In a windowless hangar at New York's JFK airport, dozens of law enforcement officers sift through packages, looking for fentanyl -- a drug that is killing Americans every day.
Prosecutors in California charged a sheriff's deputy on Monday, September 25, with two felonies related to possessing more than 100 pounds of fentanyl in his vehicle. They also made the first allegations of his possible connections to a Mexican drug gang.
Accused of Two Crimes
Jorge Oceguera-Rocha, a 25-year-old sheriff's officer in Riverside County, was arrested and charged with criminal possession of fentanyl for sale and felony transportation of drugs. He faces a lengthier possible term since he is also accused of carrying a loaded firearm while committing the crime.
In a report by The Press-Enterprise, Oceguera-Rocha resigned after being detained on September 17 and pleaded not guilty to all allegations during a court appearance in Banning on Monday. Banning is located about 80 miles west of downtown Los Angeles.
Soon after his arrest, the Riverside County Sheriff's Department requested that his bond be increased to $5 million, citing his status as a flight risk due to his alleged ties to a Mexican drug cartel. The District Attorney's Office for Riverside County stated on Monday that a judge approved the motion but would be revisited at a later court session.
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Oceguera-Rocha's Arrest
Last week, the sheriff's office said in a press statement that an employee, Oceguera-Rocha, had been identified as a key figure in the transit of drugs inside the county for an investigation into a drug ring, according to USA Today.
The affidavit, authored by investigator Joshua Ricard, and previous bail application were presented to the court. Information concerning the inquiry that was not previously known to the public is included in the papers.
Through the interception of Oceguera-Rocha's phone conversations, investigators discovered on September 16 that he was planning to visit an "identified narcotic stash location" in Victorville.
They first observed Oceguera-Rocha in Banning at about 1:00 PM local time and then again in San Bernardino County a few hours later. Oceguera-Rocha called a relative shortly after arriving at a Victorville residence at approximately 3:00 PM. The affidavit states that Oceguera-Rocha went inside the garage and returned after approximately 10 minutes.
Investigators followed him on the drive back to Banning. When he got close to Calimesa, a drugs detection interdiction deputy performed a traffic stop at the Oak Valley exit of I-10. During the check, a trained dog was alerted to the possible presence of narcotics in the car.
According to the affidavit, officers found four trash bags with square parcels wrapped in transparent cellophane in the trunk. Further inspection showed all parcels contained bulk blue fentanyl-laced M30 tablets.
There were around 520,000 tablets in the bundles, and analysis verified that they were really fentanyl. Ricard reported finding a loaded Glock pistol in a suitcase on the backseat of Oceguera-Rocha's automobile.
The sheriff's office has said it does not think the officer was peddling narcotics while on duty or transporting inmates in the prisons.
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