Family Arrested in Series of Drug Raids

A family that police said has been a leading methamphetamine producer was arrested in an early-morning raid in Porterville on Tuesday, authorities said.

Prajedes Felix Sr., four of his sons, his sister-in-law and nine other men were rousted from their beds shortly after sunrise when more than 300 agents with local, state and federal agencies swept into their homes across rural Tulare and Kern counties. More than five pounds of methamphetamine was seized, along with a dozen guns and more than $30,000 in cash, police said.

The suspects were being held in Fresno County Jail and include Felix Sr., 52, and sons Jose, 32; Hector, 23; Prajedes Jr., 25; and Alberto, 24. All have been charged with distributing methamphetamine, said the U.S. attorney’s office in Sacramento. In addition, Jose Felix has been charged with manufacturing the drug. Bail hearings will be held next week in U.S. District Court.

The brother of Prajedes Felix Sr., Manuel, was convicted in 1998 of conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine and is serving time in federal prison. Manuel’s wife, Teresa Felix, 53, was arrested Tuesday and charged with conspiracy.

An arrest warrant has been issued by the federal court in Arkansas for another of Felix’s sons, Adrian, alleging intent to distribute methamphetamine.

“I think we reached the top of the organization and took off the top members and most of the lieutenants too,” said Lt. Richard Matthews of the Tulare County Sheriff’s Department.

Seven suspects were still being sought, as was evidence that could link the suspects to cocaine and marijuana trafficking, he said.

Authorities have been investigating the family since 1997, and on several occasions undercover agents allegedly purchased drugs from the family. In the last two years, six meth labs allegedly run by the family have been dismantled by police. A seventh lab, on the Tule Indian Reservation in the Sierra foothills, was discovered Tuesday.

Drug officials believe that Felix Sr. has been in the illegal drug business for 15 to 20 years. They said he apparently was not involved in any business that served as a front. Several lower-ranking members of the alleged drug ring have been arrested over the years.

“This family has been operating for years in the Terra Bella and Porterville area at one level or another,” said Dave Dresson, a senior special agent with the state Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement. “They’d been doing this so long that the father, Felix Sr., although still very involved in the business, had almost handed off the day-to-day operations to the sons.”

Porterville and much of the agricultural San Joaquin Valley area is part of what federal officials have dubbed a “High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area.”

Officials believe production of methamphetamine has increased in recent years. The reasons are numerous, including the area’s many rural sites where meth labs can be hidden, and dozens of tiny airstrips amid the farm fields that make it possible to ship the drug across the nation.

Police in Porterville have long suspected that the Felix family was involved in drugs, and they had frequent run-ins with family members. But collecting evidence against them was difficult, because the family reportedly hired underlings to handle the drugs.

“Their names have popped up in numerous investigations of other crimes, including kidnaps and rape cases,” said Sgt. Chris Dempsie of the Porterville Police Department. “I’m sure there’s someone willing to step in and take over their place in the drug trade, but for the time being these arrests will slow it down.”