Man linked to huge drug ring

A Kalispell man was arrested Wednesday in connection with a northern Colorado drug ring.

Mark Fraleigh, 45, was located on Flathead Drive in Evergreen and arrested by deputies with the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office on a fugitive from justice warrant out of Denver, according to Undersheriff Jordan White.

By Thursday, Fraleigh had been transferred out of the Flathead County Detention Center.

Fraleigh is one of 33 people named in a 95-count indictment filed in Denver following the dismantling of a drug ring in an effort called Operation White Out.

Charges against the group range from distribution of a controlled substance and possession of a weapon by a previous offender to conspiracy and racketeering.

Fraleigh is charged with conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance.

According to the indictment, Alan Johnson allegedly delivered cocaine to Kenneth West with the agreement that West would travel to Montana to distribute the cocaine to Johnson’s customers — Mitchell Morris and Fraleigh. Johnson and Fraleigh allegedly communicated during the same period of time to organize the return of proceeds to Johnson.

It was reported in The Coloradoan newspaper that ring members used homes and businesses across Fort Collins to distribute up to 20 kilograms of cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana each month.

It was one of the largest drug rings ever discovered in northern Colorado.

The investigation involved every member of the Northern Colorado Drug Task Force. Through drug raids conducted in October, task force agents seized five pounds of cocaine, one pound of meth, 26 pounds of marijuana, 15 firearms and $90,000 in cash as well as several vehicles.

Johnson and suspected ringleader Anthony Harvey are alleged to have laundered the proceeds of the drug sales through their businesses. It was estimated that the ring had been in operation for between three and five years.