Gilroy, CA Drug bust...

[kiddorbitz01]

Check this out guys... Good job Sac SO, and all other agencies involved.

Neighbors Stunned By Massive Gilroy Drug Bust

jse
KCBS News,Local News
8/20/2010
6:40 AM

GILROY, Calif. (KCBS) – Members of several law enforcement agencies seized almost 475 pounds of crystal methamphetamine and cocaine, together worth more than $100 million, from a home in Gilroy Thursday, a Sacramento County sheriff’s sergeant said.




Three men were arrested and $35,000 in cash was confiscated from the home, which contained 459 pounds of methamphetamine and 15 pounds of cocaine, Sgt. Tim Curran said.


“This is the largest drug bust in Sacramento history,” he said. “Probably in Northern California history.”


The multi-agency seizure began just after 7 a.m. at the corner of Roop Road and New Avenue, Curran said.


He said the suspects — Mexican nationals Fabian Ayala, 28, Hector Salazar, 43, and Sergio Valencia, 35 — will eventually be transported and held in Sacramento County.


Investigators believe the men are linked to a Mexican drug cartel and expect to make more arrests, Curran said.


The case began a year ago when an undercover Sacramento sheriff’s deputy initiated a low-level street buy, Curran said.


“The investigation led to a major Mexico-based drug trafficking organization,” he said.


The sheriff’s department is not naming the cartel, he said.


Two firearms were also confiscated during Thursday’s raid, which was assisted by state drug agencies, the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office, and Gilroy police.


The case was investigated by task force members with the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department and Orange County Sheriff’s Office, Curran said.


The California Multi-jurisdictional Methamphetamine Enforcement Team, the Drug Enforcement Administration’s High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force, the Department of Justice, and Modesto police also contributed to the effort.

[Prospective]

Dang, pretty big operation to have Orange County, Santa Clara County and Sacramento County all working together. This was all over the state. Its cool to see everybody working together to put all the pieces in place.

[LeeRoy]

I thought SSD disbanded narcotics during the cutbacks and only had narcs on task forces.

Good job to all running this case from the street up to a superlab.

[HockeyFan87]

I think it was more SSD narcs assigned to HIDTA and CAL-MMET entities and SSD making sure they got the departments name dropped in the press briefing. Bottom line...career case for all investigators/agencies involved.

I thought SSD disbanded narcotics during the cutbacks and only had narcs on task forces.

Good job to all running this case from the street up to a superlab.

[kiddorbitz01]

BY KIM MINUGH
The Sacramento Bee, Calif.


What does $200 million look like?

Dope. A lot of it -- like 635 pounds.

Flanked by local, state and federal counterparts, Sacramento County sheriff's authorities proudly displayed the spoils of last Thursday's drug bust in Gilroy -- what one authority described as a once-in-a-lifetime operation.

"Somebody's painfully missing their investment right now," said sheriff's Lt. Fred Links, who oversees the department's multiagency drug task forces.

The Gilroy raid culminated a yearlong investigation into a Mexico-based drug cartel thriving in the Central Valley. Authorities began tracking the cartel after an ordinary, street-level drug deal by a narcotics agent in Sacramento County two years ago.

Officials say it appears to be the largest bust of a methamphetamine conversion lab ever recorded, locally and nationally.

"It's overwhelming," said Sheriff John McGinness.

Seized in Thursday's operation were 460 pounds of meth already converted to crystal, or "ice," plus 19 gallons of meth solution that authorities finished processing into another 152 pounds of crystal. That's on top of the eight pounds of meth seized during various arrests and street deals along the way, according to authorities.

Bagged up and on display Tuesday, some of it glistened blue -- a signature marketing gimmick by this particular cartel.

Officials also came home with 15 pounds of cocaine, $35,000 in cash, two handguns and a ledger showing a monthly average of $7 million in transactions over the last year and a half.

So pure are the meth and cocaine that they would be diluted three to four times before being sold for $20 per hit -- usually a tenth of a gram. All told, officials estimate the haul has a street value of more than $200 million.

"These are alarming numbers, I assure you," Links said.

Links described a sophisticated operation that began with drugs imported from Mexico to stashhouses in Sacramento County and Modesto and a primary distribution center in Gilroy.

From there, drugs -- primarily meth -- were sent across the state and as far away as New York, Washington D.C. and Atlanta, Links said. An average of $250,000 was sent daily to ringleaders in Mexico .

Arrested in the operation were: Sergio Murillo Valencia, 34; Hector Borrayo Salazar, 43; Fabian Figueroa Ayala, 28; Fausto Diaz, 41; Martin Solorio, 33; Oswald Lopez Roman, 32; and Hugo Soto-Cardenas, a.k.a. Wilfredo Andino Reyes, 27. Jose Solorio, 24, is being sought by authorities.

All are Mexican nationals, according to authorities. They will be prosecuted in Sacramento County, and face life imprisonment, Links said.

Despite the sense of accomplishment among law enforcement officials, Links warned about dwindling resources and a not-so-dwindling drug problem.

"Clearly, this is a business that makes a great deal of money, and we can barely keep up with it," he said.

This investigation has its origins in a drug deal that went down two years ago. But the case was sidelined by budget cuts in the department. Eventually, leaders disbanded the street-level narcotics team.

The investigation was revived only after grants came along to fund multiagency task forces like those that contributed to last week's find.

Links said improving technology has aided law enforcement in lean times. But it's only a "Band-Aid," he said, for the loss in manpower.

And even after last week's success, Links warned that the drug world easily regenerates.

"The Central Valley remains the meth capital of the world, and has held that distinction, unfortunately, for many, many years," Links said. "I suspect we're losing the war."

McClatchy-Tribune News Service

[ateamer]

Manufacturing and selling meth should be mandatory death penalty.

[kiddorbitz01]

Manufacturing and selling meth should be mandatory death penalty.

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