XPost: alt.drugs.fentanyl, talk.politics.guns, sac.politics   
   XPost: alt.society.liberalism   
   From: gavin.newsom.drug.sales@gmail.com   
      
   Federal prosecutors have charged 17 people with taking part in   
   in a drug trafficking and money laundering conspiracy that   
   included flying methamphetamine and heroin out of Palm Springs   
   International Airport in checked luggage.   
      
   The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. attorney's office in   
   the Orlando area, where authorities say the conspiracy was based   
   and the drugs were sold. Prosecutors announced the charges   
   Thursday, following a six-year joint investigation by the Drug   
   Enforcement Administration, the IRS and other agencies.   
      
   According to court records, the drug trafficking organization   
   was centered in Lake County, Florida, with sources of supply or   
   distributors in California, Texas, the eastern United States and   
   China.   
      
   The organization operated largely through the use of couriers   
   who fly to California from Florida with large sums of cash to   
   purchase drugs and transport them in checked luggage back to   
   Florida. These flights were typically between Orlando and Palm   
   Springs or Los Angeles. Flight records during a two-year period   
   show more than 350 flights between California and Orlando.   
      
   Since at least 2017, prosecutors say, the organization   
   trafficked thousands of kilograms of methamphetamine and   
   fentanyl via commercial planes, trains, and the mail. So far,   
   the DEA has seized more than 250 pounds of drugs — mostly   
   methamphetamine and fentanyl.   
      
   The defendants, whose ages range from 25 to 65, are believed to   
   have played various roles in the organization, such as   
   suppliers, distributors, couriers, and courier coordinators.   
   Most are from Florida. Two are from California, though   
   prosecutors didn't say where: 33-year-old Jose Ivan Carbajal and   
   32-year-old Diego Navarro-Martinez.   
      
   In addition to transporting drugs on commercial flights and   
   trains, the organization allegedly had multiple stash houses and   
   received hundreds of mailed packages of methamphetamine from   
   California and other drugs, including fentanyl, from China.   
      
   The source of supply in California would ship packages   
   containing anywhere from one pound to 10 or more pounds of   
   methamphetamine at a time. Investigators say they have   
   identified almost 400 packages that were shipped from California   
   as part of this conspiracy from 2021 to 2023.   
      
   Andrew John is a reporter in the Coachella Valley for The Desert   
   Sun and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at   
   andrew.john@desertsun.com.   
      
   This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun:   
   Smugglers flew methamphetamine, fentanyl out of Palm Springs,   
   feds say   
      
   https://news.yahoo.com/drug-traffickers-flew-meth-fentanyl-   
   210740918.html   
      
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    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)