Seven People Charged In Two Federal Drug Cases In Los Angeles

 In blog, Crime – MyNewsLA.com

Seven People Charged In Two Federal Drug Cases In Los Angeles

by Contributing Editor

Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles said Friday they have filed two cases that charge seven defendants as part of a joint-agency crackdown on transnational criminal organizations.

In one case, a Los Angeles federal grand jury late Friday indicted three defendants, including an alleged drug courier who is accused of driving a car from Tijuana into the United States with 48 pounds of pure methamphetamine hidden in his car doors and quarter panels, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The courier drove the vehicle to Compton, where he turned it over to another man, who unloaded the drugs into the trailer where he lived, according to court documents. The indictment charges the defendants — one of whom is currently known only by the moniker “Gringo” — with several offenses, including importation of meth. If convicted, the defendants in this case would face mandatory minimum sentences of 10 years in federal prison.

In the second Los Angeles case resulting from the operation, a federal grand jury late last month indicted four defendants, two of whom allegedly drove a vehicle with a hidden compartment containing almost 32 pounds of meth into the United States, eventually bringing their load to a La Puente auto repair shop, where two other men helped them unload the narcotics.

The owner of the shop, Juan Pablo Castro Velazquez, and the three other defendants face narcotics trafficking charges that carry a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in federal prison, prosecutors said.

The operation focused on identifying narcotics entering the United States through Southern California ports of entry and then being transported to various locations throughout the Southland for further distribution around the country.

State and federal law enforcement agencies worked together to plan and execute the operation, which culminated in a one-week coordinated surge in mid-September and resulted in the seizure of 1,715 pounds of meth, 590 pounds of cocaine, 66 pounds of fentanyl, 68 pounds of heroin and $281,000 in U.S. currency.

“This operation underscores our significant — and successful — efforts to disrupt the smuggling routes used by international drug cartels to deliver narcotics to the United States,” said U.S. Attorney Nick Hanna. “This concerted effort allowed us to identify shipments coming in from Mexico and being delivered to stash houses across the region. As a result of the excellent work of law enforcement agents, we were able to make substantial seizures and arrest individuals who played important roles in the distribution chain.”

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All credit goes to Contributing Editor
Originally published on https://mynewsla.com

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