Police Join FBI to Bust Alleged Gang Drug Ring

Eight people were in federal custody Thursday after the FBI and local law enforcement officials broke up what they described as a violent street gang responsible for manufacturing $1 million worth of methamphetamine a month.

Santa Ana police served warrants on at least eight Orange County homes Wednesday night, seizing an undisclosed amount of methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin in addition to guns. State narcotics agencies also took part in the investigation, officials said.

Among the eight held in connection with the drug operation is the leader of the gang, Jose Ponce Castellon, 36, of Santa Ana, police said.

News of the arrests comes after a two-year investigation involving anonymous sources and electronic surveillance, FBI officials said.

“This highly successful investigation . . . has broken the back of a major drug trafficking organization,” said Walter Allen III, special agent in charge of the Orange County office of the state Department of Justice’s Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement.

Officials said they have suspected the gang of dealing drugs in the area for more than a decade.

Bail was denied for all eight suspects when they appeared Thursday in federal court in Santa Ana.

“There’s a presumption of flight risk when you have drug charges carrying a minimum of 10 years,” said Assistant U.S. Atty. Carmen Luege.

All of the suspects face charges of conspiring to distribute cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine. They are set to be arraigned next week, officials said.

Santa Ana Police Chief Paul M. Walters said Thursday that, based on surveillance, “we know they were manufacturing meth.”

“We monitor places that do the manufacturing,” he said. “This gang is absolutely connected to meth production. We know from wiretaps that they were manufacturing. It was key to get [the suspects] off the streets to help eradicate drugs. . . . We put a significant dent in this gang’s operations.”

Besides Jose Ponce Castellon, those arrested Wednesday were Santa Ana residents Javier Ponce Castellon, 34; Jose Carrillo, 34; Reyes B. Herrera, 44; Guillermina Luna, 22; Nick Figueroa, 24; Guadalupe Camarena, 57; and Douglas Wilhelmi Jr., 22, of Trabuco Canyon.

Five other suspects remained at large Thursday, officials said. They are Juan Ponce Villicana, 21, of Fountain Valley; Jose Guadalupe Castellon, 30, of Anaheim; and Santa Ana residents Francisco Villareal, 26; Esteban Cervantes, 23, and Julie Villareal, 23.