Ten indicted in cocaine and gun trafficking scheme

By Kristina Davis
Saturday, April 23, 2011 at 10:03 a.m.

SAN DIEGO — Ten people have been charged in an alleged cocaine and gun trafficking scheme, according to a federal indictment unsealed Friday.

The five-count indictment handed up by a San Diego grand jury on April 11 alleges San Diego resident Luis Earnest Morquecho, 43, and Yuma resident Charles Frank Fuller, 39, imported two AR-15 assault rifles, an AK-47-style assault rifle and a 9 mm pistol from Arizona into California. The firearms were then sold to undercover agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in San Diego, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Morquecho, a felon with a previous conviction for marijuana sales, was also in possession of a .22 caliber pistol equipped with a screw-in silencer, the documents state.

He is also accused of buying a black 2009 Cadillac Escalade with at least $19,000 in cash that came from cocaine sales.

Others charged in the cocaine trafficking scheme include Eduardo Resendiz Ortiz, 37, of Spring Valley; David Covarrubias Alvares, 31, of San Diego; Ryan Neal Miller, 32, of San Diego; Michael Ronn Robles, 33, of San Diego; Martin Rodriguez, 31, of San Diego; Hector Escalera Cordova, 41, of San Diego, Tsitiporn Morquecho, of San Diego; and Michael Valentine Longnecker, 30.

The charges stem from an investigation by the DEA, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the IRS.

kristina.davis@uniontrib.com • (619) 542-4591 • Twitter @kristinadavis

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