Men linked to Sinaloa cartel arrested at Calif. Hooters with 53 pounds of meth
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The five men showed up to a Hooters parking lot in Ontario, Calif. But they weren’t there to eat chicken wings served by scantily clad waitresses.
Authorities said the men were associates of the Sinaloa drug cartel who were there try to sell 53 pounds of methamphetamine wrapped in 42 clear plastic bags.
The men, who were arrested Thursday by the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Investigation’s Inland Crackdown Allied Task Force, are accused of trying to sell meth to undercover officers, authorities said.
The drugs had a street value of $2.6 million, police said.
The five were arrested outside of Hooters on suspicion of transporting methamphetamine, possession of methamphetamine for sales and conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, KABC-TV reported.
A 2014 report from California Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris’ office stated that California has emerged as the major gateway for methamphetamine into the rest of the country. It estimated that 70% of the U.S. supply traveled through state border crossings and linked Southern California gangs with Mexican cartels.
They arrested were identified as Benjamin Machado-Morales, Heriberto Coronado-Martin, Eric Villareal-Aguilar, Eduardo Ruano-Alvarez and Hector Marroquin.
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