Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters. Sheriff Alex Villanueva has since launched an operation with up to 500 deputies and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to hunt down and destroy other marijuana plantations. The Sylmar haul--weighing about a much as the trash in two fully laden Department of Sanitation trucks--was roughly four times the total amount of cocaine seized throughout Los Angeles in all of 1988. In what was described as the largest narcotics haul ever, federal agents seized almost 20 tons of cocaine--worth up to $6 billion on the street--at a San Fernando Valley warehouse, officials said Friday. An attorney for the men did not immediately respond to a request for comment. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. But crackdowns off Florida have pushed major importation routes westward, and the Colombian cartels now subcontract some of the smuggling duty to Mexican middlemen. "It is an indication of what law enforcement agencies can do to take down a drug trafficking organization such as this one if we devote the time necessary to get to the end result.". Four residents of Tijuana, Mexico, face federal drug trafficking charges in connection with a Southern California methamphetamine seizure thatauthorities say was "record-breaking" because of its size. Angelica Stabile is a lifestyle writer for Fox News Digital. A tip from an informant led to a record drug bust. Teachers learn to administer Narcan amid opioid crisis. A number of law enforcement agencies worked together on a five-month investigation that led to a drug bust. The Medellin cartel has been blamed for a recent wave of violence against officials in Colombia. Together, they worked on the five-month investigation they named Operation Black Hawk into NorCal Transportation. More than 5,000 pounds of methamphetamine were seized this week after authorities in San Diego County tracked and intercepted a truck that crossed the US border from Mexico, officials said Friday. Villanueva said that he will share the district attorney's prosecution decision publicly once it's made available. Detectives from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Narcotic Bureau identified over 500 illegal marijuana cultivations in 2021, increasing from the 150 identified in 2020, according to a June statement. Agents said the front 15 feet or so had been partitioned off as a secret compartment in which cocaine could be hidden from inspectors, making it appear only bric-a-brac was being hauled. Both vehicles allegedly contained about 148 bundles of a material that tested positive for methamphetamine, according to the statement. An international drug ring was busted following a joint operation between the US and . Nearly 375,000 marijuana plants and 33,480 pounds of harvested marijuana were seized, along with 65 vehicles, 180 animals and $28,000. We have to continue to do everything we can to combat this deadly drug epidemic and save lives.. More than 5,000 pounds of methamphetamine were seized in National City, California. On Oct. 9, U.S. Customs and Border Protection stopped a truck crossing from Mexico into the United States at San Diego's Otay Mesa and found 3,014 pounds (1,367.1 kilograms) of methamphetamine, the agency said Sunday. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Also seized were 893 pounds (405 kilograms) of cocaine and 13 pounds (5.9 kilograms) of heroin. Atty. The Southern California seizure occurred on Oct. 2, 2020 and included 893 pounds of cocaine, 13 pounds of heroin, and 2,224 pounds of methamphetamine. Updated 09/21/2021, 5:55 p.m. Villanueva revealed to Fox News that these locations are hot spots for criminal behavior with reports of cartel members threatening residents with firearms. They were too well-dressed to operate a warehouse business., Federal agents declined to identify the informant who tipped them, but Curt Hazell, a deputy district attorney in Los Angeles, described him as someone with great instincts for business practices, who knows when he is seeing something about a business like this that is not right.. Authorities in Southern California have seized more than 16 tons of marijuana worth an estimated $1.19 billion, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department officials said Wednesday. Fentanyl is cheap, its easy to get and it is killing our children, our coworkers, and tens of thousands of innocent Americans who dont have to die.. Three additional arrests reportedly occurred in Las Vegas Friday. They also found $966,000 in cash and seized five tractor-trailers. Large quantities of the drug have been discovered in trucks that entered the country through the Otay Mesa commercial point of entry before. Detectives found that the average size per cultivation at farms increased to 15 greenhouses, up from eight per farm in the year prior. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. The coke you can replace.. RIVERSIDE COUNTY, Calif. - Federal agents announced what they called the largest methamphetamine bust in domestic U.S. history Wednesday, displaying a 10- foot high pile of the confiscated drug representing a haul of more than 2,200 pounds seized at stash houses in Riverside County, along with cocaine and heroin. Colombian drug cartels used to control cocaine shipments from start to finish, employing their own operatives to move the drug from processing plants in the Colombian jungle across the Caribbean and then into the United States. #KeepingYouSafe @SDSheriff K-9 Milo is a very good boy after helping our deputies and law enforcement partners make one of the biggest methamphetamine busts in #SanDiegoCounty history. That is what's coming.". 30-year-old Dalton Clayton is charged with possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine and other counts. 2. Two Buena Park men are facing felony charges in connection with what prosecutors are calling the largest drug bust in Orange County in 16 years. San Diego Roman Catholic diocese facing yet another lawsuit from its insurance company, K-Pop isnt the only hot ticket in Koreatown how trot is captivating immigrants, Los Angeles is suddenly awash in waterfalls, Officials unprepared for epic mountain blizzard, leaving many trapped and desperate, The Week in Photos: California exits pandemic emergency amid a winter landscape. Authorities seized . Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department documented the biggest drug bust in its history on Tuesday and officials expect Mexican cartels are to blame. With fentanyl in an estimated 40 percent of street drugs, its not a matter of if but when someone you know and love dies from fentanyl, Spitzer said Wednesday. Stacked against one wall, in cardboard boxes and black gymnasium bags, was approximately $10 million in cash, most of it in $20 and $100 bills. Lamas and Raygozaparedes have each been charged with multiple counts of possession for sale of a controlled substance and multiple counts of the sale or transportation for sale of a controlled substance, all felonies, the D.A.s office said. Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger said the impacts of illegal marijuana cultivation by cartels include water theft, human trafficking, pollution and threats to safety and security. Employees of a construction business adjacent to the warehouse at 12898 Bradley St. said about four or five Spanish-speaking men--friendly, well-dressed, clean-cut and well mannered--rented the place about two years ago and began doing business. Successful seizures like these save lives and reduce the exploitation and victimization of our local communities, Bodner said. Just north of L.A. in Antelope Valley,. Five search warrants were executed on September 9, and four individuals were arrested in Salinas, and another four were arrested in Yuma County, Arizona in connection with the ongoing investigation. The cash was deposited by federal officials in a downtown bank Friday afternoon. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, More than 170 law enforcement personnel aided in the search warrants and helped in the apprehension of the suspects. The Las Vegas Sun newspaper said that three Los Angeles men, one of them a former Mexican customs official, were arrested by DEA agents at an expensive Las Vegas hotel in connection with the seizure. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. At the time, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson said it was the second-largest bust ever, behind only a 5,000-pound bust in December 2019 in Laredo, Texas. Copyright 2023 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. Market data provided by Factset. How Alaska became one of fentanyl's deadliest frontiers, FDA panel backs allowing a naloxone spray to be sold over-the-counter, Biden to tout fentanyl smuggling crackdown in State of the Union. GILROY, Calif. On August 24, 2010, law enforcement seized what was - at the time- the largest meth bust in the United States. The trucking company allegedly operated a drug trafficking organization. The record discovery also makes clear that patterns of international cocaine smuggling have shifted dramatically, Gutensohn said. 2021 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. They said they were dealing in paintings, velvet paintings, said David Barron, owner of the construction business. By clicking Sign Up, I confirmthat I have read and agreeto the Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. LOS ANGELES (AP) _ Police and federal agents seized 1,700 pounds of cocaine with an estimated street value of $500 million, three days after a bust netted up to 2,400 pounds of the drug in Tijuana, Mexico, authorities said Saturday. The DEA's big bust came just a week before another huge meth seizure. CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. Gutensohn said the traffickers maintain control over profitable distribution routes. Miguel Cabrera, the press information officer for the Salinas Police Department, told Newsweek that the department came across some information that kicked off the entire investigation. While California legalized therecreational use of marijuana in 2018, illegal grows of the crop have been on the rise in the state. Were going to reintroduce this law and order and make sure we drive these people out of business and give this community back to the residents.". According to a post published to the Salinas Police Department Facebook page on September 16, the department's investigations unit worked with the Monterey County District Attorney's Office, Salinas Violence Suppression Task Force and the Homeland Security Investigations Monterey Office. according to the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Heavy security was employed Friday afternoon as the seized cash was deposited at a downtown Los Angeles bank. Stranded Lake Arrowhead residents, including Michelle Calkins, are pleading for help on social media as the community continues to run out of food, medication, and deal with gas leak concerns. The post stated that there was specific intent to distribute the drugs between Yuma, Arizona and Salinas, California. Fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, is as much as 100 times more potent than morphine, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, which on Wednesday released a letter warning state and federal law enforcement agencies that the drug was driving a nationwide spike of mass overdose events amid the worsening opioid epidemic. "We're talking about the cartels," Lancaster, California, Mayor Rex Parris said at a Wednesday press conference. L.A. Affairs: My divorce isnt contagious. They worked with authorities in Arizona and it started to grow. Five men at the scene of the raid were taken into department custody who identified themselves as Mexican nationals who just arrived in the U.S. within the last month. Agents seized more than 4,800 pounds of meth nationwide and are still working on more arrests, according to the DEA. "Our fight is to keep our community safe, so I will take a moment to thank our community for your support.". DEA Acting Administrator Timothy J. Shea and other law enforcement officials displayed theevidence during a press conference at a DEA warehouse in Montebello. Moving swiftly, the investigative team obtained search warrants for the warehouse and for a luxurious penthouse apartment in the 4700 block of Sepulveda Boulevard in Sherman Oaks, but by the time the officers arrived at each location, all the occupants were gone. / CBS News. This seizure should put to rest any further speculation that Los Angeles is, in fact, the major pathway for cocaine entering the country, Ralph Lochridge, a local DEA spokesman, said. July 9, 2022 6:45 AM PT. