Arrests Follow Undercover Deal involving 10 Pounds of Methamphetamine
LOS ANGELES – In the second phase of Operation “Supernova,” which is an investigation into Ventura County’s largest street gang, three defendants have been arrested on federal drug distribution and firearms trafficking charges.
The arrests on Tuesday afternoon followed an undercover operation in Camarillo, where a Colonia Chiques street gang member was in possession of 10 pounds of methamphetamine that he had agreed to sell, along with four kilograms of cocaine, to undercover operatives for a total price of $200,000. That street gang member, Luis Manuel Tapia, who is believed to be a leader of the Colonia Chiques, is accused in a criminal complaint of engaging in a series of transactions that involve narcotics and weapons, including a fully automatic assault rifle.
Yesterday’s arrests are the result of an investigation into the Colonia Chiques, which was formed in the 1970s, has more than 1,000 documented members, and has strong ties to the Mexican Mafia prison gang. In the first part of Operation Supernova (see: http://www.justice.gov/usao/cac/pressroom/pr2011/018.html), federal prosecutors have convicted 11 defendants who have received sentences of up to 25 years in prison.
In a criminal complaint unsealed yesterday, six defendants are charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and conspiracy to sell firearms without a dealer license. The defendants named in the criminal complaint are:
