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In November, Spitzer warned drug dealers and distributors in the county that they could be charged with murder if their drug activities result in someones death. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. This monumental seizure represents another win against drug cartels that fuel addiction in the United States, said Shelly S. Howe, a Special Agent in Charge at the US Drug Enforcement Administration. Updated Four residents of Tijuana, Mexico, face federal drug trafficking charges in connection with a Southern California methamphetamine seizure thatauthorities say was "record-breaking" because of its size. Download for iOS or Android. The Los Angeles-area bust - an estimated $15 million to $20 million in street value - came just days after Mexican authorities seized more than a half a ton of fentanyl in the state of Sinaloa.. One of the largest drug busts in Monterey County, California history was pulled off when nearly $2 million worth of illegal drugs were seized by Salinas police and federal agents, as. One of the trailers was still parked by the warehouse door on Friday. Four men from Tijuana, Mexico, were arrested and charged with conspiracy to distribute the highly addictive drug in what officials described as one of the largest meth busts in San Diego County. or redistributed. On Thursday, Hazell said, the surveillance team saw a car leave the warehouse, and team members followed it to East Los Angeles, where the driver got out and another man got in. One of the largest drug busts in Monterey County, California history was pulled off when nearly $2 million worth of illegal drugs were seized by Salinas police and federal agents, as reported by KSBW Action News. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. They seemed to be making an awful lot of money. Angelica Stabile is a lifestyle writer for Fox News Digital. A tip from an informant led to a record drug bust. Hayley Smith covers breaking news in California with a focus on wildfires, drought and climate change. 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The smugglers then deliver the cocaine to Colombian traffickers in major cities. Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department documented the biggest drug bust in its history on Tuesday and officials expect Mexican cartels are to blame. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. The drugs were intended for distribution in Southern California, including Los Angeles, according to DEA officials, who displayed the haul at the agency's warehouse in an undisclosed location in Los Angeles County. EAU CLAIRE Wis. (WLAX/WEUX) - A Colfax man is charged with what the West Central Drug Task Force says is one of its largest drug seizures ever. In April, US Customs and Border Protection officers in California seized more than 400 pounds of meth, cocaine and heroin concealed in toolboxes that were being transported to the country. We wanted SWAT.. "Synthetic drugs like methamphetamine are highly addictive, dangerous and killing people at alarming rates," said DEA Los Angeles Special Agent in Charge Bill Bodner. SAN DIEGO . The CBP confirmed that the drug seizures were the largest busts in the U.S. for both meth and fentanyl for this year and last year, prosecutors said. National correspondent Bill Melugin reports on the major drug raid allegedly tied to Mexican cartels. At the time, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson said it was the second-largest bust ever, behind only a 5,000-pound bust in December 2019 in Laredo, Texas. A furry hero sniffs out one of the largest drug busts in Fontana. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. The investigation led to search warrants being served at narcotics stash houses in the Riverside County cities of Moreno Valley and Perris, east of Los Angeles. "Because of our great partnerships with other law enforcement agencies, we will continue to disrupt the cartels' flow of drugs into our cities.". The Riverside Police Department raided Morales' and Ponce's home in Perris, California, on Aug. 17, where they found 46.2 pounds of carfentanil, 8.8 pounds of cocaine, and 2.2 pounds of heroin . "We are not talking about mom and pop people selling marijuana that they grew in their backyard. All rights reserved. Heavy security was employed Friday afternoon as the seized cash was deposited at a downtown Los Angeles bank. GILROY, Calif. On August 24, 2010, law enforcement seized what was - at the time- the largest meth bust in the United States. Theres a glut on the coke market, said the source, who requested anonymity. Just north of L.A. in Antelope Valley,. The 10-day sting. Nearly 375,000 marijuana plants and 33,480 pounds of harvested marijuana were seized, along with 65 vehicles, 180 animals and $28,000. Villanueva said that he will share the district attorney's prosecution decision publicly once it's made available. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. The L.A. plantations also hog water from local alfalfa, carrot, and potato farmers. published to the Salinas Police Department Facebook page, Everyone Practices Cancel Culture | Opinion, Deplatforming Free Speech is Dangerous | Opinion. Investigators saw someone carry out three boxes from the home and put them in a vehicle, according to authorities. "This is an issue that is plaguing, and will continue to plague, if we do not make it very uncomfortable and one way to make it uncomfortable is to prosecute," Barger said. "And we introduced law and order back in those days. The department brought in massive bulldozers to raid the scene, completely leveling the illegal grows and there are reportedly hundreds more to tackle. Monterey County District Attorney Jeannine Pacioni told Newsweek that the investigation is ongoing to ensure everyone involved has been identified. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Market data provided by Factset. The eight face charges that include conspiracy to transport and distribute narcotics, firearms possession, gang enhancement and conspiracy to commit murder. Operation Sudden Fall was a 2008 joint operation between the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and San Diego State University (SDSU) campus police investigating drug abuse in the College Area of San Diego, California.It was the largest campus drug bust in San Diego County history and one of the largest college drug busts in U.S. history. During the investigation, DEA agents and officers, along with the Fontana Police Department, identified a house in Norco where drugs were being stored. Despite these staggering figures, a law enforcement source in Mexico said the loss of the cash could hurt the drug ring more than the loss of cocaine. RIVERSIDE COUNTY, Calif. - Federal agents announced what they called the largest methamphetamine bust in domestic U.S. history Wednesday, displaying a 10- foot high pile of the confiscated drug representing a haul of more than 2,200 pounds seized at stash houses in Riverside County, along with cocaine and heroin. 2.4 tonnes of cocaine worth $677 mn, bound for Australia, intercepted in country's biggest drug bust. Until the seizure in Sylmar, the largest haul occurred on March 10, 1984, when officials seized 11 tons of cocaine in Tranquilandia, Colombia. Discovery Company. There, amid plastic owls, plaster figurines, pinatas and a painting of Christ walking on the water, were boxes containing thousands of one-kilo packages of cocaine, stacked in piles up to eight feet tall. The post stated that there was specific intent to distribute the drugs between Yuma, Arizona and Salinas, California. The report also noted that officers seized $90,000 in cash and cashier's checks, two bank accounts and one tractor-trailer belonging to NorCal Transportation. Successful seizures like these save lives and reduce the exploitation and victimization of our local communities, Bodner said. Law enforcement followed the vehicle to National City, California, where agents saw the accused men unloading dozens of cardboard boxes from the truck into a Dodge van. Miguel Cabrera, the press information officer for the Salinas Police Department, told Newsweek that the department came across some information that kicked off the entire investigation. A number of law enforcement agencies worked together on a five-month investigation that led to a drug bust. Updated 09/21/2021, 5:55 p.m. 2. Market data provided by Factset. All rights reserved, Authorities: 37 Pounds of Meth Found in Driver's Spare Tire, Second-Largest Border Meth Bust in History Announced, CBP Finds $3.9 Million Worth of Meth, Cocaine in Boulders at Tecate Crossing, Check Your Pockets: These Coins Can Be Worth Up To $24,000, Glendale Neighborhood Frustrated After an Illegal Hostel Moves In, NASA Images Show Southern California Mountains Before and After Winter Storm, Tax Deadlines Extended to October for Most Californians Due to Storms. That is what's coming.". Officials say they believe international cartels are behind the illegal large-scale marijuana farms. "The biggest thanks is going to have to go to my detectives for their hard work," said Acting Salinas Police Chief Roberto Filice. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. ", "It was a team effort all the way around," he said. That seizure carried an estimated street value of $2.56 million, CBP said. Agents seized more than 4,800 pounds of meth nationwide and are still working on more arrests, according to the DEA. This is the cartels. Colombian drug cartels used to control cocaine shipments from start to finish, employing their own operatives to move the drug from processing plants in the Colombian jungle across the Caribbean and then into the United States. Click here for more: http://4.nbcla.com/SV3zVBrDont miss an NBCLA video, subscribe here: https://bit.ly/2NnofFFFor more, visit NBCLA.COM here: https://bit.ly/2uB6niEOn Facebook: https://bit.ly/2uFU1pxOn Twitter: https://bit.ly/2JsBm5YAbout NBCLAThe West Coast flagship station of the NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations, serving the vast region since 1949. Employees of a construction business adjacent to the warehouse at 12898 Bradley St. said about four or five Spanish-speaking men--friendly, well-dressed, clean-cut and well mannered--rented the place about two years ago and began doing business. Agents said the front 15 feet or so had been partitioned off as a secret compartment in which cocaine could be hidden from inspectors, making it appear only bric-a-brac was being hauled. Two Buena Park men are facing felony charges in connection with what prosecutors are calling the largest drug bust in Orange County in 16 years. Agents tracked the group to a spot in San Diego County's National City after noticing that a 20-foot-long commercial box truck had crossed the border between Mexico and the U.S. through an entry point in Otay Mesa, near Tijuana. The four men were arrested during the seizure and charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, classified as a schedule II controlled substance due to its high potential for dependency and recreational abuse. DEA Acting Administrator Timothy J. Shea and other law enforcement officials displayed theevidence during a press conference at a DEA warehouse in Montebello. "The origins of the sheriffs department date back to 1850 when this was the Wild West," the sheriff said. Its more like powder on the football field.. Millions of unsuspecting people have the grim reaper looking over their shoulder and they have no idea how close they actually are to dying from taking a single pill, Orange County Dist. appreciated. In the last two months alone, there have been at least seven confirmed mass overdose events tied to fentanyl across the U.S. resulting in 58 overdoses and 29 deaths, the agency said. The 10-day sting is the largest eradication of illegal marijuana cultivations in the history of the department. "This monumental seizure represents another win against drug cartels that fuel addiction in the United States," said Shelly S. Howe, DEA Special Agent in Charge, in a statement issued with the U.S. Attorney's press release. Saying they feared a possible attempt by drug traffickers to recover their contraband by force, Los Angeles police dispatched a SWAT team to the warehouse to provide extra security after the raids. She called on the district attorney to prosecute those arrested in the operation. Andres Jesus Morales, 30, and Christine Ponce, 27, were charged with four drug-related felonies with the intent to sell a controlled substance, the Riverside . One was arrested early Friday at the Beverly Hills Hotel. A police dog kneels in front of numerous brown bags allegedly containing methamphetamine in San Diego County, California. This is not just powder on the table, said Donald Hamilton, a DEA spokesman in Washington. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. According to the agency, authorities had been investigating a cocaine and meth drug trafficking organization believed to be linked to the Sinaloa Cartel. Also seized were 893 pounds (405 kilograms) of cocaine and 13 pounds (5.9 kilograms) of heroin. Hazell said that after the informant called authorities Wednesday, the DEA, the Los Angeles Police Department and an interagency task force that includes representatives of the Treasury Department, the U.S. Customs Service and the Arcadia, Bell, Huntington Park and Maywood police departments, began surveillance of the warehouse. One bill would make it a felony to possess 2 or more grams of the synthetic opioid. We have to continue to do everything we can to combat this deadly drug epidemic and save lives.. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Atty. "It is an indication of what law enforcement agencies can do to take down a drug trafficking organization such as this one if we devote the time necessary to get to the end result.". The operation found that NorCal Transportation was directly connected to the Sinaloa Cartel. Local authorities charged a California man and woman Thursday in a massive drug bust that found more than 46 pounds of a lethal and potent synthetic opioid, multiple sources reported. LOS ANGELES (AP) _ Police and federal agents seized 1,700 pounds of cocaine with an estimated street value of $500 million, three days after a bust netted up to 2,400 pounds of the drug in Tijuana, Mexico, authorities said Saturday. A record meth bust part of a national operation was announced Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2020. Todd Spitzer said in a statement about the bust. According to the criminal complaint, on February 13th, the task force got a tip Clayton . They were too well-dressed to operate a warehouse business., Federal agents declined to identify the informant who tipped them, but Curt Hazell, a deputy district attorney in Los Angeles, described him as someone with great instincts for business practices, who knows when he is seeing something about a business like this that is not right.. Five men at the scene of the raid were taken into department custody who identified themselves as Mexican nationals who just arrived in the U.S. within the last month. The Las Vegas Sun newspaper said that three Los Angeles men, one of them a former Mexican customs official, were arrested by DEA agents at an expensive