3 Indicted on Charges of Smuggling Nearly 2 Tons of Cocaine

Three men accused of smuggling nearly 2 tons of cocaine and more than 200 pounds of marijuana from Mexico were indicted by a federal grand jury Tuesday, U.S. Atty. William Braniff said.

Luis Olmos, 34, Rigoberto Rodriguez-Guitron, 39, and Jose Ricardo Mesa-Arce, 30, were arrested last week.

DEA spokesman Ronald J. D’Ulisse said the street value of the cocaine was thought to be from $70 million to $80 million. The marijuana was valued at $120,000.

The drugs were smuggled in two vans that were seized last week, DEA agents said. One was taken in the Lincoln Acres neighborhood of National City. The other was seized at a storage facility in Imperial Beach.

The drug possession and conspiracy counts the three have been charged with could result in maximum sentences of life in prison and up to $4-million in fines, Braniff said.

Agents said the arrests and seizure were the result of an around-the-clock surveillance that began June 20, when the two vans entered United States, one at Otay Mesa, the other at San Ysidro.

The 3,924 pounds of cocaine is the second-largest seizure of that drug in San Diego County, dwarfed only by the 8,000 pounds of cocaine found hidden in a tanker truck when it was checked at the Otay Mesa border crossing in October.