Leader of Redding-Area Heroin Conspiracy Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Eduardo Salinas-Garcia, 44, of Sonora, Mexico, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Garland E. Burrell Jr. to 10 years in prison for conspiring to distribute heroin, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.

According to court documents, Salinas-Garcia led a 2015 conspiracy to distribute heroin in the Redding area. On March 27, 2015, law enforcement officers in Redding pulled over the car in which Salinas-Garcia was riding. They also pulled over the car behind his; that vehicle was being driven by one of Salinas-Garcia’s co-defendants and was carrying about 5.75 pounds of heroin in the trunk. Salinas-Garcia later confessed that he was a U.S. citizen living in Mexico and that he smuggled large quantities of heroin from the Los Angeles area to Redding. Salinas-Garcia said that he had intended to deliver this heroin to a dealer living in Redding. Further investigation showed that, for at least the seven months preceding his arrest, Salinas-Garcia and some of his co-defendants exchanged text messages related to drug trafficking with this dealer. The messages directed the dealer to deposit his drug sale proceeds in specific bank accounts in the United States and in Mexico. Salinas-Garcia personally provided the names of more than 10 banks and accounts to which the dealer should make his deposits.

This case was the product of an investigation by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Shasta Interagency Narcotics Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Beck prosecuted the case.

Co-defendants Fernando Acosta, 40, and Jesus Nunez-Meza, 24, both of Perris, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute heroin and were each sentenced to three years and 10 months in prison. Co-defendant Ramon Herrera, 65, of Santa Ana, has pleaded guilty to the same charge and is expected to be sentenced on March 16, 2018.