Authored by Kimberly Hayek via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
Federal authorities in Southern California filed a complaint charging three foreign nationals with conspiring to distribute nearly four tons of methamphetamine, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a June 5 statement.
Erick Arriola, 27, from El Salvador, and Mexican nationals Baltazar Rodriguez Reyes, 49, and Eugenio Lizama, 35, were charged with possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. They face a minimum of 10 years in prison.
According to federal prosecutors, Arriola is a felon convicted of DUI, battery of a spouse, and false imprisonment.
In the complaint, federal authorities allege that on June 2 at about 7 p.m., the men were moving bundles from a large semi-truck into two white panel vans and a white Ford F150 truck as they were parked in a parking lot on Otay Mesa Road in San Diego County, approximately three miles north of the Otay Mesa Port of Entry on the U.S.–Mexico border.
Once the loading was complete, the three defendants allegedly drove in separate directions before Border Patrol agents apprehended them. Two of the vehicles drove to a motel in San Ysidro. The third drove to a motel in Chula Vista, according to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office.
Authorities seized a total of 61 bundles of suspected methamphetamine weighing more than 7,700 pounds and valued at about $5.5 million.
Attorneys for Arriola, Reyes, and Lizama could not be reached.
The seizure is the largest so far by the new Homeland Security Task Force San Diego, which was established by President Donald Trump’s executive order signed on his first day in office.
The executive order, “Protecting The American People Against Invasion,” requires the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department to establish Homeland Security Task Forces in every state to eliminate cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and drug and human trafficking.
The Homeland Security Task Force San Diego identifies and targets transnational criminal organizations involved in drug trafficking, money laundering, weapons trafficking, human trafficking and smuggling, homicide, extortion, and kidnapping.
“As a founding member of HSTF in San Diego, I’m thrilled to be working alongside our partners who have also committed resources to combatting transnational crime,” Shawn Gibson, special agent in charge for the task force, said in a statement. “Cases under the HSTF will be a priority for me and staff as we all will continue to work together to secure our border and keep our communities safe.”
The case was investigated as part of Operation Take Back America, a federal initiative by the Justice Department that will, in part, support Homeland Security Task Forces.
“The recent formation of Homeland Security Task Force San Diego is an essential step to fulfilling the promises of Operation Take Back America,” U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon said in a statement. “Our Office will fully support these enhanced law enforcement partnerships to ensure the safety of our community.”
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle Martin from the U.S. attorney’s recently created Narcoterrorism Unit.