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department carried out the largest marijuana bust in its history, after seizing more than 33,000 pounds of the drug with a street value of almost $1.2 billion. The San Diego Union-Tribune OTAY MESA, Calif. Federal authorities made what they called likely the largest methamphetamine bust in United States history, finding more than 5,528 pounds of the. One bill would make it a felony to possess 2 or more grams of the synthetic opioid. The truck also contained 64 pounds (29 kilograms) of heroin, 29 pounds (13.1 kilograms) of fentanyl powder and almost 37 pounds (16.7 kilograms) of fentanyl pills, the agency said. The Otay Mesa, California, Commercial. Over 400 Pounds of Meth, Cocaine and Heroin were Discovered in Toolboxes. "This massive seizure likely saved lives and prevented the Sinaloa Cartel from doing business and profiting on the lives of people in our communities.". The cocaine was to be held as evidence and then burned, officials said. A record meth bust part of a national operation was announced Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2020. Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Kathy Vara reports for the NBC4 News at 4 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 7, 2020. These middlemen are responsible for moving drugs through Central America and over the Southwest border into the United States. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. "During the investigations it was determined that NorCal Transportation was directly connected to the Sinaloa Cartel and transporting narcotics in conjunction with Norteno gang leaders," the post continued. Another was arrested at about the same time at the Marriott Hotel in Woodland Hills. One of the largest drug busts in Monterey County, California history was pulled off when nearly $2 million worth of illegal drugs were seized by Salinas police and federal agents, as. The next morning, the Santa Barbara Sheriff's Office announced the 34 arrests and the seizure of 3,164 pounds of methamphetamine the biggest drug bust in the county's history, and one of the largest ever in the nation. "And we introduced law and order back in those days. 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At a small office at the front of the building, agents found records indicating that the drugs had come from the infamous Medellin and Cali cartels in Colombia. The NBC Owned Television Stations, a division of NBCUniversal, also operates COZI TV (www.cozitv.com), a national network that brings viewers some of Americas most beloved and iconic television shows and movies.#NBC #NBCLA The smugglers then deliver the cocaine to Colombian traffickers in major cities. The largest DEA domestic seizure of methamphetamine in history is a significant blow to the cartels, but more importantly it is a gigantic victory for communities throughout Southern California and the United States who have had to deal with the torrent of methamphetamine coming into their neighborhoods, Shea said. 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The article reported that synthetic opioids are the most common substances involved in drug overdose deaths in the United States. The L.A. plantations also hog water from local alfalfa, carrot, and potato farmers. Los Angeles, Calmes: Heres what we should do about Marjorie Taylor Greene, This fabled orchid breeder loves to chat just not about Trader Joes orchids, Randall Emmett, Ambyr Childers settle domestic violence restraining order dispute. We are very very close to driving down the freeway and seeing bodies hanging from the overpasses. 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Monterey County Weekly reported that officials seized 60 pounds of methamphetamine, five pounds of heroin, 1.5 pounds of cocaine, 25,000 fentanyl pills and nine firearms. Though it is typically used to treat severe pain, it is also used recreationally. The largest previous seizure in the United states came last Nov. 17, when agents recovered about 4.35 tons of the drug in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Its more like powder on the football field.. 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And, get breaking news alerts in the FOX 11 News app. Edgar Alfonso Lamas, 36, and Carlos Raygozaparedes, 53, were arrested March 17 after Buena Park police officers recovered 20.5 pounds of fentanyl pills from inside a minivan, the Orange County district attorneys office announced Wednesday. The one-story warehouse is located in an industrial park in Sylmar, a developing district on the northern edge of Los Angeles. With fentanyl driving fatal overdoses to record levels in the United States, state governments are scrambling for solutions. As some of the officers secured the warehouse and began itemizing its contents, others fanned out to search for missing suspects, at least some of whom had remained under surveillance. Officials declined to say how many more people they were seeking. The report also noted that officers seized $90,000 in cash and cashier's checks, two bank accounts and one tractor-trailer belonging to NorCal Transportation. In April, US Customs and Border Protection officers in California seized more than 400 pounds of meth, cocaine and heroin concealed in toolboxes that were being transported to the country. A police dog kneels in front of numerous brown bags allegedly containing methamphetamine in San Diego County, California. Biggest drug bust goes down in LA sheriff department history. Sept. 30, 1989 12 AM PT Times Staff Writers In what was described as the largest narcotics haul ever, federal agents seized almost 20 tons of cocaine--worth up to $6 billion on the street--at a. On Oct. 9, U.S. Customs and Border Protection stopped a truck crossing from Mexico into the United States at San Diego's Otay Mesa and found 3,014 pounds of methamphetamine, the agency said Sunday..