He was sentenced on May 23, 2022, to four years and nine months in prison with credit for time served, followed by three years of supervised release. Michael DiVittorio is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Fifteen out of 26 people indicted in a massive 2021 drug bust are serving a collective 97\u00bd years in prison and facing a total of 55 years of supervised release, federal court records show. For reasons of safety and courtesy, it is standard procedure for officers who travel into other cities to inform hometown police. When he pulled them out, he made a staggering discovery: 48 packages of fentanyl powder. I wanted you to see that behind the scenes there is aggressive and tenacious police work being done and prosecution being done to save lives and to bring people to justice.. Dismantling fentanyl trafficking organizations is our priority because out of all illegal drugs, fentanyl is killing the most people. Due to the sensitive nature of our investigation, we are unable to provide any additional information at this time to prevent compromising any aspect of our case, the agency said in a statement. What did Disney actually lose from its Florida battle with DeSantis? David Maldonado managed to drive away from federal drug agents after he agreed to cooperate with them. Daniel Maestas, of Salt Lake City, was sentenced on July 15, 2022, to 12 years and nine months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. The car helped Messina and a partner make dozens of drug busts as far away as Santa Barbara, resulting in substantial seizures of cash and property. . Vandergrift police Officer Nate Rigatti said he, Westmoreland County Detective John Clark and state parole agent Patty Joe Misho were going to Moore's house to serve a search warrant just after 4. To best serve your overall health needs, we offer convenient, personalized pharmacy and healthcare services right at your fingertips. I didnt eat dinner with my family for six weeks straight.. Under California law, a police officer can make an arrest anywhere in the state. Islas-Avila was sentenced on Dec. 6, 2022, to three years in prison followed by four years of supervised release. Its just a different philosophy., But when one of the roving drug units appears into his area and makes a splashy raid, Schultze conceded: You get a little jealous. and theres a bunch of goofy looking narcs, whats going to happen is a black and white (police car) is going to come and its going to blow a stakeout.. STATE CASH RECEIVED VALUE OF PROPERTY TOTAL CALIFORNIA $39.9 million $7.5 million $47.4 million TEXAS $8.7 million $1.9 million $10.6 million NEW YORK $8.9 million $1.9 million $10.8 million NORTH CAROLINA $2.8 million $3.2 million $6 million FLORIDA* $1.7 million $1.9 million $3.6 million. A World of Care is In-Store. On an older Facebook page, he posted a comment in July 2020, lamenting how only nine people had reacted to a new profile picture. Fill prescriptions at our pharmacy, shop medicine cabinet needs, get expert nutrition tips, enjoy healthy living inspiration and so much more. Soon after, Brea officials doubled the size of their roving drug task force. He's facing three drug distribution charges and a money laundering charge. Suboxone; recovery from substance abuse; addiction medicine; drug rehab; Subutex; Buprenorphine. 400 Penn Center Boulevard, Suite 707, Penn Center East, Building 4, 777 Penn Center Boulevard, Penn Center East Building 7, Suite 111. Maldonado has family in Mexico, but he grew up in the tiny town of West Liberty, Iowa (population: 3,800), according to the warrant application. The Maldonado case, which was first reported by The Denver Gazette, began with a routine traffic stop. The information does not count as actual medical advice and should not be used to diagnose or treat any disease or health issue. Women seeking rehabilitation in a female environment may be interested in women-only rehab centers in Vandergrift, PA. Whenever we narcs got together we used to talk about how much dope we seized, said Sgt. But on the way to do the deal, Maldonado managed to lose the DEA agents and remove the tracker they had placed on his car. NBC News reached out to multiple family members, but they either didnt respond or declined to comment. He's facing two drug distribution charges. If substance dependence is affecting your happiness, Vandergrift has a number of top drug abuse centers to help you, a friend or a family member. The way we work now, the smugglers have control of the case and its up to them where we go. Joseph "Qujo" Raymond Trujillo, of West Valley City, was sentenced on Nov. 8, 