13 individuals indicted in major Mexican drug trafficking ring case in California

[News_Editor]

13 individuals indicted in major Mexican drug trafficking ring case in California

2011-02-26 06:08:59 GMT+7 (ICT)

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA (BNO NEWS) -- Thirteen individuals on Thursday were indicted for their involvement in a major Mexican drug trafficking ring in California, prosecutors said on Friday.

Alejandro Fletes-Lopez, 28, of Acampo, and 12 others were indicted on charges of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, possession of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute it, and the use of phones to facilitate the distribution of methamphetamine.

The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and other state and federal agencies in an effort to disrupt a Mexican drug trafficking organization operating in many U.S. states.

According to court documents, Fletes-Lopez allegedly led an operation to import methamphetamine from Mexico and distribute it through a network of couriers to Iowa, Kansas, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Arizona, Minnesota, Oregon, and California. The other co-defendants are members of the drug trafficking ring.

Fletes-Lopez and nine others are currently into custody and will be arraigned in Sacramento next Monday. If convicted of the drug trafficking charges, the defendants face a maximum sentence of life in prison, a $4 million fine, and a five-year-to-life term of supervised release for each count.

In addition, the use of phones for drug trafficking charge carries a maximum sentence of four years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and a three-year term of supervised release. The actual sentence may change upon discretion of the court.

The other 12 co-conspirators are Irma Anacani Gonzalez, Jesus Humberto Lopez-Valenzuela, and Mauricio Carlos Portillo, all of Acampo; Orlando Fletes-Lopez, of Galt; German Gonzalez Velazquez, of Manteca; Marcela Santamaria, of Palmdale; Aurelio Lopez-Castro and Miguel Corona-Soria, both of Sacramento; Concepcion Carrillo, of Los Angeles; Guadalupe Reyes-Ontiveros, of Illinois; Diana Elizabeth Hernandez-Gonzalez, of North Hollywood; and Jesus Alberto Sanchez-Lopez, of Mexico.

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