Feds arrest 5 major Meck marijuana bust

Authorities say they seized nearly 2 tons of pot and over $1 million after 3-month probe.

By Steve Lyttle

Posted: Saturday, Feb. 19, 2011

Federal authorities say two houses in quiet Charlotte neighborhoods were the center for a multi-million-dollar drug ring with international connections.

Five people, three of whom were in the United States illegally from Mexico, according to investigators, have been charged in the case.

The arrests, made Tuesday, followed a three-month investigation by local and federal authorities. According to a federal complaint filed in the case, the drug ring was centered at a house in the Ashley Farms neighborhood - off Margaret Wallace Road near the Charlotte-Matthews line - and in the Berkshire community of University City.

Federal authorities say they seized nearly 2 tons of marijuana and more than $1 million in cash. The drugs could have a street value of $4 million, according to the Drug Enforcement Agency.

Arrested in the case were Ubaldo Sandoval, 24, of Charlotte; Ana Bertha Sandoval, 31, of Charlotte; Jaime Gregoso Arellano, 33, of Charlotte; Ciro Noe Guerrero-Rosales, 25, of Sacramento, Calif.; and Hector Tegeda Galvan, 37, of Concord. Suellen Pierce, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Justice Department, said Ubaldo Sandoval, Ana Sandoval and Hector Tegeda-Galvan are Mexican citizens who are illegally in the United States.

Pierce said Arellano is a Mexican citizen who has a non-immigrant visitor's visa. He also is a former police officer in Mexico, according to authorities. Guerrero-Rosales is a U.S. citizen, Pierce said.

Each of the five is charged with conspiracy to distribute marijuana, involving 1,000 kilograms (about 2,200 pounds) or more. In addition, all but Arellano are charged with use and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime.

Joseph Barringer, an agent with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, said a house in the 10700 block of Glenluce Avenue, in the Berkshire neighborhood, appeared to be where the money was stored. A house in the 3100 block of Wythe Court, in Ashley Farm, was where the drugs were kept, he said.

Barringer said that on Tuesday, agents watched Ubaldo Sandoval and Arellano leave the Glenluce house and drive in a Ford F250 pickup truck to a Burger King on N.C. 51 at Lawyers Road in Mint Hill. There, they met with Tegeda-Galvan, who was driving a Chevrolet S10 pickup.

Investigators say they watched Sandoval and Arellano get in the Chevy truck and drive to Wythe Court, where they pulled the truck into the garage and closed the door. About a half-hour later, Barringer says, agents watched Sandoval drive off in the truck, apparently leaving Arellano at the house.

Then, according to the federal complaint, agents saw Sandoval drive back to the Burger King, where he met with Tegeda-Galvan and another man, identified as Guerrero-Rosales.

Barringer said Guerrero-Rosales left in a white Chevrolet pickup, with Tegeda-Galvan following in the black Chevrolet S10. Sandoval, agents said, left in an opposite direction.

Police followed all three trucks and tried to stop the two Chevrolet vehicles on Interstate 85. Investigators say Tegeda-Galvan immediately pulled over but Guerrero-Rosales drove for another mile before stopping.

Barringer said authorities found 700 pounds of marijuana and a handgun in the truck driven by Tegeda-Galvan. They found a handgun and several prepaid telephones in Guerrero-Rosales' vehicle. The phones were on, but the screens had been broken off, authorities say.

Agents also followed Sandoval, who they said drove the Ford truck back to the Wythe Court residence. They say he left that house a short time later, and authorities followed him to Glenluce Avenue, where they stopped the truck. Barringer said authorities found $250,000 in the truck.

Then, Barringer said, agents went to the house on Glenluce Avenue and got permission from Ana Bertha Sandoval to search the residence.

In the federal complaint, Barringer said agents found more than $1 million, a shotgun and more than 10 cell phones.

Federal authorities allege that Ana Sandoval's role in the operation was to deposit money in an account at a Bank of America branch in the 8500 block of W.T. Harris Boulevard.

"She also has been observed sending United States currency through a series of Intermex money remitters located in Charlotte," Barringer wrote in the complaint.

He said agents believe at least some of the money was sent to Mexico.

While agents were at the Glenluce house, other law enforcement personnel were searching the house on Wythe Court. There, according to Barringer, they found nearly 3,500 pounds of marijuana. Authorities say Arellano, a former police officer in Guadalajara State in Mexico, told them he worked for Ubaldo Sandoval and was paid $500 a week to watch over the house.

According to the federal complaint, Arellano said he lived at the house for six months and had seen Ubaldo Sandoval deliver three shipments of marijuana there.

Federal authorities say they got help from Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Concord and Mooresville police.

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