Methamphetamine and Fentanyl Trafficker Sentenced to over 19 Years in Prison

Jesus Perez Garcia Jr., 25, of Arleta, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Thurston to 19 years and seven months in prison for trafficking methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Eric Grant announced.

According to court documents, Garcia worked for a Mexico-based drug-trafficking ring that imported from Mexico into the United States large quantities of methamphetamine, cocaine, and fentanyl. That drug ring was dismantled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in June 2024, in an operation dubbed “Toxic Waste.”

Garcia was arrested in June 2022, trying to smuggle 25 pounds of methamphetamine into the United States from Mexico. He was charged but skipped bail. While a fugitive, he began serving as a “stash house” operator for a Mexican-based drug ring. Between July 2023 and March 2024, he maintained the organization’s drugs in the United States and distributed them to others who resold them. He was involved in trafficking over 3,500 pounds of methamphetamine and 6 pounds of fentanyl. In March 2024, he was arrested while transporting methamphetamine and a firearm.

Garcia was indicted along with 14 others in an investigation that resulted in the seizure of more than 12,900 pounds of methamphetamine, more than 50 pounds of fentanyl mixture, 39 pounds of cocaine, and 22 pounds of heroin. As evidenced by tens of thousands of recorded communications, the organization smuggled methamphetamine, cocaine, and fentanyl (in powder and pill form) in portable projectors and batteries, under the guise of a legitimate transportation business. The organization also secreted thousands of pounds of methamphetamine inside semi-trucks and hundreds of pounds of liquid methamphetamine in the gas tanks of cars and brought it across the border.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with assistance from Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Marshals Service, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Inland Regional Narcotics Enforcement Team, the Merced Area Gang and Narcotics Enforcement Team, and the Los Angeles Strike Force. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Justin J. Gilio and Cody S. Chapple are prosecuting the case.

This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

This case is part of Operation Synthetic Opioid Surge (S.O.S.) a program designed to reduce the supply of deadly synthetic opioids in high impact areas as well as identifying wholesale distribution networks and international and domestic suppliers. In July 2018, the Justice Department announced the creation of S.O.S., which is being implemented in the Eastern District of California and nine other federal districts.