Federal sweeps net drugs and cash (San Diego, California)

By Onell R. Soto
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

Authorities said yesterday they have dismantled a South Bay methamphetamine ring that brought large amounts of the drug into the United States from Mexico and endangered the lives of more than a dozen children.

A San Diego federal grand jury indicted 19 people yesterday. They all are accused of being part of a ring headed by Jorge Arreola Gomez, 31, of Chula Vista's Eastlake neighborhood, authorities said.

Arreola and other members of the alleged ring – including his mother, his wife, two sisters and their husbands – are scheduled to appear today in San Diego federal court, where a federal judge will decide whether they may be freed on bail.

Most of the arrests came in sweeps by federal agents March 15, during which child-welfare officials took custody of 13 children from homes where methamphetamine was kept, Drug Enforcement Administration spokesman Misha Piastro said.

Agents seized more than 140 pounds of methamphetamine and more than $25,000 in cash as part of the investigation, according to court documents.

A DEA agent said in a court filing that the ring might have distributed thousands of pounds of the highly addictive stimulant.

One member of the ring was arrested in October when, authorities alleged, he was on the way to threaten or kidnap the wife of a drug dealer who had failed to pay a debt.

At the time of his arrest by National City police, the man, Manuel Omar Garcia Cervantes, was carrying a loaded, semi-automatic handgun, according to court documents.

“We were able to head him off before he was able to take any action,” Piastro said.

The investigation began more than a year ago and quickly homed in on Arreola, who authorities said was getting methamphetamine smuggled from Mexico.

A juvenile working for the ring was stopped and arrested while driving to Mexico in a car in which investigators later found 20 pounds of pseudoephedrine, a cold medicine that can be used to make methamphetamine, authorities said.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20060322-9999-1m22meth.html