Meth Bust: El Monte Man Accused of Trying to Ship More Than One Metric Ton of the White Stuff8/12/2024  Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor LOS ANGELES - A man was arrested August 8, accused of attempting to export more than one metric ton of methamphetamine to the Land Down Under. Jing Tang Li, a 32-year-old El Monte man is facing distribution of and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, exportation of controlled substances and attempt and conspiracy to export controlled substances charges, according to the Justice Department. Li was intercepted while driving near a South El Monte warehouse August 8: the location of a reported commercial burglary. Inside, law enforcement discovered packaged methamphetamine, shipping labels and scales. In all, Li was allegedly attempting to ship 2,205 pounds of meth in cargo containers from February 2023 to December 2023 using fake company names. “The purported commodities were falsely listed as carpets and textiles, furniture, wheel hub testing equipment, and a casting machine. The listed companies that were shipping the “products” were fake businesses. Embedded in the products was methamphetamine,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in a written statement. More than 1,000 kilograms of meth were found in the containers. If convicted, Li would face a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison and a statutory maximum sentence of life imprisonment.  Hector Yair Sanchez. Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor REGION – Authorities continue to search for six men wanted in connection with a large-scale drug trafficking organization.
The six fugitives are among 13 others named in four separate indictments and charged with various offenses related to drugs and weapons. The crimes were carried out in the Los Angeles Police Department’s Harbor Division, according to the FBI Los Angeles Field Office. Pomona man Hector Yair Sanchez, 25, is among the six fugitives charged in Operation “Wipe Out,” initiated by the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles Interagency Metropolitan Police Apprehension Crime Task Force in 2020. Four indictments were unsealed November 16. From April to July 2021, undercover officers conducted numerous operations that helped identify the 13 suspects from California and Arizona. Officers seized 250 pounds of methamphetamine, one pound of fentanyl, six handguns and one rifle, according to the FBI. Arrested were: Adrian Abasolo, 26, from San Diego Alejandro Mendoza, 45, from Los Angeles Hector Valentin, 28, from Long Beach Rodolfo Ulyses, 61, from Bullhead City, Arizona Juan Antonio Aguilar-Bravo, 45, from Calexico Gabriela Contreras, 42, from Gardena Marisela Sanchez, 43, from Wilmington Those arrested were scheduled for initial court appearances Tuesday in the nearest federal district court to where the arrests occurred. Still sought are: Hector Yair Sanchez, 25, from Pomona Christian Garcia, 29, from Long Beach Jorge Luis Perez Sandoval, 36, from Victorville Luis Fernando Verdugo, 25, from Pacoima Alexander Guerrero, 42, from Los Angeles Oscar Humberto Gallegos, 35, from San Diego Among the charges are: conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine; possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine; possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime; felon in possession of firearm and ammunition; conspiracy; unlawful sale, transport, and transfer of a firearm by an unlicensed dealer; conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, fentanyl, and cocaine; and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, fentanyl, and cocaine, according to the FBI. If convicted as charged, the suspects face a range of statutory maximum sentences ranging from five years to life in prison, according to the FBI.  Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor LOS ANGELES - A man admitted Friday to supplying drugs that ultimately killed a woman who ingested them.
Edwin Oliva, 30, pleaded guilty to one count of distributing Fentanyl resulting in death and one count of possession with intent to distribute heroin, according to the US Attorney’s Office. Oliva admitted in a plea agreement to providing several lines of a drug for his victim to snort and he neglected to tell her that the drug was Fentany, which he was aware of. “Oliva did not call 911 or otherwise seek medical care for the victim until nearly six hours after texting a friend that the victim was not breathing,” the US District Attorney’s Office. In that nearly six hours, Oliva cleaned his apartment by removing the fentanyl and other drug trafficking evidence, which was put in the trunk of his significant other’s car and driven away from the apartment in attempt to hide it, the US District Attorney’s Office. After serving a search warrant, Montebello officers on the car and located 1.9 kilograms of heroin, 21 grams of fentanyl, 1.4 kilograms of marijuana, 0.4 grams of methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia, a loaded .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol, a blue flip phone he used to conduct drug transactions and a notebook he used as a pay/owe ledger, the US District Attorney’s Office said. Oliva has been in federal custody since March 2019. After being taken into custody that month, Oliva ordered his significant other to destroy evidence and to tell authorities that the blue flip phone was a toy for their children. Oliva is scheduled to be sentenced January 7, 2022 and faces a statutory maximum of life in prison. The fentanyl distribution charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. The heroin possession charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison, according to the US Attorney’s Office.  Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor LOS ANGELES - More than 100 pounds of methamphetamine, 15 pounds of heroin and eight unregistered firearms were seized during a search warrant operation at two El Monte locations December 1. Two men were taken into custody during the operation and both were booked on suspicion of being felons in possession of loaded firearms and possessing narcotics for the purposes of sales, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. The suspects are described as current gang members and ex-felons, according to Lt. David Auner of the Operation Safe Streets Bureau. Three of the eight weapons seized are described as assault rifles, Auner said in a December 3 news conference. Initially, the OSS investigation dealt with weapons offenses, but good timing allowed for the discovery of the narcotics. OSS detectives are in contact with the weapons manufacturers to trace where they were distributed to, Auner said. OSS credits the work of Sheriff’s gang detectives and community members for making the arrests and seizure of contraband possible. More arrests are anticipated.
