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ANCHORAGE - A federal grand jury indicted 12 people for running what prosecutors describe as a large drug ring that trafficked in cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine and used violence, including machine-guns, to maintain control over the operation.

According to the indictment returned Tuesday, 27-year-old Juan Manuel Mendiola was the leader of the drug conspiracy and took care of the Alaska end of the business. The drugs were sent from Van Nuys, Calif., and delivered to nine addresses in Anchorage.

Prosecutors say during the investigation more than 6 kilograms of cocaine, 500 grams of heroin, 1 kilogram of methamphetamine, and more than a dozen firearms and $100,000 in cash were seized.

Christine Thoreson, special assistant U.S. attorney, said the drug operation was sizable when one considers the many packages that were shipped to Alaska. The street value of the drugs has not been determined, she said.

The joint federal/state investigation determined the drug ring had been in operation since at least 2005.

Thoreson said the arrests have gone a long way to put the drug dealers out of business.

"I think that it is fair to say this crew was dealt a severe hit," Thoreson said.

Capt. Gardner Cobb with the Anchorage Police Department said in a release that "the community is safer today than it was two years ago."

Four of the defendants were arraigned Tuesday before Judge Ralph Beistline in U.S. District Court in Anchorage. The others will be arraigned in coming days, Thoreson said.

Authorities are still searching for two defendants.

The indictment says the drugs were concealed in packages and shipped to Alaska by United Parcel Service and FedEx. Once the packages were received, the drugs were sold and distributed throughout Alaska.

Mendiola allegedly coordinated and organized the drug ring. He also cooked the cocaine to make crack cocaine, prosecutors said. Diego Sebastian Munoz, 27, allegedly coordinated the shipments and worked primarily out of the Van Nuys area.

The drug dealers coordinated the operation mostly through the use of prepaid cell phones.

According to the indictment, Jose Ruis, 22, and Seirosa Sia Milo, 27, were in charge of receiving and shipping packages, which contained drugs, money and sometimes both.

Distribution was left to Milo, Phonesavanh Vongthongdy, 22; Timothy Ray Moore, Jr., 27; Kenese Sene, 35; Bernard Yamura White, 27; Miguel Robles, 23; Vaughan Erickson, 29; Harold Cogo Graham, 22; and Patrick Allen Osburn, 26, prosecutors said.

The defendants are accused of using intimidation and violence to keep the drug ring's operations from being revealed to law enforcement. In March, Milo, the only woman charged, ordered one of the men to assault another as discipline for violating "house rules." Thoreson said she couldn't elaborate beyond what was contained in the indictment while the case was still active.

In addition to two machine-guns, authorities seized a dozen guns, including numerous semiautomatic handguns.