LOS ANGELES – Four members of a San Fernando Valley drug crew were slapped with cuffs today, per an indictment by a federal grand jury. They're facing charges of pushing major quantities of coke, meth, and the deadly fentanyl on the streets. Hauled off in the morning raids, these suspects are prepping for a courtroom showdown this afternoon in downtown LA, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The accused quartet includes a 23-year-old woman known on the street as "Bandida," and three men, ranging in age from 35 to 41. Each one of them could be staring down the barrel of a life sentence – not to mention a mandatory decade behind bars if the court drops the hammer on all charges. The three more alleged accomplices will be facing the music too in a few days except for one still dodging the feds, as noted in the indictment.
The feds swooped in and confiscated 42 pounds of meth, 128 pounds of cocaine, and enough fentanyl powder to drop 6.6 pounds on the scale, plus a couple of heat-packing firearms with street value north of one cool million bucks. United States Attorney Martin Estrada didn’t pull any punches, saying, "With these charges we have dismantled a drug trafficking organization that put profits over people’s lives."
"Reducing violent crime in our community and throughout our country is the priority of ATF," added ATF Los Angeles Field Division's top gun Christopher Bombardiere. The alliance of law dogs includes the DEA and LAPD, who pounced on five locations across the Valley today. They dug up another 14 firearms, 2 pounds of meth, over $150k in cash, and more of those naughty narcotics.
Ryan Olson from the DEA's local office laid it out straight, saying the bust shows the iron-clad partnership between federal and local enforcers aimed squarely at taking down the drug and gun traffickers poisoning neighborhoods. "Members of this criminal organization were involved in the distribution of fentanyl and other dangerous drugs that are poisoning our communities," Olson declared.
Assistant United States Attorney MiRi Song, specializing in International Narcotics, will be duking it out with the accused in what's coming from an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force investigation led by multiple agencies on the scent of the nation’s illegal drug supply.
