Thread: Five arrested In Fresno Ca Meth bust

Fresno County sheriff's narcotics officers have seized eight pounds of crystal methamphetamine and arrested five Mexican nationals in the culmination of a two-month investigation of a drug ring, Sheriff Margaret Mims announced today.

Undercover deputies purchased five pounds of the drug from the ring Wednesday, then made the arrests, Mims said. Deputies then got search warrants and found another three pounds of the drug.

Deputies also confiscated an assault rifle and two handguns, along with three cars.

Mims said some of the drugs were being transported in a child's Superman backpack.

The ring operated from San Jose to eastern Fresno County and had connections in Mexico, Mims said. Deputies believe money the ring obtained for drugs was wired back to Mexico.



The arrested men will be held for federal authorities and are not eligible for bail or early release, Mims said.



Read more: http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/05/27/194 ... z0pAqWvrdG

More B.S from the town where I was born... The operation is called "Gang Zero Tolerance," and it's the first of its kind in California. It was a coordinated effort headed by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Gang members were rounded up, brought to the state correction office in downtown Fresno, booked, dressed in blue jumpsuits, then loaded onto a bus headed to Wasco State Prison. The operation started a 6:00 am, and by noon, 61 gang members found in violation of their parole were off the streets.

"What you see is a united front, no difference in uniforms or non-uniforms, moving toward one goal, which is eradication of gangs, suppression of crime and victimization in the community," said Robert Ambroselli of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

The effort was headed by the state, but it took more than a dozen agencies to pull it off. In total, 118 gang members were searched. Drugs and weapons, like baseball bats, guns and knives, were taken away. Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer says career criminals were targeted.

"When they come back out into the community on parole, the likelihood for the vast majority, is they're involved in criminal activity and they're doing it on a daily basis," said Dyer.

Now a new took is helping officers literally track parolees every move. GPS devices have been strapped to the ankles of the most dangerous offenders in the community.

"In this city we will place 80, and have placed 80, with the exception of the few who were arrested and straps were cut off today because they are headed back to state prison," said Ambroselli.

The number of GPS devices placed on parolees in Fresno has gone from 20 to 80 in the last two weeks. Chief Dyer says the device will likely work as a deterrent, because parolees will know someone is watching their every move.

"That is important because when they believe that they're less likely to be involved in criminal activity, less likely to hang out with other gang members, and they know if they mess up, the likelihood is they're going back to prison," said Dyer.