1. Multi-Kilogram Drug Conspiracy Sentences for Cartel Traffickers
Juan Jose Garcia Lerma, 45, of Nuevo Leon, Mexico, was sentenced to 80 months in jail today, while Jorge Luis Castellanos De La Mora, 37, of Michoacan, Mexico, was sentenced to 67 months. They are not citizens of the United States and are likely to be deported after serving their sentences.
The penalties for the other eight were handed down last week.
Judge Saldana emphasized throughout the hearings that the conspiracy was large and relied on numerous truck drivers to succeed. Saldana stated that each person played a part in the smuggling of huge quantities of narcotics from Michoacan into the United States for distribution to cities across the country. The penalties for the other eight were handed down last week.
2. A Tenderloin resident has been charged with selling fentanyl and methamphetamine
United States Attorney Stephanie M. Hinds and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent in Charge announced that Jose Alvarado appeared in federal court today to face federal charges for the distribution of fentanyl and methamphetamine in San Francisco’s Tenderloin District.
According to the federal criminal complaint released today, Alvarado, 26, of Oakland, participated in four narcotics sales to three distinct undercover law enforcement agents in the Tenderloin neighborhood on different days. According to the complaint, Alvarado sold roughly seven grams of fentanyl to an undercover officer in the late afternoon of November 30, 2021, near the corner of Eddy Street and Polk Street.
Alvarado made his first appearance in federal court on April 01, 2022, in United States District Court in San Francisco. Alvarado is still being held in jail. On April 5, he will appear in court for a detention hearing.
3. “M30 King of Fresno” and 17 members of his drug-trafficking ring have been charged
U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert and Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge announced the findings of an investigation into fentanyl-related overdoses in the Fresno area, which led to the indictment of 18 drug traffickers for trafficking fentanyl powder, fentanyl pills, cocaine, and methamphetamine.
According to the criminal complaint, Torrecillas Urias Jr. was obtaining tens of thousands of counterfeit M30 fentanyl pills, as well as large quantities of fentanyl powder, cocaine, and methamphetamine, directly from sources in Mexico. He and his co-defendants subsequently sold these illegal substances to drug traffickers both in and out of California.
If convicted, the defendants risk a minimum of 10 years in jail and a maximum of life in prison, as well as penalties ranging from $1 million to $10 million. Any punishment, on the other hand, would be set at the court’s discretion after taking into account any applicable statutory criteria.
4. Drug cartels are facing multi-kilogram drug conspiracy sentences
Ten Mexican nationals and members of Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion have been sentenced to federal prison for their participation in a conspiracy including the importation of crystal meth, cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl, according to the DEA Special Agent in Charge. Juan Jose Garcia Lerma, 45, of Nuevo Leon, Mexico, was sentenced to 80 months in jail today, while Jorge Luis Castellanos De La Mora, 37, of Michoacan, Mexico, was sentenced to 67 months. They are not citizens of the United States and are likely to be deported after serving their sentences. The penalties for the other eight were handed down last week.
Fire extinguishers, wooden blocks, car batteries, and hydraulic jacks were all used to hide the narcotics. The co-conspirators drove trucks from Michoacán and Jalisco to Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico, then into Laredo to deliver the narcotics. The narcotics were hidden in Texas by the conspirators in storage units, truck trailers, and other areas.
All have been and will continue to be held in custody until transfer to a US Bureau of Prisons facility to be selected soon.
5. Two men from Idaho plead guilty to a drug trafficking conspiracy.
A guy from Murtaugh and another from Pocatello pled guilty to conspiring to distribute a prohibited drug.
Antonio Verduzco-Arreola, 40, of Murtaugh, and Joseph Alexander Huber, 35, of Pocatello, signed a contract to distribute controlled narcotics in the Pocatello region between January 1 and March 24, 2021. Two pounds of methamphetamine were found abandoned in a Pocatello hotel room hired by Verduzco-Arreola on March 21, 2021. Pocatello Police officers conducted surveillance around the motel in Pocatello on March 24, 2021. Huber was seen meeting with both Verduzco-Arreola and a third co-defendant, according to officers. Verduzco-Arreola was later approached by law authorities and discovered in possession of 439 grams of fentanyl-laced counterfeit oxycodone. Police detectives discovered 82 grams of methamphetamine in Huber’s possession and 167 grams of methamphetamine in his hotel room when he was detained on April 30, 2021.
