With the sale of drugs being managed by a gang headquartered out of Escondido, sixteen individuals from Southern California are facing charges relating to the distribution of drugs.
According to a press statement issued by the United States Department of Justice on Tuesday, two federal indictments were unsealed. These indictments give specifics of the manner in which the defendants are said to have managed the operation.
Escondido, San Diego, Orange County, and Roanoke, Virginia were among the locations where more than 150 agents from federal, state, and local authorities carried out the execution of search warrants on Tuesday morning, as reported by the Department of Justice.
“This case is a direct hit against a dangerous drug trafficking network that has been flooding our communities with deadly narcotics,” reads a portion of a statement that was issued by Shawn Gibson, who is the Special Agent in Charge of the Homeland Security Investigations in San Diego.
According to the statement, during the course of the investigation that lasted for sixteen months, authorities were able to seize as much as four pounds of fentanyl, more than eleven hundred and sixty pounds of methamphetamine, quantities of cocaine and Adderall, nine weapons and ammunition, and body armor.
The Department of Justice asserts that two of the defendants engaged in “leadership roles” within the trafficking enterprise and were responsible for coordinating the distribution of methamphetamine and fentanyl.
An undercover agent is said to have acquired methamphetamine and fentanyl from one of the defendants on two consecutive occasions in January and February of 2024.
The first transaction was for $10,000, and the second transaction was for $20,000.
During both instances, the agent was allegedly instructed to leave the money at the mailbox of another defendant.
Subsequently, one of the organizers of the operation allegedly delivered a package to the agent that contained the drugs, which included over 10 pounds of methamphetamine and nearly 2 pounds of fentanyl.
In a release issued by the Department of Justice, it was said that the suspected provider of the drugs had a monitoring device installed on their car, which they later discovered and removed before depending on other individuals to distribute the pills.
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Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, distribution of controlled substances, and conspiracy to commit money laundering are the allegations that have been brought against fourteen of the suspects, who range in age from twenty to fifty-one and who live in San Diego County and Orange County.
A conspiracy to distribute restricted narcotics allegation has been brought against two further suspects, 25 and 34 years old respectively.
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