But danger still brews below the surface. Well let me hang up.. 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. Posted Wed, Jan 29, 2020 at 2:22 pm PT. Police arrested 23 people in an operation designed to crack down on illegal drug sales in downtown Riverside. And some of it, concealed inside duffle bags, was apparently passed between cars in public including at a Sam's Club parking lot in Moreno Valley. A raid by federal and local authorities netted 12 arrests in the Riverside area, with authorities confiscating large amounts of weapons, cash and methamphetamine. Authorities said they found about 893 pounds of cocaine, 13 pounds of heroin and some 650 pounds of methamphetamine in the garage of a residence in Moreno Valley. We'll send you the top local news stories every morning at 8 a.m. By clicking subscribe, you agree to share your email address with Times of San Diego to receive our free newsletter and breaking news alerts. Representatives of the Riverside Police Department, Riverside County Sheriff's Department, FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration attended the news conference. Thats nearly one fourth as much meth, and one tenth as much heroin, as was seized by the entire DEA nationwide from 2012 to 2014. "When someone is on supervised release, the expectation is that they will refrain from committing further crimes," said Diaz. Online Volunteer Info Session- Learn How to Advocate for Youth in Foster Care! Over a three-year period that ended in September, the Riverside DEA Office, which also covers San Bernardino County, has seized about 6,500 pounds of meth and 770 pounds of heroin. Be the first to know when news breaks in Coachella Valley. Breaking News City News Service contributed to this report. Ved klikke Godta alt godtar du at Yahoo og vre partnere vil behandle din personlige informasjon og bruke teknologier som informasjonskapsler, for vise personlig tilpassede annonser og innhold, for annonse- og innholdsmling, publikumsinnsikt og produktutvikling. Also seized were 893 pounds (405 kilograms) of cocaine and 13 pounds (5.9 kilograms) of heroin. The officer referred the driver, truck and shipment for a more intensive inspection, which is when the illicit contraband was discovered, according to the DEA. "These numbers are significant," said Kristi Johnson of the FBI. Like in Riverside, drug seizures along that stretch of border have gone up dramatically. Oct. 14, 2020. For two months, Rohn and his partners at the DEA had been using wiretaps to chase a drug ring. Riverside County has become the single largest drug trafficking distribution center in the United States, built on a web of highways, nondescriptsuburbia and empty desert, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. And these figures still don't account for all the drugs and cash seized in Riverside County. Brett Kelman, The Desert Sun, and Brad Heath, USA TODAY. The department said members of its DEA task force has been on the trail of the massive drug ring with ties to the Sinaloa drug cartel since June. Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. In April, Arkansas State Police found 275 poundsof meth worth an estimated $10 million hidden in a semi-truck on Interstate 40, about 10 miles east of Little Rock. At the end of the month, a stakeout of the property led to federal agents and police officers arresting a man who was carrying heavy boxes out of the house and placing them in a vehicle, according to the DEA. A man was arrested on multiple charges during a drug bust in Columbus. "When you hear a story like this, where a guy is out for two hours and is slinging dope, it is somewhat demoralizing. Absent from these totals are countless seizures made by Border Patrol, local police and DEA agents from Los Angeles, San Diego and the East Coast, which routinely tracethe source of their drugs back to Riverside County. Coronavirus Updates, 2023, Gulf-California Broadcast Company Palm Springs, CA USA, Download the News Channel 3 News app here. The drugs seized at the location, which also included heroin and fentanyl, had a street value of about $7.2 million. That pipeline begins south of the border, in a region of Mexico controlled by the Sinaloa cartel. The pipeline quietly moved gas towardSan Francisco for more than 50 years, until 2010, when a rupture sent a fireball spewing skyward, destroying three dozen homes. The DEA's big bust came just a week before another huge meth seizure. In one case, smugglers brought more than 90 pounds of meth across the border undetected at a border checkpoint. 