Agents Bust Drug Ring Based in North County
The federal Drug Enforcement Administration has shut down a nationwide drug ring based in North County and arrested six suspects after a five-year investigation, a DEA spokesman said Monday.
The drug ring was a major supplier of methamphetamine to other parts of the country, including Arizona, Illinois, Indiana and Georgia, spokesman Jack Hook said. The methamphetamine trafficking organization had four laboratories in San Diego and Riverside counties.
Hook said the investigation began when agents seized a laboratory in Riverside County five years ago.
“We followed up on that seizure by tracing the distribution,” Hooks said. “We then tied that with three additional labs here in San Diego.”
The arrests resulted in the seizure of more than $1 million worth of property and cash.
The three properties seized were residences in Vista and Fallbrook valued at up to $325,000 each, and a San Marcos business building worth $150,000. Agents also seized more than $60,000 in cash and five vehicles.
Arrested in Vista on suspicion of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine were Diane Lofthouse, 56, and Martha Arivett, 38. Others arrested on the same charges were Charles Ross, 37, and John Abt, 28, in Indiana; Lori Williamson, 31, in Nevada, and David Rich in Los Angeles.
The reputed head of the organization, 34-year-old Gerald Ralph Williamson of Fallbrook, is being sought by the DEA.
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