LA Sheriff Deputy Charged in County Jail Mexican Mafia Smuggling Network

"Socalj" for Borderland Beat

A Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputy is among 18 people indicted by a grand jury this week as part of a sophisticated drug smuggling operation involving Mexican Mafia associates inside the LA County jail system.

Half of those indicted are currently incarcerated. Among those indicted included an Anti-Gang Investigator at the LASD Deputy Michael Meiser who worked at the North County Correctional Facility in Castaic north of Los Angeles. The facility is commonly known as 'Wayside'.

The Deputy worked for the anti-gang unit known as Operation Safe Jails, a special investigative unit within the jail that is in charge of stopping exactly what he is accused of.

"It is very ironic, but at the same side of that coin, in speaking with the deputies who are currently working for Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office stated that it's actually pretty common that stuff like this happen," said Saren Prime with the Prime Initiative and a former deputy.

"He was currently being watched by other deputies which they reported the wrong doing," Prime explained.

Meiser was one of 18 listed on the multi count indictment that alleged the conspiracy to sell heroin, extort, assault and other felonies in furtherance of Mexican Mafia gang activities.

Meiser specifically was charged with a non-inmate furnishing a controlled substance to a person in custody, attempted non-inmate furnishing a controlled substance to a person in custody, conspiracy to commit non-inmate furnishing a controlled substance to a person in custody and participation in a criminal street gang.

The indictment details a number of security videos that allegedly show Meiser speaking to some of the other defendants in the case. He can be seen handing a bag to one of them and in another instance he is seen receiving a plastic bag from a woman at a Lancaster gas station, which contained about a point of black tar heroin. He is then accused of bringing the bag into the North County Correctional Facility.

Slain eMe figure Michael "Mosca" Torres headed the drug smuggling operation.

Meiser was arrested for his alleged role last May. The investigation was launched in February 2022 after multiple incidents of narcotics entering the jail system, controlled by Mexican Mafia member Michael "Mosca" Torres.

Mosca was long believed to have controlled the Los Angeles County Jail System as well as parts of the San Gabriel Valley and taxed the drug trade among Sureño inmates in the largest jails in the country. He was stabbed to death in state prison in July 2023 by two fellow Mexican Mafia members. It is believed others wanted control over the LA jails.

The 50-page indictment released Tuesday alleges months of coded messaging were intercepted by investigators that detailed drug trade between the North County Correctional Facility in Castaic and Men’s Central Jail in Los Angeles.

The allegations begins stating that Mosca controlled the organization of 'Sureños' or Southerners that taxed illegal activity in the county jail system. Deputies’ notes on the indictment provided detailed allegations about how the transactions were handled.

On Jan. 13, 2022, for example, “Estela Guerrero instructed David ‘Too Tall’ Fraysure to send the proceeds of narcotics to the homie from Rockwood who was ‘one above’ Fraysure,” according to the indictment, which also states that, five days later, “an unidentified co-conspirator housed at NCCF (aka ‘Green Eyes’) reported to Guerrero, that co-conspirator ‘Scrappy’ reported that ‘Kristina’ (Rosa Kristina Martinez) had ‘picked it up’ yesterday.”

The inmates often used coded language, according to the complaint, but the communications were made over the Inmate Telephone Monitoring System, which are recorded by the LASD.

In one such Feb. 27, 2024, call made after 11 p.m., “the ‘white Jordans’ (coded language consistent with methamphetamine) were sold to her for 27 ($2,700), and the ‘black Jordans’ (coded language consistent with heroin) was sold to her for 25 ($2,500).”

In 2016, Torres seized control of the Los Angeles County jail system from his Folsom prison cell, according to evidence presented in prosecutions of his lieutenants. This was following a power struggle between various Mexican Mafia lieutenants who ran the LA jails for Mexican Mafia member Eulalio "Lalo" Martinez after he died of a heroin overdose in 2013 while imprisoned at Pelican Bay. Torres had controlled the LA County Men's Central Jail prior to Martinez when Mosca was housed there from 2003-2007 during his attempted murder trial.

Sources LA County DA, KTLA, Borderland Beat

Categories: los angeles, mexican mafia