“It was information provided by community members who have contact with our detectives. Many of those community members are crime victim families ... through those contacts, developed information about trying to reduce violent crime activity,” Auner said. Weapons include a 12-gauge shotgun, two M4 assault rifles, AK47, MAC-12, a .45-caliber 1911 semi-automatic pistol, a 9mm semi-automatic pistol and a 9mm assault pistol, Auner said. Auner declined to provide the names of both suspects, citing the ongoing investigation. The Operation Safe Streets Bureau works to investigate crimes committed by gangs in Los Angeles County, assists in gang suppression operations and works to discourage youth from engaging in gang activity. In 2020, OSS teams have arrested 461 suspects in violent crimes, have seized 305 firearms and have conducted 471 search warrant operations.  Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor LOS ANGELES - The suspect who pleaded guilty to his part in a drug trafficking conspiracy and to money laundering was sentenced to a mere 63 months in prison. Mexican national Edgar Limon, 39, was also ordered to pay a $17,500 fine for his involvement in an international narcotics network that transported 21 pounds of pure methamphetamine across the border with Mexico on behalf of a group linked to the Sinaloa Cartel, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Limon, the last of 22 suspects named in a 19-count indictment, pleaded guilty July 17, 2019. He is one of nine that were taken into custody pursuant to the unsealed 2017 indictment and the last of those to be sentenced. The other eight received 135-month sentences. Five other suspects, including Limon’s brother and lead suspect Jeuri Limon Elenes, remain fugitives and may be hiding in Mexico, the DOJ said. The case was the result of a two-year wiretap investigation by the Los Angeles Strike Force, comprised of members from the FBI, DEA, IRS Criminal Investigations, Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Marshal Service and the Azusa Police Department.
The scheme involved the import of hundreds of pounds of methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin into the U.S. The drugs were distributed through a network of Sinaloa Cartel associates. The domestic revenue was funneled back to Mexico, the DOJ said. The drugs were stored in stash houses across the San Gabriel Valley. Limon was in charge of one of those locations. From June 2014 to April 2016, Limon and his fellow traffickers had an agreement to distribute and process with intent to distribute, methamphetamine in the LA area. Two of these stash houses where Limon hid drugs were in El Monte and Azusa. The latter served as a distribution point for methamphetamine, heroin and cocaine, the DOJ said. The Los Angeles Strike Force seized 290 pounds of methamphetamine, 280 pounds of cocaine, 30 pounds of heroin, and 81 pounds of marijuana — a $6 million street value, the DOJ said. Limon and his fellow traffickers also conducted financial transactions in ways that concealed their illegal origins in drug trafficking, the DOJ said. Limon’s mother and cousin were charged and sentenced to 87 months in federal prison. The Los Angeles Strike Force was formed in 2014 to combat the use of the Los Angeles metro area as a hub for drug distribution across the US by Mexican cartels. The Strike Force seeks to target high-level traffickers, disrupt and dismantle drug distribution networks and money laundering activities and arrest and prosecute cartel leaders and operatives, the DOJ said.  Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor LOS ANGELES - Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office prosecutors announced 66,000 marijuana convictions in Los Angeles County will be dismissed as part of an effort to promote criminal justice reform. The convictions, dating back to 1961, will be dismissed as part of a partnership with Code for America which implemented the Clear My Record pilot program to clear convictions in five California counties: San Francisco County, Contra Costa County, Sacramento County, San Joaquin County and Los Angeles County. 62,000 of those were felony convictions. 4,000 were misdemeanors, with cases filed in Los Angeles, Long Beach, Torrance, Pasadena, Inglewood, Burbank, Santa Monica, Hawthorne, Redondo Beach and Hermosa Beach. The convictions were eligible for relief under Prop 64, the Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act, which was passed by the majority of voters November 8, 2016. “The dismissal of tens of thousands of old cannabis-related convictions in Los Angeles County will bring much needed relief to communities of color that disproportionately suffered the unjust consequences of our nation’s drug laws,” said Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey. In total, more than 85,000 marijuana convictions were dismissed and sealed across the five counties, according to Evonne Silva, senior program director of criminal justice at Code for America.
“This is a clear demonstration that automatic record clearance is possible at scale and can help right the wrongs of the failed war on drugs,” Silva said. 53,000 people will receive conviction relief through this partnership. Of those, approximately 32 percent are Black or African American, 20 percent are White, 45 percent are Latinx, and 3 percent are other or unknown, the District Attorney’s Office said. Under AB 1793, those with prior convictions for cannabis-related crimes will not be required to petition the court for redesignation or dismissal. The Department of Justice was required to review cases and identify convictions eligible for redesignation or dismissal by July 1, 2020. The bill then requires the courts to automatically redesignate or dismiss convictions by July 1, 2020. “The Clear My Record Application allows District Attorneys to securely and accurately evaluate eligibility for convictions by reading and interpreting criminal history data from the California Department of Justice,” the District Attorney’s Office said. To find out if your record has been cleared, or for more information about this initiative, contact the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office by phone at 323-760-6763 or visit pubdef.lacounty.gov. |
Archives
January 2024
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed