22 arrested in connection with Sinaloa Cartel trafficking drugs to L.A. and other U.S. cities

Chivis Martinez for Borderland Beat  from KTLA

Twenty-two people were arrested on federal drug trafficking charges involving the notorious Sinaloa Cartel, as raids were conducted throughout Southern California Wednesday,  officials said.

The raids were a culmination of a three-year long investigation into three trafficking organizations who helped transport “bulk quantities of drugs” from Mexico to the Los Angeles area and other cities throughout the U.S., said Paul Delacourt, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s L.A. field office.

Twenty people were arrested Wednesday, while two were already in custody. The task force is still looking for eight fugitives, including top level Mexico-based traffickers, officials said. A total of 57 people were indicted in connection with the investigation.

The indictments, which were unsealed Wednesday, allege that the defendants received the drugs from the cartel in northern Mexico, smuggled them into Los Angeles through hidden compartments in vehicles and distributed them to Arizona, Kansas, Minnesota and New York, Delacourt explained.

In addition, those involved in the extensive operations, including pilots, couriers and money collectors, would return the proceeds to Mexico, officials said.

During the investigation, authorities seized 850 pounds of methamphetamine, 900 kg of cocaine, 100 pounds of heroin,  50 pounds of marijuana and $1.4 million. The combined street value of the seized drugs is estimated at $35 million per month, Delacourt said.

Those indicted face a minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, and some could face life in prison, officials said.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, IRS, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, United States Department of Homeland Security as well as several local law enforcement agencies were involved in the raids Wednesday.

From OC Register:

Those arrested Wednesday morning by members of the Los Angeles Strike Force were among 57 defendants named in three indictments that were unsealed Wednesday morning, said Paul Delacourt, assistant director in charge of the FBI in Los Angeles.

“This morning, some 250 agents, officers and deputies from multiple law enforcement agencies executed 30 arrest warrants and five search warrants across Los Angeles County,” Delacourt said Wednesday.

“This effort was the culmination of a three-year investigation targeting multiple drug trafficking organizations involved in the transportation of bulk quantities of drugs from Mexico to the Los Angeles area and other cities throughout the United States,” Delacourt said.

Two of the defendants were already in state custody and are being turned over Wednesday to federal authorities. The remaining 35 defendants are fugitives, with most of those believed to be in Mexico, Delacourt said.

The investigation, dubbed Operation Narconetas, targeted three drug trafficking organizations that transported bulk quantities of cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin from Mexico to the Los Angeles metropolitan area and other locations across the United States, authorities said.

Participating agencies included the Los Angeles Police Department, IRS Criminal Investigation unit, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, United States Marshals Service, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, California Highway Patrol, and the Torrance, Glendale, Pomona, Fullerton and Azusa police departments.

The strike force members uncovered several sophisticated international drug trafficking organizations that regularly transported drugs across the U.S.-Mexico border and at times stored drugs in “stash houses” in cities across the Southland, authorities said. The drugs then were distributed throughout the United States.

The Los Angeles Strike Force was formed in 2014 to target Mexican drug cartels that utilize the Los Angeles metropolitan region as a primary hub for the distribution of narcotics across the United States.