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. NBC Universal, Inc. A record meth bust part of a national operation was announced Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2020. In the pickup, agents found the visitors. Twenty-nine pounds of heroin were hidden in a secret compartment. "Study after study shows that where there is meth addiction, there is also an uptick in violent crime including robberies, assaults and murders.". 11/22/2022 12:00 AM. The recently seized drugs stemmed from the Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation cartels in Mexico, Shea said. On Oct. 9, U.S. Customs and Border Protection stopped a truck crossing from Mexico into the United States at San Diego's Otay . Help us grow with a monthly contribution. Federal agents announced what they called the largest methamphetamine bust in 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. On April 5, 2011, Deputy Gerald Rohn, of the Riverside County Sheriffs Department, dug into the side yard of an abandoned house in Lake Elsinore. The DEA's big bust came just a week before another huge meth seizure. This is a tough time for everybody, and some people turn to drugs to deal with that, he said, adding that many in-house-treatment options have been curtailed due to the coronavirus. To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com. NWS releases preliminary reports on 13 Alabama tornadoes from Jan. 12. Operation Crystal Shield has resulted in 2,800 arrests over the last six months nationwide, Bodner said. This was a rare momentwhen Riverside Countys secret drug pipeline a cross-countryconduit for tons of meth and heroin accidentally exposed itself to the outside world. Stephanie Lai was a 2020 intern for the Los Angeles Times. ", Polar bear kills woman, boy in remote Alaska village, Man gets 30 years in prison in road rage killing of teen Astros fan, Video shows toddler waving handgun outside apartment; man arrested. More than 40,000 plants are spread out. Jeff Moore, the former narcotics prosecutor, compared the countys drug trafficking network to the San Bruno natural gas pipeline. Authorities specifically mentioned two incidents of alleged drug smuggling along the southern border. All you really need is a big garage and a garage door opener, Moore said. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration announced a record-breaking bust Wednesday: roughly 2,224 pounds of methamphetamine recovered in Riverside County. Heres a timeline, Crusading vet treats some of L.A.s most cherished residents: The pets of skid row, The Times podcast: How the California GOP lost its national sway, Veterans claim anti-vet bias in Metros choice of muralist for a new VA station, California faces catastrophic flood dangers and a need to invest billions in protection, Caregiver sentenced to life in prison for unspeakable sexual abuse of disabled children. And finally, back in 2010, a DEA-led task force caught a semi-truck on Interstate-10, headed from the border to a warehouse in either Riverside County or San Bernardino County. "Synthetic drugs like methamphetamine are highly addictive, dangerous and killing people at alarming rates," DEA Los Angeles Special Agent in Charge Bill Bodner said. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. Diaz says it illustrates frustrations he has with other aspects of the criminal justice system. Authorities arrested eight defendants Thursday named in a federal grand jury indictment alleging their involvement in a drug trafficking organization operating in Los Angeles and Riverside. . There seemed for a long time to be a rise of mom and pop meth labs in their homes, or out in a shack someplace, said Steve Harmon, the Riverside County Public Defender, who has practiced law here for nearly 40 years. Download the News Channel 3 app here. The drugs are alleged to have been stored in hidden compartments in their vehicles. If convicted, they face mandatory minimum sentences of 10 years in federal prison, with a possible maximum sentence of life in prison. Please reload the page and try again. "The Justice Department is committed to making our neighborhoods safer by aggressively disrupting drug cartel operations in the United States.". 11/22/2022 1:58 PM. Agents and drug dogs sweep the traffic, hunting for hidden narcotics, but there are far too many travelers to search them all. Quickly, Rohn found three plastic bags, buried shallow, each filled with a pound of white powder. 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 (1,367.1 kilograms) of methamphetamine, the agency said Sunday. However, even raw numbers reveal Riverside County as a centerpiece in U.S. drug trafficking, rivaling the nations largest cities. Polar bear kills woman, boy in remote Alaska village, Man gets 30 years in prison in road rage killing of teen Astros fan, Video shows toddler waving handgun outside apartment; man arrested. 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