3 Palmdale men held in Mexican cartel murder-for-hire case

LA Times
February 17, 2011

Three men were arrested Thursday in Palmdale in what authorities say was a foiled murder-for-hire plot directed by a ruthless Tijuana-based drug cartel.

The suspects are accused of being enforcers for the Arellano Felix Cartel and were planning to target victims in California who owed the cartel large amounts of money believed to be the proceeds from drug sales, according to the California attorney general's office.

Two of the men were apprehended at a home in Palmdale, where state Department of Justice agents seized two AR-15 assault weapons, 1,000 rounds of ammunition and about $20,000 in cash.

A third suspect was arrested later at a nearby Starbucks, authorities said.

The suspects were identified as:

Jorge Ernesto Sillas-Rocha, 27;
Victor Manuel Magana Gonzalez, 24; and
Daniel Ceballos, 34

California Attorney General, Kamala D. Harris, said these arrests are a warning to all other cartel operatives who are considering committing crimes in this state.

"Justice will be very swift and certain when you cross into California," she said in a statement.

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