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Federal agents arrested five suspected Sinaloa Cartel affiliates and seized 53 pounds of methamphetamine in Ontario late on Thursday, according to KABC. The "major" drug bust happened in the parking lot of a Hooters restaurant located in the 700 block of North Milliken Avenue.
It's estimated the confiscated meth is worth approximately $2.6 million.
The arrests came after federal agents set up a sting operation. Members of the state Department of Justice's Bureau of Investigation's Inland Crackdown Allied Task Force tricked the meth-hawkers into arranging a meeting, and arrested them upon arrival.
The five arrested were identified as Benjamin Machado Morales, Heriberto Coronado Martin, Eric Villareal Aguilar, Eduardo E. Ruano Alvarez and Hector E. Marroquin. Each was booked on charges for conspiracy, possession of methamphetamine for sales, as well as the transportation and sales of methamphetamine. The men are being held at the San Bernardino West Valley County Detention Center, according to the Riverside Press Enterprise.
As the L.A. Times points out, California is the gateway for Mexican manufactured methamphetamine into the United States. A 2014 report from the state Attorney General's office reported that 70 percent of the Meth imported into the United States runs first through Southern California.
Bless the I.E.
