‘Operation Trash Panda’ uncovers active drug lab and a historic amount of meth
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- The discovery of drug lab byproducts in an illegal dump led authorities to make the methamphetamine busts in three Northern California locations.
More than a ton of methamphetamine was uncovered during recent law enforcement raids of drug labs in Northern California, representing one of the largest domestic drug seizures in U.S. history, authorities said.
“Operation Trash Panda” was executed last Friday by the Intelligence Narcotics Team for the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office and the Narcotics Enforcement Unit with the Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office. More than 100 law enforcement agents conducted high-risk search warrants across three locations.
The first was an active methamphetamine lab in the 8000 block of Center Drive in Valley Springs, according to authorities. Nearly 50 miles south, a second site was located in the 2000 block of Golf Road in Turlock, which law enforcement officials said contained all the equipment necessary to operate as a lab but was shut down before production began. The third site, in the 900 block of Reno Avenue in Modesto, was used by the drug trafficking organization to store and distribute illicit narcotics, which were being sold throughout Northern California, authorities said.
Law enforcement agents seized more than 2,700 pounds of methamphetamine, with a street value of $4 million, “which represents a substantial disruption to an alleged narcotic supply chain,” the Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office said. Law enforcement also seized 1,900 marijuana plants and more than 100 pounds of processed marijuana.
Federal agents arrested 16 alleged members of Puente-13, a San Gabriel Valley-based gang affiliated with the Mexican Mafia.
Dozens of firearms also were recovered, including handguns with images of Santa Muerte (a Mexican folk saint venerated by drug dealers) and more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition.
The busts led to the arrest of eight suspects on state and federal charges, including one who was on the National Terrorist Watch List, authorities said.
The joint investigation began last October after authorities found evidence of clandestine drug lab byproducts in an illegal dumping site in Calaveras County, they said. At least nine other agencies assisted in the operation, including the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Identities are being withheld as the investigation remains active.
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