Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor REGION – The U.S. Marshals Service is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of a man who shot and wounded a police officer August 10.
Jose Ortega, 25, wounded an officer assigned to the Los Angeles Interagency Metropolitan Police Apprehension Crime Task Force in La Puente, according to the U.S. Marshal Service. Undercover officers with L.A. IMPACT were confronted by the suspects they were surveilling and a shooting occurred. The wounded officer received injuries considered not life-threatening, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. One suspect involved in the shooting was arrested, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Ortega is a Hispanic man with black hair, brown eyes, stands 6 feet 1 inches tall and weighs 290 pounds. He is considered armed and dangerous. Anyone who knows Ortega’s whereabouts is urged to call the U.S. Marshals Service at 1-877-WANTED2 (926-8332). Remain anonymous by using the U.S. Marshals Tips app, the P3Tips mobile app, or 1-800-222-TIPS (8477). 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. |
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