Edgar Alfonso Lamas, 36, and Carlos Raygozaparedes, 53, were arrested March 17 after Buena Park police officers recovered 20.5 pounds of fentanyl pills from inside a minivan, the Orange County district attorneys office announced Wednesday. The post stated that there was specific intent to distribute the drugs between Yuma, Arizona and Salinas, California. 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Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. 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.. Its more like powder on the football field.. "This is enough dope to prove a dose of meth for every man, women and child in the United States and Mexico," DEA Acting Administrator Timothy Shea said. We have to continue to do everything we can to combat this deadly drug epidemic and save lives.. According to the criminal complaint, on February 13th, the task force got a tip Clayton . 2.4 tonnes of cocaine worth $677 mn, bound for Australia, intercepted in country's biggest drug bust. 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. The 20-foot commercial truck, which was carrying 148 meth bundles, crossed the border Thursday through the Otay Mesa Commercial Port of Entry in San Diego, the US Attorneys Office said in a statement. Detectives found that the average size per cultivation at farms increased to 15 greenhouses, up from eight per farm in the year prior. 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. Three men believed to be Mexican nationals were arrested in the Los Angeles area--two of them at luxury hotels--and about $10 million in cash was seized at a warehouse in Sylmar during raids that began about 10 p.m. Thursday, according to DEA agents. 6:23 AM EDT, Sat July 9, 2022. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. The next morning, the Santa Barbara Sheriff's Office announced the 34 arrests and the seizure of 3,164 pounds of methamphetamine the biggest drug bust in the county's history, and one of the largest ever in the nation. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, The smugglers then deliver the cocaine to Colombian traffickers in major cities. NBC4 news is delivered across the main broadcast on channel4, at www.nbcla.com, and through multiple interactive social media platforms 24/7. This is the cartels. Mike Holm, a DEA agent in Los Angeles, said the SWAT team was called in to guard the warehouse because we had a large amount of money and drugs in there., We know the Colombians have made threats against law enforcement agencies, he said. 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. 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. 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. Get your top stories delivered daily! Three additional arrests reportedly occurred in Las Vegas Friday. The drugs have an estimated street value of $33 million. It was the coming together of two organizations, a distributor and a buyer, Hazell said, declining to explain further. Sheriff Alex Villanueva has since launched an operation with up to 500 deputies and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to hunt down and destroy other marijuana plantations. The DEA told FOX 11s Bill Melugin that the COVID-19 pandemic had actually somewhat slowed down the Mexican drug cartels ability to get drugs into SoCal because of increased security at the US border. The Medellin cartel has been blamed for a recent wave of violence against officials in Colombia. As some of the officers secured the warehouse and began itemizing its contents, others fanned out to search for missing suspects, at least some of whom had remained under surveillance. Villanueva revealed to Fox News that these locations are hot spots for criminal behavior with reports of cartel members threatening residents with firearms. One was arrested early Friday at the Beverly Hills Hotel. The suspects identified as 37-year-old Rafael Alzua, 41-year-old Galdrino Contreras, 41-year-old Mario Contreras, and 44-year-old Ethgar Velazquez are accused of attempting to transport large quantities of meth after police found them unloading a vehicle filled with the illegal substance on Thursday. 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. They have pleaded not guilty and remain in custody on $5-million bail, the D.A.s office said. The operation, which began on June 8, resulted in 22 felony arrests, 109 misdemeanor arrests, and 19 arrests from water theft enforcement teams, officials said. This is not just powder on the table, said Donald Hamilton, a DEA spokesman in Washington. NORCO, Calif. (KABC) -- More than 3,000 pounds of methamphetamine and 66 kilograms of cocaine were found in a massive drug bust in Norco last month, making it the largest seizure of meth for the Drug Enforcement Administration's Los Angeles Division. 