The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agents have raided an Albuquerque data center run by a local provider called Big Byte.

According to Albuquerque Journal, the facility is owned by the Whittington family, members of which were investigated for drug smuggling in the 1980s and 90s.

Better call Saul
Big Byte is a privately owned data center operator established in 1999. It provides colocation, disaster recovery and business continuity services.

The Tier III carrier neutral facility in downtown Albuquerque offers 23,000 sq ft of space in its main data hall, and another 20,000 sq ft for custom projects. The company counts several New Mexico state and Bernalillo County agencies among its long-term customers.

The data center was raided on Thursday morning by IRS and DEA agents, assisted by the Albuquerque Police Department. The federal law enforcement agencies also searched a famous springs resort in Pagosa Springs which is owned by the same family.

An IRS spokesperson told KRQE.COM that the two raids are connected, though they couldn’t say what they were looking for at either location. No arrests were made.

Both businesses are owned by Nerissa and Keely Whittington, the daughters of William Marvin "Bill" Whittington, an American race driver who was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 1986 for tax evasion and conspiracy to smuggle drugs from Colombia.

“We have been cooperating with the Government and its ongoing investigation. Hundreds and hundreds of thousands of documents have already been supplied,” the sisters said in a statement.

“The Whittingtons will continue to cooperate with the agents serving the search warrants. Both locations are open for business.”