Fourteen indictments were unsealed Wednesday, charging 47 alleged members of an Imperial Valley, California-based fentanyl and methamphetamine distribution network linked to the Sinaloa Cartel with drug trafficking, firearms, and money laundering offenses.
On Monday, officials stated that more than 400 federal, state, and local law enforcement officials arrested 36 defendants and executed 25 search warrants in Imperial County; San Diego; Fresno, California; Los Angeles; Phoenix; and Salem, Oregon. As of this afternoon, the search continues for 11 fugitives.
The defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Including seizures on Wednesday and throughout the long-term investigation, authorities have confiscated more than four kilograms of fentanyl.
This amounts to about two million potentially fatal doses; more than 324 kilograms (over 714 pounds) of methamphetamine; significant quantities of cocaine and heroin; and 52 firearms, including handguns and rifles.
The investigation also resulted in the arrest of Alexander Grindley for alleged methamphetamine trafficking while employed as a U.S. Border Patrol agent and multiple spin-off investigations in this district and others.
Crimes charged in the indictments include drug trafficking, money laundering, and gun-related offenses.
Court documents indicated the defendants were operating throughout the Imperial Valley—in Brawley, El Centro, Westmoreland, Imperial, Calexico, Niland, Holtville, and Calipatria—and in Mexicali, Mexico.
“This investigation tore apart a drug trafficking network responsible for supplying dealers in communities across the region,” said U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath for the Southern District of California. “But there is still much work to be done. If you’re a parent and today’s price of fentanyl terrifies you, talk to your kids about the dangers of drug use. If you’re an addict and your dealer was arrested today, seek treatment. And if you’re a dealer but your supplier was arrested today, look out – we are coming for you next.”
“Today, the El Centro Border Patrol Sector teamed with allied law enforcement agencies to support both Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California in this operation,” said Chief Gregory Bovino of the U.S. Border Patrol’s El Centro Sector.
According to the indictments and search warrants, the defendants belonged to various trafficking organizations that were part of an extensive network supplying all of Imperial County and beyond with dangerous drugs.
According to court records, on June 30, 2021, agents seized two pounds of methamphetamine and a cache of ghost guns and ammunition, including 15 lower receivers, three upper receivers, multiple barrels and stocks, 18 magazines, 40 Luger 9mm rounds, and approximately 400 rounds of .223 Red Army ammunition, which are made in Russia.
None of the firearms or firearm parts had any identifying serial numbers or markings.
They were all ghost guns.
Wiretap intercepts showed that defendant Cory Gershen supplied other members of the organization with ghost guns in exchange for methamphetamine. The investigation also revealed the assault rifles (depicted below) were destined for the organization’s source of supply in Mexico.
On June 30, 2021, agents seized additional ghost guns, ammunition, and methamphetamine from another member of the same drug trafficking organization, according to authorities.
Specifically, agents seized two AR-style ghost guns, a Colt .380 semiautomatic handgun, and additional Russian rifle ammunition from defendant Guadalupe Molina-Flores, one of the alleged members of the trafficking organization. According to a search warrant, after seizing the firearms, agents searched Molina-Flores’ residence and found 309.4 grams (0.68 pounds) of methamphetamine.
Fentanyl continues to be a prolific killer. Imperial County experienced 24 opioid-related overdose deaths in 2022, the most recent full year of data available from the California Department of Public Health.
The annual mortality rate for 2022 was 13.57 deaths per 100,000 residents, an increase of 41% from 2021.
The investigation revealed that the price per fentanyl pill has plummeted. For example, in June 2021, targets of the investigation were obtaining fentanyl pills in Imperial Valley at approximately $1.65 to $1.75 per pill.
By December 2021, the discussed prices had dropped to approximately $1.25 per pill.
By May, the same pills were being sold at only 45 cents per pill — less than one-third of the price three years earlier.
The precipitous drop in price reflects the increased supply and availability of fentanyl being smuggled into the United States and the close ties between the targets of this investigation and their Sinaloa Cartel supplier of fentanyl pills.
This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation.
OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.