S.D. Grand Jury Indicts 18 Linked to Drug Smuggling

A federal grand jury in San Diego has indicted 18 people from California, Hawaii, Texas and Mexico on charges of conspiring to smuggle cocaine from Colombia to the United States through Mexico, the U.S. attorney’s office in San Diego announced Monday.

The indictment, returned Dec. 24, was unsealed Monday after several of those charged were arrested in sweeps by federal, state and local officers Saturday.

Still at large are Frankel Ivan Baramdyka and Ivonne Baramdyka, a Los Angeles couple suspected of leading the smuggling ring. The ring is suspected of bringing at least 1,640 kilograms of cocaine across the border at San Ysidro during early 1985. The cocaine was allegedly distributed in the Los Angeles area.

Frankel Baramdyka and three others were also charged with conspiring to transport hundreds of thousands of dollars into and out of the United States without proper documentation. More than $600,000 has been seized in connection with the investigation.

Also seized were a twin-engine airplane and a pickup truck that were allegedly used to smuggle the drugs. No cocaine was seized during the investigation.

The investigation was headed by agents of the U.S. Customs Service with assistance from the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

The case was pieced together by customs agents through interviews with informants and surveillance of the suspects by federal agents over a 26-month period.

The 12-count indictment alleges that Baramdyka and the others flew several shipments of cocaine from Colombia to Baja California in private aircraft, then smuggled the drugs across the border concealed in a van, a false gas tank of a car, and a compartment within a propane tank mounted on a pickup truck.

The indictment also alleges that the defendants conspired to smuggle $180,000 from the United States to Panama within an otherwise legal shipment of electronic audio components.

In addition to the Baramdykas, 11 others from Southern California, two from Texas, one from Hawaii and two from Mexico--all men--were named in the indictment. Two of those indicted--Samuel James Toussaint, 36, and Phillip McAllister, 43--are from San Diego.