XPost: alt.politics.democrats, alt.drugs.meth, alt.california
XPost: sac.politics
From: complete.idiots@latimes.com

Two suspected leaders of a multi-state drug trafficking ring
have been charged for their role in the operation, as
investigators said the pair sent hundreds of pounds of crystal
meth and marijuana through the U.S. Postal Service.

Brian Holt, 42, and Lorraine Zeno, 36, both of Ambler,
Pennsylvania, were arrested Nov. 8 and charged with intent to
deliver and corrupt organizations, among other charges, the
Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday.

Three others — Leonardo Fernandez, 34; Joel Hills-Garcia, 29;
and Patrick Fry, 43, all of California — also were arrested in
the bust. Investigators have dubbed the group “The Big Five."
Those arrested in California will be extradited to Montgomery
County to face charges, officials said.

Fifteen others involved in the operation either were arrested or
are being sought by law enforcement.

Investigators have said that since at least April 2016, the
group has sent more than 350 pounds of crystal meth and
marijuana through the U.S. Postal Service.

An investigation into the shipments started when the Postal
Inspection Service discovered a pound of meth shipped in an
Express Mail package that was headed from California to
Montgomery County.

Investigators used court-authorized wiretaps on Holt's, Zeno's
and Fernandez's cell phones, which allowed officials to discover
some of their customers and learn more about the operation.

Police said the suspects in California would produce the drugs,
then send them to Holt and Zeno to sell in Pennsylvania’s
Montgomery, Bucks and Philadelphia counties.

“Bottom line: crystal meth, marijuana, and the mail don't mix,”
Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub said.

District Attorney Kevin Steele said in a news release that “Meth
is making a resurgence. ... Drug traffickers make the false
assumption that using the mail or hiding drugs in car batteries
will keep them safe from detection. They are wrong. And we are
on to them.”

Preliminary hearings set for Holt and Zeno are set for Jan. 18
and Jan. 29, respectively. Both suspects failed to post bond and
are being held at county correctional facilities in Pennsylvania.

Eight overdose deaths in Montgomery County attributed to crystal
meth happened in 2016, according to the district attorney's
office.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/01/17/multi-state-meth-pot-ring- involving-us-mail-is-busted.html

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