Federal prosecutors in San Diego announced Tuesday that 26 people were indicted for international drug smuggling, drug trafficking, and related conspiracy offenses.
This two-year investigation has led to the arrest of 17 defendants, two of which are from Chula Vista and 12 others from San Diego, San Ysidro, and El Cajon.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, the Drug Enforcement Administration led the investigation into a drug-trafficking conspiracy extending from Sinaloa, Mexico into the United States that led to the seizure of nearly 478,000 counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl, 51 kilograms of methamphetamine, 10 kilograms of cocaine, 4 kilograms of powder fentanyl, and 4 kilograms of heroin.
Agents also seized about $230,000 in assets.
“This long-term investigation has resulted in the seizure of nearly half a million fentanyl-laced counterfeit pills plus additional quantities of fentanyl in powder form,” said U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman. “As fentanyl continues to fuel the ongoing opioid epidemic and claim ever more lives, we will use every available resource to find, apprehend, and hold accountable those who seek to profit from it, no matter where they are.” Grossman thanked the prosecution team as well as the DEA, HSI agents, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, and supporting local, state, and federal partners who conducted this investigation for their excellent work on this case.
Efforts led by the DEA also identified the distributors in the U.S, the couriers who were responsible for transporting drugs, the people that managed stash houses, the people who smuggled the illicit proceeds back to Mexico, and other dealers.
“Drug cartels, such as the Sinaloa cartel, are driving addiction and overdose deaths in the United States,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Shelly S. Howe. “This extensive investigation demonstrates DEA’s resolve to hold drug dealers accountable for their destruction and to prevent massive amounts of fentanyl pills and other addictive drugs from being sold to our citizens.”
The U.S. Attorney’s office said that the efforts remain ongoing to apprehend the remaining defendants.
