Busted an international drug-smuggling operation , seizing $500,000 worth of Mexican heroin and $100,000 cash

sheriff’s deputies busted an international drug-smuggling operation Thursday, seizing $500,000 worth of Mexican heroin and $100,000 cash, Sheriff John Whetsel said. Deputies made five arrests, but they have not positively identified the people in custody, Whetsel said. The arrests were the culmination of an eight-month investigation, he said. Undercover deputies had been making buys from the dealers, but their unconventional delivery methods meant no arrests could me made until a breakthrough last week. The dealers would drive around Oklahoma City neighborhoods and sell heroin from their cars, but could not be traced to any residence or fixed base of operations, Whetsel said. But a traffic stop a week ago, thought at first to be unrelated to the investigation, yielded a utility bill with an address that deputies connected to the dealers. Deputies searched the residence Thursday in the 3200 block of SW 86, Whetsel said. Inside the home were five people who were arrested, 10 to 12 pounds of black tar, brown and white heroin and the cash. A search of two cars at the residence revealed the technique used to smuggle the drugs from Mexico, Whetsel said. The smugglers filled the hollow portion of the cars’ drive shafts with the drugs. Whetsel said investigators have not yet determined if the arrested people are legal U.S. residents.