1.8 mill in cocaine seized in Colton

dstrm300 Sat Nov 19, 2011 6:03 pm

Cocaine valued at $1.8 million was seized from a Mexican cartel and two men were arrested when state agents and police busted a pre-arranged drug sale Thursday in a Colton hotel parking lot.
The arrests and seizure of 18.5 kilos of cocaine were part of a California Department of Justice operation that targeted the Sinaloa cartel based in Baja California, which distributes cocaine throughout Southern California, according to a DOJ statement.

Working with a confidential informant, an undercover agent arranged to purchase cocaine from a person associated with the cartel. At the pre-arranged meeting Thursday in Colton, agents arrested Juan M. Flores, 40, of Tecate, Mexico and Jose Vega Diaz, 47, of Whitter.

Both men were booked into jail in Riverside County and are being held in lieu of $1 million bail each.

"This operation is an example of the complex and multi-jurisdictional work that Department of Justice agents do every day to keep California safe," Attorney General Kamala D. Harris said in the statement. "I commend these agents for their bravery and professional excellence."

Special agents with the state Inland Crackdown Allied Task Force conducted the undercover sting operation into the drug trafficking activities of the cartel.

The operation is the latest in a series of DOJ-led operations targeting transnational gangs across California, which included the seizure of 18 kilos of cocaine from a vehicle that crossed the

border at the Calexico port of entry in July. In August, the DOJ dismantled a large-scale U.S.-Mexico prescription drug trafficking operation.
INCA is one of 52 state DOJ-led task forces that coordinate the response to gang and drug trafficking. It's composed of personnel from: Beaumont Police Department, California Alcohol Beverage and Control, California Highway Patrol, Corona Police Department, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Murrieta Police Department, Riverside County District Attorney's Office, Riverside County Sheriff's Department, Riverside Police Department and the San Bernardino Police Department.