11 Charged With Distributing Meth
A federal grand jury in Pocatello returned an indictment Tuesday charging 11 people with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. U.S. Attorney Wendy Olson said four defendants were arrested Wednesday. Six others are in state custody and will be transferred to federal custody Thursday.
Olson identified the defendants as Samuel Nevarez-Ayon, 25, and Fabiola Esmerelda Marin-Castro, 24, both of Rexburg, Guadalupe Meraz, 40, of Madera,Calif., Ana Rosa Valdez-Ceja, 25, Juan Ortiz, Jr., 27, and Antonio Javier Mendoza, 27, all of Shelley, Isidoro David Herrera, 30, Daniel Quiroz, 24, Everado Tapia Torres, Jr., 29, Ricardo Garcia Lopez, 34, and Nicolas Levi Olsen, 28, all of Idaho Falls.
Nevarez-Ayon, Torres, Olsen, Valdez-Ceja, Menoza, Quoroz, Herrera, Ortiz, Marin-Castro and Meraz were scheduled to be arraigned Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ronald E. Bush.
An arrest warrant was issued Tuesday for the 11th suspect. Ricardo Garcia-Lopez, 34, was arrested Wednesday night in Idaho Falls. Jenny Flores-Leal, 36, was arrested with Garcia on state charges of harboring a fugitive.
Federal drug trafficking charges are punishable by up to 10 years in prison, a fine up to $8 million, and a minimum term of five years of supervised release.
The charges are the result of a nine-month investigation by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force. The series of arrests began when a combined Fremont-Madison Special Response Team surrounded a home at 288 N. 5200 West, just east of Highway 33 west of Rexburg. Madison County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Ryan Kaufman says three of the suspects were arrested at that time.
Further details surrounding the investigation have not been released.
The OCDE Task Force includes the Idaho State Police, Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office, Idaho Falls Police Department, Madison County Sheriff’s Office, Rexburg Police Department, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Fremont County Sheriff’s Office, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Olson says the program supplies supplemental federal funding to federal and state agencies involved in the identification, investigation, and prosecution of major drug trafficking organizations.
