Fav Meth Heads of the Day

Mexico’s Gulf drug cartel has allegedly joined up with an unlikely ally to bring illegal drugs, including methamphetamine, over the border and into Texas.

The link between the cartel and the white supremacist prison gang and organized crime group, the Aryan Brotherhood, reveals that Mexican drug trafficking organizations have expanded their business networks into the U.S. prison and street gangs…and that the Aryan Brotherhood is putting business before ideology when it comes to their dealings with the Mexican groups.

“It may seem puzzling that a white supremacist gang would work with a Mexican criminal organization,” wrote Claire O’Neill McCleskey of Insight Crime. “But the collaboration is not unusual for the Aryan Brotherhood. In the California prison system, the Aryan Brotherhood has a longstanding if fluid alliance with the Mexican mafia against black gangs.”

 According to the Mexican newswire Notimex, an agent working for the U.S. Bureau Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms stated that an Aryan Brotherhood member, James Sharron, alias “Flounder,” admitted after his arrest that he worked as a go-between for the group and the Gulf Cartel as well helping bring hundreds of pounds of methamphetamine into Texas from Mexico for distribution.

“The defendant stated that he had some important connections with Mexican drug cartels, specifically the Gulf Cartel and moving hundreds and hundreds of kilos of methamphetamine in the Houston area and was distributed in East Texas,” said Boehning, according to Notimex.

Sharron purportedly began his ties with the cartel after being released from jail in Texas and moving to Mexico about ten years ago.

Earlier this month, 34 members of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas were picked up in raids in several cities and charged with conspiracy in an organized crime group.

The Aryan Brotherhood was founded in the 1960s in San Quentin prison in California. It is believed today to have 200,000 members both in and out of prison and, while it makes up only 1 percent of the prison population in the U.S., is allegedly responsible for up to 20 percent of murders in federal prisons.

Despite their racist ideology, the group is known to have ties to the Mexican Mafia prison gang along with Asian gangs that import heroin from Thailand.

The Gulf Cartel, which is in battle with its former paramilitary group the Zetas, has lost much of its power over the last few years and might be looking to shore up its drug transit routes in the U.S. by creating ties with the white supremacist group.

“The cartels are looking for partners, bridges, to connect their activities inside the United States, and the supremacists have become an important force on the streets and inside prisons,” according to Larry Gaines, gang expert and president of the criminal justice department at San Bernardino State University

http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2012/11/29/white-supremacist-group-works-with-gulf-cartel-to-traffic-meth-into-texas/

Fifteen defendants from Springdale were sentenced to a combined 77 years in prison Thursday for a massive Northwest Arkansas drug trafficking scheme.

Multiple state and local law enforcement agencies have been carrying out Operation La Pantera Negra over the last two years, prosecuting 31 suspects over that time frame. Authorities have seized 118 pounds of methamphetamine, $82,000 in cash, 16 vehicles and 12 firearms during the investigation, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

In the particular case concerning the 15 defendants, Drug Enforcement Agency agents conducted several undercover meth purchases in February 2011. Officers later recovered 20 pounds of meth from a Fayetteville home.

The following February, agents seized 83 pounds of methamphetamine from a stash house in Dallas, along with $48,000 and six vehicles.

A federal grand jury indicted 15 defendants the next month, on charges of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, distribution of methamphetamine and money laundering. All defendants pleaded guilty to various charges.

The main defendants, Celen Zendjas and Eberardo Coria-Hernandez, were sentenced to 28 years and 10 years in prison, respectively.

