Drug bust in Zuni
House raided by drug task force, two arrested

FBI Agents stand outside of a residence on Chavez Circle on Thursday morning in Zuni. Officials from the FBI, the Middle Rio Grande Valley Drug Task Force and the Zuni Police arrested two women and restained the other occupants of the resridence during the raid. — © 2008 Gallup Independent / Brian Leddy

Copyright © 2008
Gallup Independent
By Phil Stake
Staff writer

ZUNI — A mother and daughter were arrested Thursday on federal drug charges following a months-long undercover investigation.

Bernnarita Lorenzo, 52, and Bernadette Lorenzo, 22, face three cocaine distribution-related charges. Zuni Police officers in collaboration with FBI agents and members of the Middle Rio Grande Valley Drug Task Force surprised the Lorenzos during the early morning hours Thursday at their 38A East Chavez Circle home.

Authorities arrived at the home with arrest warrants for both women as well as a search warrant for their home, according to spokesman McKinley County Sheriff’s Lt. George Justice.

“I think the whole community knew,” said a mother of two teenage daughters, who lives across the street from the Lorenzos. The woman, who said she is a relative of the Lorenzos, asked not to be identified by name. She stood watching from her porch Thursday morning as a swarm of police and FBI raided the house across the street.

“They were all with guns and yelling,” she said. “There were three women and a child and they were all yelling at them, and they all came out with their hands up ...” the woman said. “When I looked out and saw that truck in the alley, I thought ‘oh my gosh, they’re raiding!’”

The woman said the house had been visited by authorities previously.

“That’s why that fence is up ... they don’t want neighbors watching like we are ... once that fence got put up, I was just wondering when it was going to happen.”
“It’s obvious,” she added. “Traffic comes and goes and they have been raided before ... even though they’re my family, I still say it’s about time.”