Over 12K lbs of methamphetamine seized during ‘Operation Toxic Waste’ in the Central Valley
FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – The United States District Attorney’s Office announced they’ve charged nearly two dozen people and have seized over 12,000 pounds of methamphetamine in their most recent operation.
They say it was all part of a drug trafficking ring, dubbed Operation Toxic Waste by officials, and it spanned from Mexico and into the Central Valley. They say they had been looking into this case with the FBI for over a year, and found that it brought thousands of pounds of drugs into California.
U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California Phillip Talbert says the alleged drug traffickers tried to disguise their operation as a legitimate business. He reports they would use vegetable boxes and rental trucks to look like a real transportation company.
“The volume of methamphetamine trafficked here is way up. The purity of the methamphetamine that is being trafficked is way up. And the price of that methamphetamine is way, way down,” Talbert said.
Talbert says not only would the suspects store the drugs in vegetable boxes, but they’d try to camouflage them inside objects like portable projectors and batteries.
He also added to try to move the drugs over the border undetected, they’d change meth into liquid form.
“It also snuck hundreds of pounds of liquid methamphetamine across the border in the gas tanks of cars. As law enforcement has been seeing, drug trafficking organizations increasingly have been smuggling methamphetamine across the border in liquid form because it’s harder to detect as a liquid,” he said.
He says once across the border, they would even use GPS trackers to monitor where the drugs were moving to.
In total, officials say they seized 12,900 pounds of meth, more than 50 pounds of fentanyl mixture, 39 pounds of cocaine, and 22 pounds of heroin.
So far, DOJ officials say there are 22 people charged as a part of the investigation. 15 people have been indicted by a federal grand jury in Fresno, on charges ranging from drug trafficking conspiracy, distribution, and even some firearm charges.
Talbert says getting this many drugs off the streets helps keep everyone safer and it sends a message to drug traffickers in California.
“People who take these pills are literally risking their lives. Each of the past three years, law enforcement in this country has seized enough fentanyl to kill every American. And that’s just the fentanyl that law enforcement has seized,” Talbert said.
As far as possible punishment goes, if these defendants are found guilty some of them could face maximum sentences of 20 to 40 years and even life in prison. Others could face mandatory minimums of five to 10 years, depending on their involvement.
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