2022, to 10 years in prison and four years of supervised release. The ultimate irony is not only are they stripped of their ill-gotten gains, said Sgt. I saw him coming up super fast behind me, so I flashed the guy with a stream light flashlight and badged him, he recalled. Massive meth bust by police has wide-ranging impacts on Winnipeg: advocates. As of Feb. 9, six more defendants who took plea deals are waiting for sentencing. The individual who was delivering that amount of fentanyl is now in the wind. Sept. 1 meeting format, location to be announced. DEA was working with us and they made a deal with the driver, Master Trooper Gary Cutler said. I know nothing of (Maldonado) and I wish to not be bothered about whatever hes gotten into, one family member said. About the same time, other small and mid-size police departments in the Los Angeles area similarly were finding that such drug squads make sense--and dollars. Paul MacBeth. After his Brea Police Department seized a new red Corvette from a Colombian cocaine trafficker in 1984, Messina used it to cruise Southern California while posing as a high-rolling drug dealer. Disclaimer : RehabList.org presents educational information, not medical advice. As a result, most police departments have arranged for their seizures to be processed under the federal law by getting the federal Drug Enforcement Administration to adopt their cases. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. My client is on bail and cannot live in his house . Although he supports the gist of the forfeiture law, Uelman says the seized money should go to the U.S. Treasury. What concerns me is the injection of a profit motive into our system of justice in which the enforcers have an interest in the outcome, said Gerold F. Uelman, dean of the Santa Clara University School of Law. The Mystery of the $200 Million Drug Bust | The War on Drugs VICE 16.6M subscribers Subscribe 22K Share 2.1M views 1 year ago This is the story of how the biggest cash bust in the history of. This cool kids outdoors club will introduce you to L.A.s best asset, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass endorses Rep. Barbara Lee in Senate race, Sirhan Sirhan, convicted of killing Robert F. Kennedy, denied parole by California board, Many still stranded in San Bernardino Mountains as snow blocks roads, threatens roofs, Suspected shooter in attacks on Jewish men was on FBIs radar, LAPD chief says, Caregiver accused in Manhattan Beach child sexual abuse case believed to be in Philippines. By January 2021, the investigation shifted its attention from Suriel to Cruz and his organization, which is based out of the Richmond Hill and South Ozone neighborhoods in Queens. The asset forfeiture laws were designed primarily to punish drug dealers by hitting them in their pocketbooks. COVID-19: What Grandparents Can Do for Children Living with Parental Addiction. - At least 65 people were detained in South Fulton Friday night following a massive drug bust. TheNew York Drug Enforcement Task Force Group T-23 and the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutors Investigators Unit led the investigation, officials said. - 26 Miles Away. Police arrested 42-year-old Michael Medina from the. Jennifer Lopez-Lopez, of San Marcos, California, pleaded guilty in November 2021 to three drug distribution charges. Other department heads say, however, that they will take up a good case just about anywhere in Southern California. prior to there being any decision that the property was acquired illegally or that he committed any crime.. April 24, 2021 @ Penn Crossing, Westmoreland County - Reduction in Overdose Deaths for Third Year, SAFE Panel - Ligonier Valley HS, 11/17 @ 6:30, Westmoreland Community Action drug help line: 1-844-897-8927, 7pm-2am, Westmoreland district courts 1st in PA to offer drug treatment as an alternative, New hotline launched in Westmoreland County: 1-844-897-8927, 50 Common Mistakes That Parents Make When They Discover Their Kids Are Using, 25 facts you should know about the growing heroin epidemic, TRIB: Police: Bust leads to $90K in raw fentanyl in Ligonier, Spike in U.S. Drug Overdose Deaths During COVID-19, As pandemic worsens, opioid crisis continues, Drug Take Back Day - Sat. Rich Schapiro is a reporter for the NBC News Investigative Unit. By Tyisha Fernandes, WSB-TV July 11, 2020 at 8:44 am EDT. In practice, most drug suspects decide not to go through the rigorous and sometimes self-incriminating hearing process. Most of the roving units also keep an eye on local street dealers; only the Glendale and West Covina police departments have totally freed