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Wednesday, October 10, 2018

13 people with ties to Sinaloa cartel arrested, millions of dollars in drugs seized in Ventura County

Chivis Martinez Borderland Beat-thank you Neal in Nevada- from LAT video KTLA



Thirteen suspected members of a notorious Mexican drug cartel are behind bars, and more than $10 million worth of illicit drugs have been seized as part of a months-long investigation in Ventura County, authorities announced Tuesday.


The arrests, which authorities say include high-ranking Sinaloa drug cartel members, were made as part of a multi-agency investigation that began last year, Ventura County Undersheriff Gary Pentis said.
Omar Rangel, 29, of the San Fernando Valley, was the local leader of the ring, according to a statement from the Sheriff’s Department.

Pentis said the drugs were smuggled from Mexico to stash houses in Southern California, where they were distributed to lower-level dealers in Los Angeles and Ventura counties. Authorities say the proceeds from drug sales are sent back to the cartel in Mexico.

Several search warrants were served throughout the year, resulting in the seizure of 161 pounds of methamphetamine, 121 pounds of cocaine, 13 pounds of Mexican heroin, more than 6 pounds of fentanyl and 600 fentanyl pills that were branded to look like oxycodone. The drugs were displayed on tables during Tuesday’s news conference.



“This type of economic seizure dismantles and disrupts these organizations,” Pentis said. “I hope there’s a significant disruption because of this.”

The Ventura County Sheriff’s Department released a list of 14 additional people who are either under arrest or whose “arrests are imminent” in connection with the ring.

They are: Bryan Vega, 20, of Reseda; Nancy Romero, 33, of Canoga Park; Cesar Alvarez Serrano, 30, of Winnetka; Alma Ceja, 47, of Downey; Richard Kevin Riley, 48, of Hollywood; Rhonda Harvey, 47, of Van Nuys; William Kragthorpe, 54, of Sherman Oaks; Xavier Lozano, 27, of Imperial Beach; Jose Florentino Soto, 40, and Joseph Rigoberto Soto, 21, of Los Angeles; Jorge Antonio Jimenez, 43, of Sylmar; Alondra Banuelos, 23, of Sylmar; Melissa Arnold, 45, of Oxnard; and Joshua Grimes, 34, of Simi Valley.

One of the first drugs seized as part of the investigation was fentanyl, a potent opioid that’s 50 times stronger than heroin. The white powder is increasingly being mixed into other drugs to produce a stronger high, authorities said.

Pentis likened law enforcement’s crack down on illegal drug trafficking to a “constant cat-and-mouse game.”

“This is just one of the groups,” Pentis said. “It’s a huge problem, but the problem we’re centering on is the deaths and destruction caused from fentanyl. Why fentanyl? It’s cheap and it improves potency. It’s about dollars and nothing else.”

Overdose deaths in Ventura County rose 42% from 2016 to 2017, in part because of the rise of fentanyl use, the undersheriff said.

Data show overdose deaths also are rising statewide. Fentanyl deaths in California tripled between 2016 and 2017, according to state health department data.

Authorities said they intend to make additional arrests as part of the investigation.

42 comments:

  1. pendejos sinaloenses

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    Replies
    1. De ke se murieron los kemados! puro sinaloa y durango

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    2. @4:21 te quemaste tú solo con ese comentario, pero de perdis no metas otros estados, wei

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    3. 8:10 muy sierto. Jaja todos los del norte de Mexico kisieran ser de Sinaloa los pendejos

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    4. @2:47 muy cierto, pero no nomas los del norte los del sur tambien jaha

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  2. Replies
    1. You call that small timers. Let me see what your working with?

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    2. I concur with 5:45

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    3. Exactly @5:45pm. In a local vicinity, these dudes are heavyweights not small timers.

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  3. Looks like a bunch of tweaked out chicks lmao. Those are definetly not the bosses...just some scrub runners.

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  4. One falls they take down the entire group, Sinaloa style.

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  5. Chapo snitched on this whole operation

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    1. Give me a break tweaker! Chapo is locked up in a US federal lock up, the only things he talks too, are fat rats that roam his cell. Chapo is going crazy being locked up 24 hours a day.