The other 13 defendants and their sentenced time in prison include:

• Wilber Alvarenga, 31 – Four years
• Gregorio Carranza, 28 – Four years
• Rodolfo Carrillo, 41 – 1 year supervised release
• Porfirio Castro-Ruiz, 47 – Two years, three months
• Donna Daosavanh, 24 – Three years
• Omar Frias, 30 – Three-and-a-half years
• Dianna Gandert, 28 – Four years
• Jose Herrera, 26 – Five years
• Marlene Martinez, 27 – Five years, two months
• Jose Mejia-Machado, 44 – Seven years
• Tamera Rivera, 31 – Two-and-a-half years
• Jeffery Ruano, 26 – One year
• Ana Vaca-Gomez, 34 – Seven years, three months

http://5newsonline.com/2012/11/29/fifteen-sentenced-to-77-years-in-massive-drug-trafficking-bust/

BAY COUNTY, FL (CBS ATLANTA) – Two suspects arrested in Florida buying methamphetamine in Atlanta and distributing it in South Georgia and the Florida Panhandle.

The Bay County Sheriff’s Office arrested Shaunder Grace, 39, and Octavius Weston, 30, of Panama City, FL after a month-long investigation.

Narcotic agents attempted to take Grace and Weston into custody at 3325 W. 23rd St. in Panama City when Weston struck one of the investigators and fled on foot. After a foot chase, officer caught up with Weston. He was taken into custody.

Three ounces of methamphetamine in “ice” form and two ounces of powder cocaine were seized according to Bay County Florida Sheriff’s Office.

The investigation indicates that Grace and Weston were living in hotels in Bay County and traveled to the Atlanta area to acquire the meth and “ice” and then distributed it between Albany and Bay County.

http://www.cbsatlanta.com/story/20211348/2-suspects-arrested-for-drug-distribution-between-atlanta-fl

PHILADELPHIA — More than two dozen people face charges in a $3.5 million crystal methamphetamine trafficking network that stretched from Mexico to Pennsylvania, prosecutors announced Wednesday.

The drugs came from Mexico and were moved across the border in Texas, authorities said, with as much as a pound of drugs transported into Reading and Philadelphia every two weeks. The drugs were then repackaged in smaller quantities and resold in the Philadelphia area, the Lehigh Valley and north-central Pennsylvania, prosecutors said.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly said in a statement that investigators with her office, state police and the Bucks County district attorney’s office used surveillance and court-authorized wiretaps — along with undercover drug buys — to identify suppliers, distributors and dealers connected to the organization. Evidence and testimony was presented to a statewide grand jury, which recommended charges against 27 suspects.

The investigation centered on the activities of Robert H. Snyder, 53, of Pottstown, and Wesley B. White, 53, of Roaring Branch.

Snyder received bulk quantities of meth from sources in Mexico and supplied drugs to White, who used a number of dealers and associates in Berks and Tioga counties to sell the drugs, according to investigators.

Snyder and White were charged with participating in a corrupt organization, delivery of a controlled substance, conspiracy and other counts. Telephone numbers for them could not be located and it was not immediately clear if any of the defendants had attorneys.

During the investigation, agents and troopers seized about four pounds of crystal meth, one partially dismantled meth lab, nearly 100 firearms, $110,000 and 16 vehicles, authorities said.

http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/4c2db609b48c474b8a121bb16e7ca929/PA–Pennsylvania-Meth-Raid

One of three suspects in a large federal drug case, which allegedly smuggled methamphetamine to Guam hidden in a box of teddy bears, has confessed to her crimes in a plea agreement.

Monica Leasiolagi has offered to plead guilty to conspiracy to distribute more than 500 grams of methamphetamine, or “ice,” according to District Court of Guam documents.

Her co-defendants, Martha Burgos and John Michael Pangelinan, haven’t signed any plea agreements and are still facing trial.

In the plea agreement, Leasiolagi admits that she was one of the conspirators who hatched a plan to smuggle ice to Guam hidden in mail parcels. The conspiracy began in August, and lasted less than two months before a mail parcel was intercepted by federal authorities, the plea agreement states.

Authorities found the drugs hidden in a parcel with three stuffed bears, and the plea agreement notes that Burgos had previously alerted Leasiolagi she was having some “teddy bears” sent to Guam.

After the package was intercepted, federal authorities replaced the ice with fake drugs and tracked the parcel to Leasiolagi, which led to the arrest of the alleged conspirators, according to the plea agreement.

http://www.guampdn.com/article/20121128/NEWS01/211280319

A food service manager is expected to plead guilty Dec. 15 to dealing methamphetamine out of Vancouver’s El Rancho Viejo Family Restaurant.

