Department of Justice Agents seize $1.27 million of methamphetamine

Thursday, July 21, 2011
Contact: (916) 210-6000, agpressoffice@doj.ca.gov

LOS ANGELES -- Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today announced that a Department of Justice task force arrested two people and seized 28 pounds of methamphetamine, with an estimated street value of $1.27 million.

“Every day, Department of Justice agents are on the front line of our effort to stop the trafficking of guns, drugs and humans from Mexico through California,” Attorney General Harris said. “We are all safer and better off without these 28 pounds of methamphetamine on our streets.”

Martin Pinedo Cedillo and Alfonso Gutierrez Ibarra of Mexico were arrested on July 15th after attempting to sell 28 pounds methamphetamine to an undercover Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement (BNE) agent in Riverside. The methamphetamine is believed to have originated from Mexico and was transported to Riverside from Yuma, Arizona.

On Tuesday, Cedillo and Ibarra were charged with transportation and sales of methamphetamine by the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office. If convicted, each could face a maximum of 14 years in prison.

The Inland Crackdown Allied Task Force (INCA) is one of 51 task forces that may be eliminated due to recent budget cuts. Started in 1991, INCA is based in Riverside County but also serves San Bernardino County. BNE administers the task force, providing offices, three special agent supervisors, and four special agents towards the combined local, state, and federal effort to combat major drug and gang activity in the Inland Empire.

In the 2010 fiscal year, INCA arrested 111 major violators; seized 296.26 kilos of cocaine; 276.37 pounds of methamphetamine; and 9.78 pounds of heroin. The street value of these combined seizures is estimated at $42.5 million. Moreover, during the same time period, INCA seized approximately $4.7 million in drug proceeds.

The seven BNE agent personnel supervise and work alongside (alongside) task force officers from Beaumont Police Department, California Alcohol Beverage Control, California Highway Patrol, Corona Police Department, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations, Murietta Police Department, Riverside County District Attorney’s Office, Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, Riverside Police Department, and the San Bernardino Police Department.

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