicted on attempted kidnapping, robbery and aggravated motor vehicle theft, according to the release.

The Task Force began arresting suspects associated with the investigation May 12. Seven search warrants were executed in the Boulder County and Denver metro area, according to the release.

Suspects arrested so far include:

• Javier Alejandro Roque-Gomez, 28 (COCCA and narcotics charges)
• Jose Guadalupe Polanco-Perez, 27 (COCCA and narcotics charges)
• Jose Alfonso Diego-Alvarez, 19 (COCCA and narcotics charges)
• Carlos Alfonso Ytuarte-Quinones, 35 (COCCA, narcotics, attempted robbery, attempted aggravated motor vehicle theft and attempted kidnapping charges)
• Alexis Omar Gasga-Garcia, 22 (COCCA, narcotics, attempted robbery, attempted motor vehicle theft and attempted kidnapping charges)
• Adan Alberto Quiriarte-Jara, 28 (attempted robbery, attempted aggravated motor vehicle theft and attempted kidnapping charges)
• Alan E. Hernandez-Guzman, 29 (attempted robbery, attempted aggravated motor vehicle theft and attempted kidnapping charges)
• Jose Soto-Aviles, 29 (narcotics charges)
• Candelaria Ramirez-Ibarra (Cande), 35 (COCCA and narcotics charges)
• Joana Villagrana-Ortiz, 34 (COCCA and narcotics charges) – no photo available

The BCDTF includes task force members from the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office, Boulder Police Department, District Attorney’s Office and the Lafayette Police Department.