In 2005 and 2006, law enforcement obtained orders authorizing seven wiretaps involving fourteen cell phones used by defendant Steven Montes. The orders involved the magistrate’s finding of probable cause that Montes and others “have committed or are committing and are about to commit” certain drug offenses. The magistrate further found that “informal investigative procedures have been tried and have failed and appear to be unlikely to succeed if tried and / or are too dangerous.”

The information obtained as a result of the wiretap led to the arrest of Montes and there others, as well as the seizure of 353 kilograms of cocaine, 50 pounds of methamphetamines, 659 pounds of marijuana, five firearms, and $1,200.000 in allegedly illegal proceeds from other sales.