Suspects Linked to Mexican Drug Cartel Arrested in Yuba City

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by Lisa Kopochinski , February 5, 2016

Evidence seized during Butte investigation

YUBA CITY — Eleven suspects were arrested last week in Yuba City who are believed to be linked to a Mexican drug trafficking cartel.

One January 28, 2016, six federal search warrants, two state search warrants and 11 arrest warrants were served from Gridley to Sacramento to Modesto — the culmination of an investigation that started in 2013 by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Butte County Interagency Narcotics Task Force, and the Yuba-Sutter Narcotics Enforcement Team.

Drug runners and middlemen with a connection to a cartel were arrested, including a Yuba City source of methamphetamine.

Yuba Sutter Task force NET5 Commander Martin Horan said Pedro Fuentes, Vicente Valezquez, Arnulfo Sanchez-Aquilar, and Jorge Veha-Macias were among those in Yuba City who were booked into custody late last month in Sacramento on federal trafficking charges.

Fuentes, 33, is believed to be a methamphetamine supplier based in Yuba City, and agents believe he worked with Sacramento drug distributor Vega-Macias.

According to an affidavit–which includes recorded cell phone conversations in Spanish—residences on the 1200 block of Melton Drive, the 1200 block of Casita Drive, the 600 block of Miller Road and the 1400 block of Plumas Street in Yuba City were all believed to be used as meeting spots for drug dealers.

Arrests were also made in Butte, Stanislaus, and Sacramento counties where searches turned up 19 pounds of methamphetamine, one-quarter pound of cocaine, 227 marijuana plants, and nearly $100,000.

Horan said that additional arrests are anticipated.