Operation Smoke and Mirrors Update: California-Based Supplier Sentenced to 27 Years in Prison for Role in Methamphetamine Trafficking Organization

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Alejandro Gallegos, also known as “Alex,” “Rooster,” “G” and “Primo,” 42, of Hacienda Heights, California, was sentenced today to 27 years in prison, to be followed by 5 years of supervised release, for conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine and 500 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of cocaine. Gallegos admitted to a major supplier role in a drug trafficking organization (DTO) that operated in the Charleston area.

According to court documents and statements made in court, from in or about February 2021 to in or about March 2023, Gallegos conspired with others to distribute methamphetamine and cocaine within the Southern District of West Virginia.

On March 18, 2023, Gallegos directed co-defendant Ildiberto Gonzalez Jr. to deliver approximately 196 pounds of methamphetamine and four kilograms of cocaine from California to Bluefield, West Virginia, in his 2009 Freightliner semi-truck with attached trailer. Gallegos arranged the shipment in exchange for approximately $400,000 with another co-conspirator in West Virginia. Gallegos had Gonzalez and the West Virginia co-conspirator meet in a particular parking lot in Bluefield on March 22, 2023. There, Gonzalez provided the controlled substances to the other individual in exchange for a box that Gonzalez believed contained the cash.

Gonzalez Jr., 31, of San Bernadino, California, was sentenced on July 22, 2024, to 14 years in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute a quantity of methamphetamine.

Gallegos and Gonzalez are among 31 individuals convicted as a result of Operation Smoke and Mirrors, a major drug trafficking investigation that yielded the largest methamphetamine seizure in West Virginia history. Law enforcement seized well over 400 pounds of methamphetamine as well as 40 pounds of cocaine, 3 pounds of fentanyl, 19 firearms and $935,000 in cash.

Gallegos was found by the Court to be responsible for approximately 740 pounds of methamphetamine through his role in the drug trafficking organization.

“No defendant sentenced in the Southern District of West Virginia has been responsible for the amount of methamphetamine attributable to this defendant. There is no comparison,” said Acting United States Attorney Lisa G. Johnston. “While thousands of miles away from our communities, he directed methamphetamine from Mexico to West Virginia for the sake of profits, knowing that his actions would add to the devastation of the drug abuse crisis in the Southern District of West Virginia.”

Johnston made the announcement and commended the investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the U.S. Department of Homeland Security-Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team (MDENT), the West Virginia State Police, the West Virginia National Guard Counter Drug program, the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office, the Charleston Police Department, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office and the Raleigh County Sheriff's Office. MDENT is composed of the Charleston Police Department, the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, the Nitro Police Department, the St. Albans Police Department and the South Charleston Police Department.

United States District Judge Thomas E. Johnston imposed the sentence. Assistant United States Attorney Jeremy B. Wolfe prosecuted the case.

The investigation was part of the Department of Justice’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF). The program was established in 1982 to conduct comprehensive, multilevel attacks on major drug trafficking and money laundering organizations and is the keystone of the Department of Justice’s drug reduction strategy. OCDETF combines the resources and expertise of its member federal agencies in cooperation with state and local law enforcement. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking organizations, transnational criminal organizations and money laundering organizations that present a significant threat to the public safety, economic, or national security of the United States.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:23-cr-32.

###