Verduzco-Arreola pled guilty to engaging in a fentanyl distribution deal with his co-defendants on March 29, 2022. Verduzco-Arreola will be sentenced before Chief U.S. District Judge David C. Nye on June 14, 2022, and faces a maximum term of life in federal prison.
Huber pled guilty to engaging in a methamphetamine distribution deal with his co-defendants on March 30, 2022. Huber will be sentenced before Chief Judge Nye on July 25, 2022, and faces a maximum term of 40 years in federal prison.
A federal district court judge will administer any penalty after examining the US Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
6. A man from Illinois was sentenced to 112 months in prison for trafficking meth
Christopher P. Shultz, 50, of Monmouth, Illinois, was sentenced on March 29, 2022, to 112 months in prison and five years of supervised release for possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute.
Shultz was detained during a traffic stop in Gulfport, Illinois, on July 7, 2019, and was discovered to be in possession of more than 80 grams of pure methamphetamine, a Schedule II controlled narcotic, according to court filings.
In August 2020, Shultz was charged, and in November 2021, he pled guilty. Possession of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute carries a maximum penalty of life in prison, a $10 million fine, and a lifetime of supervised release.
7. A Phoenix man has been sentenced for methamphetamine distribution and money laundering
Jose Angulo, 51, of Phoenix, was sentenced to 30 years in prison on March 24, 2022, for conspiring to distribute methamphetamine, money laundering, and methamphetamine distribution.
Evidence showed that Angulo was responsible for transporting more than 50 pounds of methamphetamine to the Southern District of Illinois between 2018 and November 2019 and that he laundered narcotics earnings to hide his drug distribution enterprise. During the investigation, the US Postal Inspection Service seized three shipments containing nine pounds of methamphetamine that Angulo had delivered to addresses in East St. Louis and Swansea, Ill.
8. 26 pounds of meth were recovered in an undercover operation that led to the arrest of a California man
An undercover operation almost two weeks ago resulted in the recovery of 26 pounds of crystal meth and the arrest of a 19-year-old California male.
Ricky Overton, the suspect, has been recognized by authorities as a methamphetamine trafficker. He was being detained in the Clay County prison on a $25 million bail as of Tuesday.
Overton attempted to sell a big amount of crystal meth to an undercover cop for $75,000 at a grocery store parking lot in Green Cove Springs off Highway 17 on Jan. 27, according to narcotics investigators.
According to federal officials, the narcotics are subsequently transported to regional distribution centers, with Los Angeles being identified as a cartel-run distribution hub.
9. Agents apprehended 17 people in multi-state fentanyl, heroin, crystal methamphetamine, and firearms trafficking ring
The Drug Enforcement Administration, the US Marshals Service, and the US Postal Inspection Service detained 17 persons this week in Missouri, Arizona, California, and Mexico in connection with a multi-state drug trafficking operation.
This was a long-running drug distribution conspiracy operating in the Eastern District of Missouri with links to California, Arizona, and Texas. According to a court filing, authorities confiscated 50 pounds of fentanyl, 500 pounds of methamphetamine, 50 weapons, and more than $400,000 in narcotics revenues.
10. Cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine were discovered at stash homes in Moreno Valley and Perris
Hundreds of parcels containing methamphetamine, heroin, and cocaine were piled 10 feet high and leaning against a massive truck on Wednesday, Oct. 14, as Drug Enforcement Administration authorities revealed two of their largest busts ever.
According to Timothy Shea, acting administrator for the DEA, two recent investigations resulted in the recovery of more than 5,200 pounds of methamphetamine suspected to be linked to the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico.
On Oct. 9, officials at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry on the Mexican border, southeast of downtown San Diego, seized more than 3,000 pounds of methamphetamine, along with other illegal drugs.
Officials stated it was the DEA’s second-largest meth bust at the border, with a total estimated worth of $7.2 million for all of the narcotics seized.