Ramon Lopez-Guitron, 45, appeared today in Clark County Superior Judge Daniel Stahnke’s courtroom for a scheduled guilty plea, but the plea was delayed to allow the defense time to complete paperwork.

El Rancho Viejo restaurant manager Ramon Lopez Guitron, seen here at his first court appearance last year, will plead guilty to drug charges

The prosecution and defense have reached an agreement for a guilty plea, said Deputy Prosecutor Randy St. Clair.

In exchange, Lopez-Guitron would be convicted of just one felony and a gross misdemeanor instead of five felony charges he now faces. Those charges are four counts of delivery of a controlled substance and one count of conspiracy to commit delivery of a controlled substance.

His guilty plea and sentencing are scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Dec. 15. St. Clair said Lopez-Guitron would likely not have to serve time in prison and would receive credit for time served in jail. The amount of time he’s already served was not available today. He is now on supervised release, St. Clair said.

Lopez-Guitron is accused of dealing methamphetamine out of the family-owned and operated restaurant between October 2009 and January 2010. He was arrested after he allegedly sold methamphetamine to uncover informants on several occasions at the restaurant, 6321 E. Fourth Plain Blvd.

Prosecutors alleged in charging papers that the investigation revealed he “occupied a high position in the drug distribution hierarchy.”

El Rancho Viejo also has locations in Camas, Ridgefield and Battle Ground, all operated by members of Lopez-Guitron’s family.

http://www.columbian.com/news/2012/nov/27/man-plead-guilty-dealing-out-mexican-restaurant/

KILGORE, TX (KLTV) – The Kilgore Police Department maintains aggressive enforcement when it comes to drugs in the community they serve and the crime that always seems to follow. Lately the Department demonstrated their commitment in keeping the community of Kilgore free from crime and drugs with several arrest and drug seizures.

The Kilgore Police Department’s DEA Task Force Officer recently investigated a case involving Walley Jackson of Dallas, Texas who was identified as a major supplier of large quantities of Methamphetamine (ICE) to the East Texas area including Kilgore. Jackson pled guilty to Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute and was sentenced to 57 months federal time. Other members of this drug distribution ring were identified as Jennifer Northcutt, 42 years of age, of Mineola, TX Stacie Serenko, 35 years of age, of Tyler, TX and Billie Earl Johnson, 49 years of age, of Van, TX. They were each federally indicted in September 2012 for one count of Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine, four counts of Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine and Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance to a Drug Trafficking Crime.

Also in November, a traffic stop yielded two arrests for marijuana possession; police located the residence in Kilgore the drugs were being sold from. A search of the residence (located on Fritz-Swanson Road) by police revealed close to a pound of marijuana which had been packaged for distribution. Other drug paraphernalia were taken to include scales, rolling papers, and plastic bags. A shotgun was also seized. A resident at the location identified as Eric King, 22 years.

http://www.kltv.com/story/20197680/kilgore-police-major-meth-supplier-busted

Authorities say a two-year-long drug trafficking investigation in central Iowa has culminated with nine arrests. Investigators had been tracking the sale of methamphetamine in the Marshalltown area.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, authorities were able to search “several residences in Marshalltown and an apartment in Ankeny” as part of the investigation. Federal agents and local authorities collaborated, but the nine individuals arrested face federal charges.

Eight are accused of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. The other was charged with possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Each faces at least 10 years or a maximum of life in prison if convicted.

Those arrested and charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine are: Jose Sanchez Adame, Jose Luis Sanchez Adame, Raymundo Sotel Calderon, Fidel Sanchez, Antonio Cabrera Mendiola, Kyla Nicole Forbes, Shannon Lee Fogle and Fernando Camacho.

James Michael Buffington was also arrested and charged with possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

http://www.radioiowa.com/2012/11/27/nine-people-are-charged-in-marshalltown-meth-ring/