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  6. The local reports here in ventura stated it was connected to La Familia And dubbed the case “La Familia”? Who knows and who cares? Glad they took the scum and drugs off our streets!

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    1. They always claim it's Sinaloa but michoacanos are deep in those areas too. The media always claims it's Sinaloa cartel since it's the most popular because of chapo. I read a few stories about misrepresentation of cartels in California. Like when a bunch of gangsters got busted years back in L.A and tied to Sinaloa cartel
      It was really la familia michoacana.

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    2. Nope your news got it wrong, it was Sinaloa Cartel.

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    3. La Familia is heavy in Dayton Ohio. Shout out to Uruapan.

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  7. Bunch of tweakers. I thought sinaloa didnt hire druggies. Guess theyre just the same.

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    1. im sure they didnt have conections with cds its most likely that rangel baught his dope in LA from ppl that where distributing cds dope and rangel had his own operation going on

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    2. I know somebody that got 25yrs in the feds cause they said he was from a cartel but he wasn't he just got supplied by some one that was so organized crime.a lot of times the news or police always say they were from a cartel when they bust some one

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  8. They sure didn’t seize much drogas that’s small time nickel and dime numbers

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    1. 6LB's of fent is not small time. I did the math, that's enough to kill roughly 680,000 people. To put things in perspective, it's enough to kill the people in Ventura(city) 6 times over.

      Phelpso

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    2. Phelpso,
      I’m usually with you but 6lbs really ain’t nothing. Plus the “this kills this many people” numbers are always over inflated. Like a Kilo of Coke is worth $100,000 street price, Riiiigghhhhttt

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    3. Yeah, i get what you're saying. In the grand scheme of things 6LB's isn't much. But when looking at how destructive it can be, it is a solid catch. The other stuff is small potatoes, but any fent bust is a huge win imo. But yeah, those numbers are definitely inflated. Still, even if you were to cut that number in half, that's an insane amount of people.

      Phelpso

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  9. FYI a chicano rapper by the alias of Toker was executed last night in Rosarito Mex,makes for an interesting story.

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    1. Nm. I saw the message on his account.

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    2. http://www.afntijuana.info/seguridad/88528_matan_a_dos_en_estacionamiento_en_rosarito#.W78ifaRlCEe Toker from the rap group brownside

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  10. Interesting story. Please keep us posted on topics related to this bust. Mexico-watcher

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  11. https://news.jammedup.com/2018/10/09/mexican-border-state-police-probe-elder-drug-lords-murder/

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  12. These are the low life cells. The ones that are heavy are usually let go and freed after LA Impact comes up on the work and pros and off to the next click.

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    1. This guy knows what's up lmao l.a impact be stealing all the dope and money. Mysteriously tho it never ends up in the evidence locker. Legend says they confiscated some bricks with a scorpion stamp on them from a paisa dboy. 3 hours later those scorpion stamped bricks appeared for sale in the underworld lol no one knows how they got circulated again but needless to say they're as crooked as they come.

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  13. I was reluctant to have bumped into one of the accused in Mexico on a beach. His father is a lawyer in Los Angeles. If this is considered a "Big Time Bust" god help us all. He displayed the intelligence of a Collie or an Afghan.

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  14. Dam and I live in pacoima literally next door

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  15. The Imperial Beach guy must have been the supplier. 2 miles from Tijuana

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  16. What happened to toker ?

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    Replies
    1. Dirty deeds never go unnoticed.He owed too many ppl!

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    2. What happen is he couldn't rap, so they put him out his misery!

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    3. @2:57, have some respect. He did a lot in the rap game. He was a legend. You didn't like the way he rapped, that's ok. Rest In Peace Toker

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  17. Excellent work by law enforcement.

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  18. This is but a small cell who distributes poison in our communities. These drug cartels feed entire cities here in America and globally. America alone estimates a 37 billion dollar drug industry. Imagine the networks involved globally.
    Big thumbs up for law enforcement whose limited resources are nothing compared to the financial resources of drug cartels.
    A tough battle for them to win. Moreover, with the efforts combating this epidemic.

    E42

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