Which agencies participated in the Twin Cities drug probe and what indictments have been filed so far?
Executive summary
Multiple coordinated investigations across the Twin Cities have involved a mix of local, state and federal agencies — notably the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), working alongside state and local partners including the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) and municipal police departments [1] [2]. So far those probes have produced a string of indictments and arrests: a 11-defendant federal indictment tied to a cartel-linked methamphetamine and kidnapping conspiracy (March 2025), a nine-defendant federal fentanyl-and-firearms indictment known as the “Big Sip” case (June 2025), a 12-member indictment announced by HSI/ICE from a separate international trafficking probe (November 2024), and multiple local arrests tied to a Duluth/Superior sweep and other seizures [3] [4] [2] [5] [1].
1. Who participated: the federal backbone and local muscle
The most consistently named federal participants are the DEA and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), which have led or co-led multiple investigations and press releases concerning Twin Cities drug trafficking [6] [2]. The FBI and ATF are explicitly listed as participants in a coordinated Twin Ports sweep that produced two dozen arrests, and federal efforts were supported by state entities such as the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the Minnesota National Guard Counter Drug Task Force, plus local police departments [1]. ICE’s HSI specifically partnered with DEA and Minneapolis and St. Paul police under an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) designation on a multi-year probe that produced a separate indictment in late 2024 [2]. Other federal units have joined specialized investigations: the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and U.S. Secret Service backed a DEA-led prescription-drug fraud probe [7], and the DEA’s Omaha Division is identified as leading a cartel-linked probe with multiple agency partners [6].
2. What indictments and charges have been filed so far
A federal grand jury returned a five-count indictment against 11 individuals in March 2025 alleging a transnational drug-trafficking and kidnapping conspiracy tied to a Mexican cartel; the Department of Justice publicly listed the defendants and charges, including conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and related kidnapping and firearms counts [3] [8]. In June 2025 nine defendants were federally indicted in the “Big Sip” drug trafficking organization on fentanyl-distribution and firearms charges, with several charged under 21 U.S.C. §841 and 18 U.S.C. §924(c) [4]. In November 2024 ICE/HSI announced an indictment of 12 members of an international trafficking organization that operated out of a Minnesota auto shop, a probe credited to HSI, DEA, and Minneapolis and St. Paul police under OCDETF [2]. Local reporting and police filings from Duluth detail a separate Lake Superior Violent Offender Task Force investigation that led to multiple search warrants, arrests and a statement of probable cause naming a purported ringleader in the Twin Ports area [5] [1]. Additional federal actions have followed large seizures — for example, the discovery of 900 pounds of methamphetamine in Burnsville prompted raids and federal indictment activity tied to that seizure [9]. Separate prescription-pill and fraud indictments tied to the Twin Cities have emerged in DEA-led probes backed by the Postal Inspection Service and Secret Service [7].
3. Timeline, task-force structure and overlapping probes
These cases span multiple years and different investigative tracks: OCDETF-designated investigations and cartel-focused work have roots stretching back to at least 2019–2024 in DOJ/DEA materials, while some local task-force work (e.g., Lake Superior Violent Offender Task Force) began active investigation in January 2024 and culminated in arrests announced in January 2026 [6] [5]. The overlapping presence of DEA, HSI, FBI and ATF alongside state BCA and municipal police reflects both formal task-force structures and ad hoc cooperation driven by large seizures (900 pounds of meth in one instance) and violent-crime allegations tied to trafficking networks [9] [1] [4].
4. What the reporting does not yet show and open questions
Public sources document multiple indictments and named agency participants but do not provide a single comprehensive catalogue tying every arrest and indictment to a unique centralized “Twin Cities drug probe”; instead, reporting shows several parallel investigations with intersecting agencies and targets [1] [3] [4] [2]. The exact total number of indictments across all related investigations, the status of every defendant, and whether federal and local cases will be consolidated in court remain unclear from the available reporting [5] [9].