The El Paisa Taco Truck is not Los Pollos Hermanos, but news of the bust of a massive Denver meth ring that operated out of a taco truck reads like pure fiction.
Colorado Attorney General John Suthers and his team coordinated Operation Cargo, which used 5 different wiretaps over the course of 5 weeks to bust a total of 17 people involved in the ring. 55 pounds of meth were seized at one time, which 9News says is one of the largest single amounts of meth ever confiscated in CO.
We’ll directly quote AG Suthers’ words to 9News here, because we couldn’t make this up if we tried:
Here’s the full 9News video:
According to authorities, El Paisa’s owner didn’t know anything about the meth being sold from his truck. El Paisa truck employee Maria Arellano was the one offering a little something extra with your tacos al pastor.
Deputy AG Matthew Durkin elaborated on how you could add garnishes other than lime and cilantro. He says,
The Gonzalez Drug Trafficking Organization imported both meth and cocaine from Mexico through California and into Colorado to be sold. Only some was sold through the taco truck. According to 9News, GDTO leader Juan Carlos Gonzalez distributed the meth to his aunts and other ring members for sale, including truck employee Maria Arellano.
Since El Paisa’s owner demonstrably didn’t know anything about the meth ring, the El Paisa taco truck is still operating post-bust. Prior to the indictments, KDVR reports that its primary location was West 8th Avenue at Federal Boulevard, just south of Sports Authority Field.
We know Breaking Bad wasn’t real, but maybe this is the reason the drug ring stayed north of New Mexico.