Multiple raids in Wichita area tied to transnational drug cartel, police say

Local and federal officers raided multiple locations in Wichita and Sedgwick County on Wednesday as part of a year-long narcotics investigation dealing with “transnational drug cartel,” Wichita police said early Wednesday afternoon.

Police said SWAT was used in the raids. At least one of the warrants was served near 31st and Arkansas. Police said further details would need to come from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Kansas, which did not immediately respond to additional questions.

The Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office said at least one warrant was served in the 9200 block of South Meridian, which is south of Haysville, where a suspected explosive was found in a home during a raid. The Wichita Police Department bomb squad was called to remove the device and three nearby homes were evacuated. That search warrant was done around 6 a.m. Sheriff’s office spokesperson Branden Stitt said around 4 p.m. that he didn’t know if the item was in fact an explosive.

Police underscored the need for the raids by mentioning an uptick in year-over-year increases in non-fatal overdoses. There have been 618 in Wichita so far this year, compared with 455 at this time last year, police said Tuesday.

“We will continue to use every tool we have available to identify, apprehend, and hold accountable people in our community involved in the manufacture, distribution, and sales of illegal narcotics,” Wichita police said in a social media post Wednesday that talked about the raids.

This story was originally published August 6, 2025 at 1:26 PM.