The mom and kids — along with other suspects — were allegedly also trying to smuggle drugs into state prisons, along with distributing them throughout the valley. Police said the Valencia Lara family was on their radar. They had been called to the house for domestic violence and other crimes.
A major drug bust has occurred in the valley – and a Chandler mother and her eight sons are suspected of smuggling heroin into Arizona from Mexico.
Police said the mother, Grace Valencia Lara, and her sons were allegedly selling heroin and cocaine in downtown Chandler.
“Our investigators learned, this family was a part of a larger organization,” said Chandler Police Det. Seth Tyler.
While investigating the family, they stumbled on a much bigger drug ring.
Police have arrested six of the brothers and said they think they were the bridge to smuggling drugs much further away than Chandler.
“There’s probably good likelihood the drugs originated in Mexico from one of the cartels,” said Det. Tyler.
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