SAN FRANCISCO—According to DEA Special Agent Daniel Comeaux, the Bay Area has potentially seen the largest drug bust in history. On Thursday, February 11 federal agents from multiple agencies announce charges against 44 suspected drug dealers and gun traffickers in connection to an alleged criminal conspiracy that stretches from Sunnyvale in the Bay Area to Sinaloa, Mexico.
The DEA and FBI investigated this conspiracy for two years and they seized 500 grams of fentanyl, 20 pounds of cocaine, 20 pounds of heroin, more than a dozen firearms, more than $200,000 in cash, and more than 1,000 pounds of methamphetamine. According to Comeaux 1,000 pounds of methamphetamine equates to approximately 80 million doses, which is 11 doses for every citizen in the Bay Area.
This operation included federal wiretaps, pin registers, cellphone location warrants, vehicle tracking warrants, undercover purchases, and informants. The seizures in the operation began in April 2020 in the Southern California area where they seized 11 pounds of cocaine in the town of Santa Maria. Other locations included San Jose, Vallejo, Half Moon Bay, Southern California, and Arizona.
Officials say the contraband was supplied by the Mexican Sinaloa Cartel. The federal agents have supplied the names and details to some of the suspects that were arrested. Some of the individuals that were arrested are 54-year-old Mark Ogo and 27-year-old Anthony Christian Valdovinos who flew from the Bay Area to Calexico in Southern California, meeting with 57-year-old suspect William Reidy to purchase more than 26 pounds of methamphetamine Reidy had brought from Mexico to sell in San Jose. Ogo and Valdovinos drove the drugs to the Bay Area.
Wire communications describe how some of the drugs were hidden inside a spare tire of the rental car they were driving. A separate indictment charged 14 defendants, mostly South Bay residents, with crimes related to bringing drugs to San Jose from Mexico. 46-year-old David Campoy and his son 21-year-old Jose Melchor Campoy, led the illegal operation.
On January 27 in Sunnyvale there was seizure of 572 pounds of meth. David Campoy and his son were arrested at the time of the seizure. A number of other suspects include David Wilcott Greenman, Kimberly Carrasco, Lamberto (a Mexican national whose last name currently is unknown), Juan Carlos Velazquez Ortiz, Ignacio Espinoza, Jose Manuel Rodriguez Naranjo, and Nicolas Ardanuy. They are charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine, and marijuana.
In regards to the firearm conspiracy, the indictment alleges David Campoy, Michael Ozuna Guizar, Roberto Campoy Robles, Luis Guillermo Sendino, and Ivan Campoy Morales orchestrated illegal exports to Mexico of weapons and components of firearms for sale in the black market.
According to a press release the defendants manufactured, exported, and dealt in weapons including assault weapons. The superseding indictment describes how defendants allegedly unlawfully purchased firearms and components of firearms in the United States through licensed federal firearm dealers. The defendants allegedly combined the firearms with grenade launchers assembled in Mexico and attempted to obtain .50 caliber sniper rifles and grenade launchers for resale on the black market.
The defendants could face up to life in prison and millions in fines.
