Grand jury indicts 14 in cocaine trafficking operation from Tijuana to East Coast

A federal grand jury has indicted 14 people for participating in a multimillion-dollar cocaine trafficking and money laundering scheme.

According to an indictment unsealed Thursday, as well as additional information contained in a related search warrant, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a news release, the organization's leader, Jesus Ruiz-Sandoval, allegedly led the smuggling and distribution of large quantities of cocaine from Tijuana. in the USA. A movement of cash receipts back to Mexico would have followed.

Ruiz, 45, is a U.S. citizen who prosecutors say fled the United States for Mexico several years ago in violation of his supervised release conditions for a prior federal drug offense.

Other co-conspirators named in the search warrant were John Joe Soto, 42, and Esteban Sinhue Mercado, 24, also U.S. citizens currently residing in Mexico.

Prosecutors say the smugglers transported multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine from Tijuana to Los Angeles via San Diego. From there, commercial trucks transported the cocaine to the mid-Atlantic states for distribution.

Trucks also allegedly transported the proceeds from cocaine sales to Los Angeles, where they were packaged and loaded into cars that couriers drove through San Diego and to Tijuana, for delivery to Ruiz.

To date, investigators have seized more than $5 million in cash and more than 130 kilos of cocaine related to this case.

Other suspects named in court documents are from Anaheim, Bakersfield, Los Angeles, Pasadena and Van Nuys.

The investigation is one of two investigations into Ruiz. A separate grand jury in the Central District of California indicted him and other co-conspirators in January in connection with a separate but similar trafficking scheme.