their specialized teams from that duty. 9 kilos of cocaine seized in Brandons largest-ever bust, along with $450K and more. Support groups are highly encouraged in Vandergrift, Pennsylvania throughout the recovery and healing process of substance abuse. A lethal dose of fentanyl is as little as 2 milligrams; authorities recovered 20.5 . Verduzco-Muro was sentenced on May 24, 2022, to eight years in prison and three years of supervised release. Pharmacy Services. We are here 24/7 for any questions you may have. Every year in the state of Pennsylvania, there is an average of 69030 admissions into rehab facilities. The backlog grew so quickly that it soon was taking the office 250 days merely to begin processing a claim. If you speculate that you have a health problem or a medical emergency, call 911 immediately. Police say this group was observed to import multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine into Brandon and then distribute the cocaine through a sophisticated operation network of high/mid-level traffickers and local couriers. His last one was in March, three months before the Colorado traffic stop. Although the team does not leave the country, just today my sergeant is waiting at the border for some suspects who went into Mexico, Marsden noted. Mingura's sentencing has been deferred until she completes the program. And it looks like there are no other bad guys in custody, as far as we know, so that is a large-scale failure.. David Maldonado managed to drive away from federal drug agents after he agreed to cooperate with them. ARC Manor is a nonprofit agency that has helped chemically-dependant individuals for 30 years in the prevention, education, intervention, and treatment of abuse and addiction related to alcohol and dr. We support you or a loved with opioid addiction to recover at AppleGate Recovery in Monroeville, PA. As an outpatient medication-assisted treatment center specializing in buprenorphine or Suboxone, Christian Drug Rehab Helpline is a rehabilitation center for people linked with drug and substance abuse. Although the specialized officers know the advantages of going it alone--the less you rely on other agencies, the more the pie is yours, Messina noted--the quest for the big raid inevitably requires some coordination with other police departments. Cruz and his gang, investigators found, would regularly make large-scale narcotics sales in the $10,000-$16,000 range. In many cases, cocaine and pills laced with fentanyl have killed people who had no idea they were consuming it. Joseph "Chino" Paul House, of Taylorsville, pleaded guilty in October 2021 to being a felon in possession of a firearm. To keep the property, police must merely show the drug link by a preponderance of evidence, a lower standard of proof than the beyond a reasonable doubt required for a criminal conviction. Under the federal law, confiscated property is held by federal marshals while the U.S. attorneys office notifies potential claimants of the seizure and places public notices in newspapers. According to the DEA, roughly one year ago, defendant Manuel Suriel allegedly began selling cocaine at a restaurant in Cypress Hills, Brooklyn. Alan Price, head of that citys drug and vice detail: Police work is becoming big business.. But the trooper knew the story was a lie; he had run a check on Maldonados license plate prior to the stop and learned that it had been scanned by a license plate reader in Southern California roughly 24 hours earlier. Leaders of the most aggressive squads defend their long-distance work as part of the local fight against drugs. Anthony "Lil Ace" James Runion, of Salt Lake City, was also charged with two counts of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. A Vandergrift man who police say attempted to flee from authorities was arrested Tuesday afternoon on charges of having suspected heroin and other narcotics. Marshals confirmed that its Colorado Violent Offender Task Force is hunting for Maldonado, who was described in the affidavit as being 6-foot-2 and weighing 245 pounds. Maldonado has two Facebook accounts but rarely posts. The trooper scanned the inside of Maldonados car and noticed that it was empty except for a couple of energy drinks, some gas station snack foods and a blanket on the back seat. Here 24/7 for any questions you may have sometimes self-incriminating hearing process highly encouraged in,... Advice and should not be used to talk about how much dope we seized, said Sgt family. Taylorsville, pleaded guilty in November 2021 to being a felon in possession of a.. 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