Truck Driver Indicted in Record Cocaine Bust
A truck driver accused of transporting some of the cocaine seized in the record 21.4-ton bust at a warehouse in Sylmar has been indicted by a federal grand jury on drug trafficking charges.
Gilbert Mendoza, 28, of New Mexico, has been in custody since his arrest Oct. 3 and is being held in lieu of $9 million bail. State charges initially filed against him were dropped after his indictment by the grand jury last week, Assistant U.S. Atty. Susan Bryant-Deason said.
Mendoza is charged with six other defendants arrested in connection with the Sept. 29 seizure in Sylmar. Federal charges were filed against the others in early October. Mendoza was arrested in Van Nuys on the basis of information in records found at the warehouse.
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