cannabisnews.com: Nine Charged in Drug Smuggling Ring!





Nine Charged in Drug Smuggling Ring!
Posted by FoM on April 16, 1999 at 18:49:22 PT
Source: SF Gate
 EL CENTRO, Calif. Nine people have been charged in a suspected drug smuggling ring that used an auto repair shop to store marijuana being transported from Mexico to Los Angeles, authorities said.
Juan Manuel Aleman, 38, of Brawley, was arraigned Thursday on charges that he was a ringleader for the drug operation based in the Imperial County border town of Mexicali, Mexico, said Tony La Dell, commander of the Imperial County Narcotic Task Force. Investigators think Aleman hired people to daily smuggle marijuana into the United States in 40- to 70-pound increments. The drugs were then stored in a hidden room at an auto repair shop in El Centro until the quantity was large enough for a delivery to Los Angeles area, La Dell said. As the crew delivered their marijuana Wednesday, federal and local drug agents were waiting for them. Arrested were Jose Guadalupe Delgadillo-Quintero, 68; Lazaro Alberto Camacho-Gutierrez, 28; and Francisco Cesar Carrillo-Chavez, 54, all of Mexicali; and Carlos Manuel Nieblas-Ochoa, 39, and his wife, Christina Guadalupe Nieblas de Rios, 34, of the state of Sonora, Mexico. Agents arrested Aleman while he was driving north on state Highway 86. The arrests were made after agents spent weeks secretly watching the business, where 1,350 pounds of marijuana and automatic weapons were found Wednesday, La Dell said. Authorities learned about the shop after seizing 2,205 pounds of marijuana from a ranch west of El Centro last month. Citizens had called to complain about drug trafficking at parking lots in Calexico and agents followed two suspected drug smugglers to the ranch. Investigators think Aleman also employed those men -- James Alan Kosareff, 48, of Holtville, and Everardo Peralta Rodriguez, 33, of Mexicali -- who were arrested after they were seen hiding packages of marijuana in bales of hay stacked on a tractor-trailer rig. Kosareff and Rodriguez were charged with transportation of marijuana for sale, possession of marijuana and conspiracy. Kosareff has pleaded guilty to one felony drug charge. Richard Battraw, 32, of El Centro, was arrested a few days later for conspiracy in connection with the drug load. Battraw posted bail, but Rodriguez remains in the county jail. Both are awaiting trial dates. Those arrested in the auto shop raid were arraigned in federal court Thursday on charges of possession with intent to distribute, and aiding and abetting possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute.They remained held without bail Friday in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in San Diego. Authorities also found this week 570 pounds of marijuana in a stolen van abandoned at an Imperial church parking lot. Parishioners of the Open Door Church waived down an officer to report the suspicious van and reported seeing five men with the van earlier in the day. No arrests have been made in that case.
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