The Kansas City ringleader of a violent $10 million syndicate dealing a ton of methamphetamine has been sentenced to 35 years without parole in federal prison.

Mirza Alihodzic, 37, had pleaded guilty in July to leading the conspiracy to distribute almost 1,000 kilograms – or some 2,200 pounds – of methamphetamine from September 2018 to November 2019, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri.

Alihodzic, one of 18 defendants convicted in the scheme, also was ordered to forfeit $1.16 million to the government.

Officers seized 31 firearms in searches of at least three residences Alihodzic used to store and distribute methamphetamine.

“Two were sawed-off shotguns, two were reported stolen, one had obliterated serial numbers and one was a machine gun,” the release said. “Officers also recovered two U.S. M-28/29 rockets, commonly known as ‘Super Bazooka’ rounds, that were held in a rented storage unit.”

The release says Alihodzic himself sold “large amounts of methamphetamine” to two different confidential law enforcement sources in spring 2019. That October, Alihodzic arranged with another confidential law enforcement source to fly him to California to pick up 40 kilograms of methamphetamine for sale in the Kansas City area.

Officers arrested Alihodzic that Nov. 5 at a residence after he had stashed a bag of weapons in a truck he thought would be taking him to the Lee’s Summit Municipal Airport near Kansas City.

The case was investigated by the Kansas City, Missouri Police Department, the FBI, the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Mid-Missouri Drug Task Force.