Several arrested in federal takedown of cross-border drug ring allegedly led out of Poway – San Diego Union-Tribune

Several arrested in federal takedown of cross-border drug ring allegedly led out of Poway  San Diego Union-Tribune

The cartel-sourced drugs were allegedly being distributed to gang members and their associates operating in San Diego County neighborhoods, prosecutors said Nearly four dozen people have been indicted for their alleged roles in a transnational drug trafficking operation that involved the Mexican Mafia, a suspected Poway gang leader and narcotics being smuggled into San Diego County and beyond. At least 35 of the 42 people indicted in San Diego federal court were arrested this week as agents served search warrants throughout the region, from Oceanside to Imperial Beach to Lemon Grove, where someone from inside one of the targeted homes shot at agents, firing through the front door early Wednesday. No one was struck.

Aside from local arrests made Wednesday and Thursday, agents also arrested people in Riverside and Tulare counties who are believed to be tied to the investigation. Eight of the people indicted remain at large. Law enforcement officials said during a news conference Friday that the drugs were part of an international trafficking organization that involved gang members and their distributors in Mexico, San Diego County and throughout Southern California. According to U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon, the operation began when the FBI began looking into a Poway street gang — particularly its suspected leader, who is alleged to have ties to the Mexican Mafia — in mid-2024.