Las Vegas hotel in connection with the seizure. On Oct. 9, U.S. Customs and Border Protection stopped a truck crossing from Mexico into the United States at San Diego's Otay Mesa and found 3,014 pounds of methamphetamine, the agency said Sunday.. RIVERSIDE COUNTY, Calif. - Federal agents announced what they called the largest methamphetamine bust in domestic U.S. history Wednesday, displaying a 10- foot high pile of the confiscated. "This massive seizure likely saved lives and prevented the Sinaloa Cartel from doing business and profiting on the lives of people in our communities.". This may be the biggest meth bust in American. The Sylmar haul--weighing about a much as the trash in two fully laden Department of Sanitation trucks--was roughly four times the total amount of cocaine seized throughout Los Angeles in all of 1988. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. They allegedly seized 444 kilograms of cocaine, 157 kilograms of crystal meth, 427 kilograms of marijuana and 300 oxycodone pills. ALAMEDA COUNTY, Calif. (KGO) -- In what Alameda County Sheriff's Office is calling the largest pot bust in Bay Area history, more than 37 tons of plants, tens of millions of dollars in. Kathy Vara reports for the NBC4 News at 4 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 7, 2020. Originally from Miami, she holds a masters degree in journalism from USC. Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters. All Rights Reserved. Deaths related to methamphetamine use have been on the rise in San Diego in recent years. "This illegal activity is impacting the quality of life for residents and businesses and if left unaddressed will have long lasting and devastating affects in the region," Barger said. In 2020, more than 23,000 Americans died from overdoses involving psychostimulants, primarily meth, according to the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Teachers learn to administer Narcan amid opioid crisis. The cocaine was to be held as evidence and then burned, officials said. The raids followed a tip from a neighborhood businessman who saw activities that didnt look quite right at the warehouse where, according to authorities, an import business dealing in inexpensive ceramics, paintings and other bric-a-brac was operated as a front. Tori B. Powell is a breaking news reporter at CBS News. pic.twitter.com/y21yWExTT9. Officers also seized 821 pounds of methamphetamine and 189.7 pounds of cocaine after pulling over the minivan leaving a Buena Park home. Three additional arrests reportedly occurred in Las Vegas Friday. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Both vehicles allegedly contained about 148 bundles of a material that tested positive for methamphetamine, according to the statement. Just north of L.A. in Antelope Valley, California, officials tracked down, identified and destroyed 70 to 80 outhouses filled with illegal marijuana plots in the open desert. Charles P. Gutensohn, chief of the Drug Enforcement Administrations cocaine investigations section in Washington, said Friday that the Sylmar drug bust appeared to have uncovered a major hand-off point used by Mexican smugglers to deliver cocaine to Colombian distributors, whose networks extend across the United States. The investigation is continuing.. At a small office at the front of the building, agents found records indicating that the drugs had come from the infamous Medellin and Cali cartels in Colombia. They said they were dealing in paintings, velvet paintings, said David Barron, owner of the construction business. A Warner Bros. The leads here are endless, Reiner said. Newsweek previously reported that according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, Five search warrants were executed on September 9, and four individuals were arrested in Salinas, and another four were arrested in Yuma County, Arizona in connection with the ongoing investigation. Zienter said the drugs apparently entered the United States at El Paso, Tex., probably in hidden compartments in two tractor-trailer rigs the ring was believed to have been using. Meth is a highly addictive stimulant that usually takes the form of a powder. CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. according to the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Hazell said the surveillance team obtained a warrant and searched the car, finding 20 kilograms of cocaine in the trunk. Fentanyl is cheap, its easy to get and it is killing our children, our coworkers, and tens of thousands of innocent Americans who dont have to die.. The pair were also charged with two felony enhancements that the controlled substances exceeded 80 kilograms by weight and two felony enhancements that the controlled substances exceeded 20 kilograms by weight or 400 liters by liquid volume. Legal Statement. They have pleaded not guilty and remain in custody on $5-million bail, the D.A.s office said. Biggest drug bust goes down in LA sheriff department history. More than 5,000 pounds of methamphetamine were seized in National City, California. Cabrera said there is still information that is being processed.