31 charged in federal methamphetamine investigation | L.A. NOW | Los Angeles Times

31 charged in federal methamphetamine investigation L.A. NOW Los Angeles Times: "charged 31 people following an eight-month investigation into an alleged ring of Mexican traffickers smuggling methamphetamine into California and Washington state.
About 90 pounds of methamphetamine, with a street value of $5 million, was confiscated during the investigation, according to federal documents.
The ring allegedly had wholesale distribution cells in Ontario, Fontana and Upland, and in Turlock in the Central Valley. Methamphetamine also was allegedly shipped to a cell in Othello, a small town in eastern Washington, which is best known for growing about half the country’s potatoes made into French fries.
Ten of those charged are in custody. The rest are at large and presumed to be in Mexico, federal authorities said Thursday. Among them is the ring’s alleged leader, Jesus Marquez-Marquez, a.k.a. “Don Chuy,” who remains in Michoacan, a western Mexico state.
The region is known for heavy immigration into the United States and is where much of Mexican methamphetamine trafficking originated. In the last few years, it has been a main battleground in savage violence among trafficking groups and the Mexican army.
The ring’s alleged main U.S. distributor, David Jimenez-Pedroza, of Corona, is in federal custody in San Diego. If convicted, he and others face life terms in prison."