12 Arrested After Yearlong Probe Into L.A. Drug Ring

Twelve suspected members of a narcotics ring accused of manufacturing and shipping hundreds of pounds of methamphetamine across the country have been arrested by a federal-local drug task force.

The arrests Wednesday culminated a yearlong probe into a Los Angeles-based drug trafficking organization allegedly headed by Hector Octavio Salcido, who lives in Mexico but was arrested in El Monte.

More than 115 pounds of methamphetamine and 45 pounds of amphetamine were seized during the investigation by the Southern California Drug Task Force.

In addition to the drug charges, members of Salcido’s organization were charged with laundering the drug proceeds in Mexico.

Those arrested and one person still at large were secretly indicted by federal grand juries in Atlanta and Lufkin, Texas, where some of the drugs were sold.

Assistant U.S. Atty. John Farley said authorities in Atlanta started the investigation when they learned that drug dealers there were receiving large amounts of methamphetamine from the Salcido organization in Southern California.

In addition to Salcido, those arrested were Ana Maria Mendoza, 52, of El Monte; Griselda Hernandez, 35, of El Monte; Alberto Mendoza Ochoa, 31, of Baldwin Park; Geronimo Baheena Adan, 30, of El Monte; Ismael Vitella Orozco, 33, of West Covina; Leobardo Chavez, 27, of Pomona; Gumildo Chavez-Escalera, 35, of El Monte; Candelario Moncada, 28, of Long Beach; Manuel Moncada, 32, of Long Beach; Hilda Garcia, 32, of El Monte; and Erendira Madrigal Mendoza, 26, of El Monte.

Wilfredo Chavez-Escalera, 36, of El Monte, is still being sought, Farley said.