Mrs. Nuñez Single-Handedly Takes Down Meth Ring After Her Husband Is Busted For Dealing

After her husband was busted for dealing meth out of his mechanic’s garage, leaving her alone to care for their six children, an Omaha woman decided to go ahead and become a police informant. Her efforts not only helped take meth dealers off the street, it also worked to highlight the worrisome relationship between Latinos and this drug - on both sides of the deal. 

Anuar Nuñez, a native of Honduras, was arrested in 2006 after police discovered 8 ounces of meth, a gun and a large amount of cash in his Omaha garage. Nuñez has been selling drugs out of his shop for a man nicknamed “El Primo.” His wife, whose name isn’t being released out of concern for her safety, decided to help shave time off her husband’s 15-year sentence by acting as a police informant. She called the Omaha Police Department and spoke with Detective Edith Andersen - the only Spanish-speaker at the department and, thus, the only person able to help the monolingual Mrs. Nuñez, who had come to the U.S. from Mexico.

The two women embarked on a seven-month sting dubbed “Operation Red Ice” (IRONY ALERT), during which Nuñez shed light into how her husband had been selling and cutting meth with animal food supplements for a hefty profit. Nuñez named several big players involved with the ring, including Abel Alvarado and Juan “Nica” Orozco-Osbaldo, so named because he is Nicaraguan. 

Nuñez’s information shed light into how Latinos were involved in dealing meth across Arizona, Texas, California, Nebraska and Iowa. Although meth had once been associated with rural, low-income Anglo users, it is a growing problem among Latinos, particularly Latino teenagers. According to the 2005 Partnership Attitude Tracking Study:

• Hispanic teens are almost twice as likely to have tried meth than White or Black teens. 12.8 percent of Hispanic teens grades 7-12 reported lifetime trial of meth in 2005 versus 7.1 percent of White and 6.2 percent of Black teens.
• 1 in 3 Hispanic teens grades 7-12 reports having close friends who use meth, versus 1 in 5 among White or Black teens
• Only 49 percent of Hispanic teens—less than half—see “great risk” in trying meth once or twice.

In an effort to combat these statistics, anti-drug groups have put out ads aimed at Spanish-speaking teenagers, primarily those in the Wester United States - the very states in which Nuñez’s husband’s drug ring was involved. Perhaps such anti-drug efforts will eventually be bolstered by more informants coming out of the woodwork in an effort to help their families. Informants like, as a Fark headline put it, “a Latina who ain’t getting any.” Charming.

Working mom takes down meth ring [Omaha World-Herald]