Grand Jury Indicts 24 in Drug Ring; 3 Are Arrested

Three federal grand jury indictments were unsealed Monday naming 24 people as members of a marijuana and cocaine ring that flew drugs from Mexico to isolated desert areas in San Bernardino County.

According to a statement released by the U.S. attorney’s office in San Diego, three men were arrested last week in Los Angeles County and Tucson, Ariz. Donanciano Hernandez-Escarsega, the alleged ringleader, was arrested in Montebello and is being held in lieu of $5 million bail. George Simon and Kevin Curley were arrested in Tucson and are being held in lieu of $500,000 bail and $400,000 bail, respectively.

The indictments, which were released by federal grand juries in San Diego, result from an 18-month investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, with assistance from several local police departments.

William Frank Peacock, who according to the statement “controlled” the “air smuggling wing of Hernandez’s drug trafficking network,” remained at large. Peacock, 42, is alleged to have run the operation out of CRQ Aviation at Palomar Airport in Carlsbad. But there is no listing for CRQ Aviation in the phone directory, and the indictment lists Peacock’s address as “unknown.”

One indictment charges Hernandez and Peacock with attempting to import about 70 kilograms of cocaine from Mexico. The pair arranged for the purchase of the drug and the airplanes, but the operation “was aborted at the last minute because the airplanes were damaged while in Mexico.” The statement does not say how the planes were damaged or by whom.

Another indictment charges that Hernandez furnished “large sums of cash” to Peacock to purchase airplanes to transport “multiton” loads of marijuana. Prosecutors allege that Peacock was paid $40,000 for each load he flew into the United States.

On two occasions, the planes developed mechanical problems after landing in San Bernardino County and were set ablaze by the smugglers, prosecutors said. The indictment alleges that, on another occasion, Peacock and another pilot and their two planes were detained by Mexican officials but “Hernandez arranged for their release.”

Although Peacock’s address is listed as “unknown,” the third indictment charges that Peacock sold cocaine from “his residences in Carlsbad.” Prosecutors said the cocaine was purchased in Miami and Mexico and sold to North County distributors.

According to the statement released Monday afternoon, Hernandez, Simon and Curley are the only persons in custody. Most of the defendants are San Diego County residents, but the list includes several people living in various parts of Los Angeles County, one in Santa Barbara County and several men living in Mexico and identified only by first names.

Attempts to reach federal officials for additional information were unsuccessful.