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. Detectives from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Narcotic Bureau identified over 500 illegal marijuana cultivations in 2021, increasing from the 150 identified in 2020, according to a June statement. While California legalized therecreational use of marijuana in 2018, illegal grows of the crop have been on the rise in the state. How is that money being used? Officers also seized 821 pounds of methamphetamine and 189.7 pounds of cocaine after pulling over the minivan leaving a Buena Park home. Los Angeles police said the total amount of cocaine seized in Sylmar was 39,600 pounds, or 19.8 tons. The first man returned to the warehouse, but officers said they stopped the car and arrested the second man, who gave his name, sarcastically, as Ronald Reagan.. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. The cocaine was to be held as evidence and then burned, officials said. 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. Kathy Vara reports for the NBC4 News at 4 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 7, 2020. They allegedly seized 444 kilograms of cocaine, 157 kilograms of crystal meth, 427 kilograms of marijuana and 300 oxycodone pills. 2023 Cable News Network. Ira Reiner said that when the officers entered the warehouse in Sylmar and shined their flashlights about the room, they couldnt believe their eyes.. Legal Statement. The Otay Mesa, California, Commercial. Agents from Southwest Border Group 2 began investigating a large scale drug trafficking organization with ties to the Sinaloa Cartel in SD Otay-Mesa area, allegedly involved in the transportation and delivery of large quantities of drugs. Sept. 30, 1989 12 AM PT Times Staff Writers In what was described as the largest narcotics haul ever, federal agents seized almost 20 tons of cocaine--worth up to $6 billion on the street--at a. The cash was deposited by federal officials in a downtown bank Friday afternoon. 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. We have teamed up with the @usarmy @deahq @vcsheriff @kernsheriff @seblasd to eradicate these illegal Marijuana groves. The nation last year surpassed 100,000 overdoses in a 12-month period for the first time largely due to the drug, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Contributing to this article were Times staff writers Paul Feldman, Andrea Ford, John Johnson, John Kendall, Patricia Klein Lerner, Amy Pyle and George Ramos in Los Angeles; Douglas Jehl in Washington, and Marjorie Miller in Mexico City. July 9, 2022 6:45 AM PT. Updated The San Diego Union-Tribune OTAY MESA, Calif. Federal authorities made what they called likely the largest methamphetamine bust in United States history, finding more than 5,528 pounds of the. They worked with authorities in Arizona and it started to grow. 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Large quantities of the drug have been discovered in trucks that entered the country through the Otay Mesa commercial point of entry before. Federal authorities on Wednesday showed off results of Southern California raids early this month that. 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. SAN DIEGO . "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. The largest DEA domestic seizure of methamphetamine in history is a significant blow to the cartels, but more importantly it is a gigantic victory for communities throughout Southern California and the United States who have had to deal with the torrent of methamphetamine coming into their neighborhoods, Shea said. Authorities in Southern California have seized more than 16 tons of marijuana worth an estimated $1.19 billion, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department officials said Wednesday. I dont know which, but either gives me the shivers.. Nearly 375,000 marijuana plants and 33,480 pounds of harvested marijuana were seized, along with 65 vehicles, 180 animals and $28,000. You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter! More than 5,000 pounds of methamphetamine were seized in National City, California. 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. "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. The NBC Owned Television Stations, a division of NBCUniversal, also operates COZI TV (www.cozitv.com), a national network that brings viewers some of Americas most beloved and iconic television shows and movies.#NBC #NBCLA The 10-day sting is the largest eradication of illegal marijuana cultivations in the history of the department. ET: This story has been updated with statements from Salinas Police Departmen press information officer Miguel Cabrera and Monterey County District Attorney Jeannine Pacioni. A Warner Bros. 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. According to the agency, authorities had been investigating a cocaine and meth drug trafficking organization believed to be linked to the Sinaloa Cartel. Photos supplied by Orange County district attorneys office showing the 821 pounds of methamphetamine, 189.7 pounds of cocaine and 20.5 pounds of fentanyl pills that were seized by officers after they pulled over a minivan leaving a Buena Park home. pic.twitter.com/y21yWExTT9. July 11, 2022 / 9:03 AM HARRIS MEETS WITH MEXICAN PRESIDENT AMID CRITICISM OVER MIGRANT REMARKS, LACK OF BORDER VISIT. 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.. 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