FORT WAYNE – A federal raid Wednesday morning rounded up six people in connection with a drug trafficking ring that shipped high-quality methamphetamine from Mexico into northeast Indiana.

One of the men arrested, Jorge Rosas-Ramirez, was recorded telling a confidential informant that the drugs were being shipped to Fort Wayne by the pound as part of a large-scale supply-and-transportation network.

“I know some people, but behind the people is many people,” Rosas-Ramirez said, according to court documents unsealed late Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Fort Wayne.

FBI officials said the meth was purer than the homemade form and was worth about $20,000 a pound. According to court documents, the meth shipped into the area was 70 percent pure, selling for $4,500 for 2.5 ounces when broken up for distribution.

Rosas-Ramirez sold the methamphetamine on five occasions to an undercover confidential informant – at one point saying a 10-pound shipment on its way to Fort Wayne was stuck in a Western state because of vehicle trouble, according to court documents.

Along with Rosas-Ramirez, five other people were arrested, already under indictment by a federal grand jury on charges of conspiracy to distribute more than 50 grams of methamphetamine, using a telephone to facilitate the distribution of a controlled substance, and profiting from maintaining a drug residence.

The indictments were unsealed Wednesday after their arrests.

Indicted on two counts – conspiracy and maintaining a drug residence – were Beatriz Bojorquez, 32, of the 10000 block of Old Woods Road; Benjamin A. VanAllen, 31, of the 7600 block of Woodbine Avenue; and Adrian A. Juarez, 35, of the 1600 block of East Hollis Lane.

Gary R. Bitzell, 41, of the 6700 block of Goldenrod Place, was indicted on five counts of using a telephone to facilitate the distribution of a controlled substance, specifically methamphetamine.

The grand jury indicted James B. Morris II, 32, of Butler, on four counts of distributing methamphetamine.

Rosas-Ramirez, 36, of the 10000 block of Old Woods Road, is charged in a federal criminal complaint with five counts of distributing methamphetamine.

Bojorquez is identified in court documents as Rosas-Ramirez’s girlfriend.

The yearlong investigation was part of an effort by the Gang-Narcotics Enforcement Team of the FBI’s Safe Streets Task Force. The task force along with local law enforcement officers served warrants at eight locations early Wednesday – seven in Fort Wayne and one in Butler.

The investigation was conducted by members of the FBI’s Safe Streets Task Force, made up of agents and officers from Indiana State Police, Allen County Sheriff’s Department and Fort Wayne Police Department. The Indiana Multi-Agency Group Enforcement Drug Task Force and the U.S. Marshals Service also assisted in the investigation.

FBI officials said the investigation is ongoing.

According to the indictments, Bojorquez maintained a building in the 10000 block of Old Woods Road, near North Clinton Street and Dupont Road, for the purpose of storing, distributing and using a controlled substance.

VanAllen is accused of maintaining a building in the 7600 block of Woodbine Avenue, on the city’s northwest side, for the purpose of storing, distributing and using a controlled substance, according to court documents.

A number of the indictments seek the forfeiture of property alleged to have been acquired through drug money – including two motorcycles and five cars and trucks, according to the court documents.

rgreen@jg.net