Recording Artist Among 6 Indicted in O.C. Drug Case
A Santa Ana recording artist was among six Orange County residents indicted by a federal grand jury Tuesday on charges of distributing cocaine and methamphetamine across the country, authorities said.
Jose Mendez Pineda, 29, a ranchera singer with Mexico-based Zacatecas Records, used couriers and Federal Express to send drugs to Florida and Minnesota, according to Assistant U.S. Atty. Carmen R. Luege.
Authorities said they seized 20 pounds of methamphetamine, an AK-47 assault rifle and a Colt 9-millimeter pistol when they searched Pineda’s residence. They arrested him and three others identified as Efrain Salmeron Eriza, 38, Maria Agustina Gambino, 41, and Sandra Chavez Noriega, 32, all of Santa Ana.
Two Anaheim residents, 45-year-old Natividad Camacho and Lorena Valdez, 25, are fugitives believed to be in Mexico.
According to Luege, Camacho and Valdez served as couriers, ferrying drugs and money when they traveled on commercial airlines to and from Florida.
The other three assisted Pineda in the daily operation of his drug ring, Luege said.
The four defendants in custody are to be arraigned on drug charges in Santa Ana next Tuesday.
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