1 Man Convicted, 3 Face Charges in Rancho del Rio Drug Operation

One man has been convicted and three others face drug smuggling charges stemming from the operation of Rancho del Rio, the remote hideaway in the foothills of the Santa Ana Mountains that President Bush declared Tuesday to be “reclaimed” from drug dealers.

Authorities contend that the ranch, off Ortega Highway, was the site of a sophisticated smuggling operation that moved hundreds of pounds of cocaine and thousands of pounds of marijuana.

Police raided the ranch in February, 1985, and said they found evidence indicating that the owner, Daniel James Fowlie, 52, was involved in the smuggling. Fowlie was also linked by investigators with the 1985 torture-slaying of U.S. drug agent Enrique Camarena in Guadalajara.

Fowlie is being held at a jail in La Paz, capital of Baja California Sur, and has been indicted on 26 felony counts of drug smuggling. The United States is seeking his extradition.

Fowlie’s two sons, Gus and Daniel Mack Fowlie, are awaiting trial in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, special assistant U.S. Atty. Sanford Feldman said Tuesday.

The brothers are charged with smuggling $350,000 to the Netherlands from the United States in 1983. They are also accused of helping their father traffic drugs at Rancho del Rio, Feldman said. Their trial is scheduled for Aug. 8.

A third man, Wade T. Westmoreland, 44, identified as the ranch manager, was arrested for possession of marijuana for sale, carrying a concealed handgun and discharging it illegally in 1985. He was convicted and sentenced to 16 months in state prison.

Robert Pellegrom, 29, a native of Rotterdam, was also arrested at the ranch on suspicion of drug trafficking. He was later released and deported to the Netherlands.

On Tuesday, President Bush also referred to another case, the second-largest seizure of drug money in history by U.S. agents.

In February, 1988, three people from South Gate were arrested after a 6-week investigation for trafficking heroin throughout Orange, Los Angeles and Riverside counties. The Orange County Regional Narcotics Suppression Program made the arrests after finding $5.2 million in cash, 18 pounds of heroin and two guns in a truck and at houses in South Gate and Riverside.

The defendants pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to possess and distribute heroin. Eulojio Quinones Valdez, 33, was sentenced to a 2-year prison term. Delia Caballero Valencia, 26, was sentenced to 6 months in prison. Silvia Juarez Madrigal, 26, was sentenced to a 1-year prison term.