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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LOS ANGELES<\/i>\u00a0\u2013 DOJ – Authorities this morning arrested 16 defendants linked to an Inland Empire-based drug trafficking ring that used the U.S. Postal Service and private vehicles to ship large quantities of cocaine and other narcotics to buyers across the country.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A 17-count indictment charges a total of 24 defendants with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. The indictment also charges some of the defendants with distribution of controlled substances, possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, and being felons in possession of ammunition.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Over the course of the three-year investigation, authorities across the United States seized a total of approximately 77 kilograms of cocaine, nine kilograms of heroin, 150 pounds of methamphetamine, 989 fentanyl pills, 19 firearms, and $1,894,869 in suspected drug proceeds.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thirteen of the defendants arrested today are expected to be arraigned this afternoon in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles. An additional three defendants were arrested in Ohio and South Carolina.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Between October 2016 and May 2018, members of the conspiracy mailed large quantities of narcotics from post offices throughout Riverside and San Bernardino counties to recipients nationwide \u2013 including New York, Ohio, Michigan, and South Carolina \u2013 in exchange for large cash payments, often in excess of $100,000, according to the indictment.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The lead defendant in this case \u2013 Ricardo Alejandro Bazan, a.k.a. \u201cRicky,\u201d \u201cChuco\u201d and \u201cChu,\u201d 41, of Riverside \u2013 allegedly directed the drug trafficking ring. The indictment alleges that illicit drug proceeds were sent back to California and were ultimately delivered to Bazan.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Co-defendants Doroteo Mendoza Torrez, a.k.a. \u201cGuerro\u201d and \u201cGuerito,\u201d 57, of Eastvale, and Edulfo Leyva Perez, a.k.a. \u201cGallo,\u201d 54, of San Jacinto, allegedly arranged for narcotics to be shipped from Mexico and Colombia to Southern California.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Bazan then provided drugs to Noel Granados, a.k.a. \u201cBig Show,\u201d 40, of Moreno Valley, who arranged for the drugs to be shipped to co-conspirators in other states via U.S. mail and private trucks, according to the indictment. Granados allegedly handled the ring\u2019s day-to-day operations, including the logistics of mailing drug parcels, sending drugs via trucks, and receiving drug proceeds sent back to California.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Estevan Ortiz, a.k.a. \u201cStevie\u201d and \u201cWonder,\u201d 39, of Hesperia, allegedly built hidden compartments in vehicles for the purpose of concealing narcotics and drug proceeds.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 One defendant, Jonathan Darnell Carey, 41, of Dallas, Texas, mailed at least 36 kilograms (79.4 pounds) of cocaine from post offices in San Bernardino County to recipients in Ohio, Michigan, Tennessee, and New York, according to the indictment. Carey also allegedly received a USPS parcel containing between $125,000 and $200,000 in drug proceeds on December 30, 2016 in Victorville, and a second parcel containing approximately $185,185 in drug proceeds on April 4, 2017. In addition to the drug distribution conspiracy count, Carey faces five additional charges of distribution of cocaine.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Bazan also is charged with knowingly distributing to Carey and another co-conspirator approximately 15 kilograms (33.1 pounds) of cocaine on March 31, 2017 in Riverside County, and with arranging the delivery of approximately 19 kilograms (41.9 pounds) of cocaine to another co-defendant on April 7, 2018. The cocaine was to be mailed to other states, the indictment alleges.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 If convicted of all counts, the defendants would face a statutory maximum sentence of life in federal prison and mandatory minimum sentences of at least 10 years in federal prison.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This matter was investigated by the Los Angeles High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Group 50 and the United States Postal Inspection Service. HIDTA Group 50 is comprised of members from the Drug Enforcement Administration, IRS Criminal Investigation, CBP Air and Marine Operations, the Riverside Police Department, the Chino Police Department, the Ontario Police Department, the Riverside County Sheriff\u2019s Department, and the San Bernardino County Sheriff\u2019s Department.\u00a0This investigation was conducted with the support of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF).<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Victoria A. Degtyareva of the Cyber and Intellectual Property Crimes Section.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LOS ANGELES\u00a0\u2013 DOJ – Authorities this morning arrested 16 defendants linked to an Inland Empire-based drug trafficking ring that used the U.S. Postal Service and private vehicles to ship large quantities of cocaine and other narcotics to buyers across the country. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A 17-count indictment charges a total of 24 defendants with conspiracy to distribute […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27588,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking","last_archivepost"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28125"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28125\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28126,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28125\/revisions\/28126"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27588"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}