Takedown Of Meth Smugglers Detailed In Riverside County

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — An Inland Empire investigation that involved 225 local and federal law enforcement officials led to the arrest Wednesday of a dozen people accused in a methamphetamine smuggling scheme with ties to the Mexican mafia.

During a news conference Wednesday morning at Riverside Police Department headquarters, investigators detailed the bust.

Timoteo Gomez, 48, and Javier Rodriguez, 54, both of Riverside, were the ringleaders of the illegal operation. They coordinated the methamphetamine smuggling across the U.S./Mexico border, investigators said.

Both men and the others were taken into custody by FBI agents and were slated to make their initial appearances at U.S. District Court in Riverside.

The charges detailed in a May 5 grand jury indictment include conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine. If convicted, the defendants face 10 years to life in prison.

In total, 19 people were indicted in the case. Three defendants were already in federal or state custody on unrelated charges. Four defendants remain on the run.

Two additional defendants were charged in separate indictments in March in connection with this case. They were arrested in April on charges of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and are currently in federal custody. One has pleaded guilty and the other is awaiting trial.

From April to August 2020, Gomez and Rodriguez allegedly purchased methamphetamine from suppliers in Mexico as well as in Los Angeles and Riverside counties, according to investigators.

They allegedly arranged to smuggle nearly 50 pounds of methamphetamine in April 2020 from Mexico across the U.S port of entry at Calexico and into Riverside County. Then in May 2020, another co-conspirator allegedly attempted to drive a load containing about 90 pounds of methamphetamine through the San Ysidro port of entry, according to federal prosecutors.

Law enforcement seized more than 150 pounds of methamphetamine and $31,035 in cash during the operation.

Investigators said that despite strict COVID-19 rules at the border, the defendants were mostly using traditional drug smuggling methods: hiding the illicit narcotics inside vehicles and driving through. Given today's high street value of many narcotics, investigators allege the risk was apparently worth the reward for ringleaders who arrange transports but don't make the dangerous trek themselves.

Many of Wednesday's arrestees were part of the Casa Blanca Rifas gang, which operates in the Inland Empire and has ties to the Mexican mafia, according to investigators.

Riverside Police Chief Larry Gonzalez and Riverside County Undersheriff Dennis Vrooman said the bust was important given the more than year-long spike in violent crime across the region. Drug use fuels violence in any community, according to law enforcement officials.

Add to it the number of guns in Riverside County.

"There are more guns on the street than we've ever seen," Vrooman said.

Gonzalez agreed and said that in the city of Riverside, last year officers took about triple the number of guns off the street compared to 2019, and this year the seizures have skyrocketed.

He also said people who should be incarcerated are not.

"It's a combination," Gonzalez said. "I think that's why we're in the situation we're in."