TERRE HAUTE —  In one of the largest drug stings in the area, 19 people were indicted in federal court Thursday for trafficking methamphetamine.

The indictment, unsealed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Terre Haute, has netted at least 15 people in what federal prosecutors are calling a “fairly significant drug trafficking organization operating largely out of Washington and Vincennes.”

“This was particularly a highly organized and highly sophisticated drug trafficking organization,” U.S. Attorney Joe Hogsett said Thursday. “They were well funded and used sophisticated technology to evade capture.”

Many of those indicted come from Washington, but the meth they were selling did not. The indictment said there was significant evidence that the accused trafficked “commercial meth” made in Mexico and transported through Los Angeles and Chicago.

“This was not a homegrown operation,” Hogsett said. “Usually those quantities (of meth) come from Chicago.”

Four of the 19 are not yet under arrest, Hogsett said. He did not want to give the names of those who are still at large, but said they would be under arrest soon.

“It’s only a matter of time before we catch them,” he said.

The U.S. Attorney also said more arrests would be coming in the investigation, which has been ongoing for at least a year. Those indicted Thursday include: Ruben Echavarria, Mario Aguayo-Ascazar, Mindy White, Ashley N. Thrasher, James G. Decker, Jeremy D. Mandabach, Charlene Chambers, and Pablo (last name unknown), all of Washington; Jose Vasquez-Silva and Heidi Lopez-Jarra, from both Chicago and Washington; Robbie L. Burris, Loogootee; Anthony Nail and Eddie Wayne Grisham, Vincennes; Adam R. Lett and Melissa M. Serrano, Bicknell; John M. Gootee, Bedford; Pedro Saul Trigo-Lopez, Chicago; and Wbaldo Coronado Ramirez and Antonio Rodriguez, Fort Wayne.

According to the indictment, 14 of the defendants are charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Vasquez-Silva and Echavarria coordinated the distribution activities of the meth ring. They obtained the meth from Trigo. White, Ascazar, Nail, Thrasher, Gootee, Burris, Lett, Decker, Mandabach, Pablo, and Chambers were primary distributors. Throughout the conspiracy, they used coded language by phone to facilitate the operation. The indictment lists several instances when various defendants delivered meth to undercover officers.

Vasquez-Silva, Trigo, Echavarria, White, Nail, Thrasher, Lopez-Jarra, and Serrano also are charged with conspiracy to launder monetary instruments. They were involved in collecting drug proceeds and depositing them into Trigo’s bank account using a Salem, Ill., bank branch or a money-remitting service.

Counts six through nine of the indictment relate to a case that came to light in late June. They charge Echavarria, Ramirez, Rodriguez, and Grisham with conspiracy to interfere with commerce by threats or violence when Echavarria directed the other three to break into a home in Pimento, in Vigo County, and steal drug proceeds from one of his meth distributors to pay Trigo for previously fronted meth. They used a .45 caliber Llama Mini Max semi-automatic pistol, which was in Rodriguez’s possession, and was transported in interstate commerce. Rodriguez, an illegal alien, was arrested at the scene and Grisham was arrested July 20, after a weeks-long manhunt.

The Grand Jury also charged Vasquez-Silva with being in the country illegally after having been removed from the United States to Mexico on March 24, 2004.

Initial hearings for some of the defendants will begin at 9 a.m. today before a U.S. Magistrate Judge in Terre Haute.

The investigation was a collaborative effort with federal agencies working with state and local law enforcement. Hogsett praised them for their cooperation.

“The Washington Police Department has been of valuable assistance as well as the Daviess County Sheriff’s Department,” Hogsett said. “It has been a very cooperative effort to take down an organization of this magnitude.”

Also cooperating in the investigation were the Evansville office of the Drug Enforcement Administration; United States Marshal’s Service; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Internal Revenue Service; Bureau or Immigration and Customs Enforcement; Indiana State Police; Vincennes Police Department; Vigo County Sheriff’s Department; Terre Haute Police Department; and Gibson County Sheriff’s Department.

Staff Writer Nate Smith contributed to this article.