Five Monterey County men arrested in suspected meth conspiracy.

In one fell swoop on Oct. 12, teams of agents from the FBI and federal Drug Enforcement Agency descended upon and arrested five Monterey County men suspected in a conspiracy to traffic methamphetamines, the Department of Justice announced.

FBI and DEA agents performed the coordinated raids in Salinas, Greenfield, Castroville and Gonzales to arrest and serve search warrants on the five.

The men—Francisco Puga Camacho, 48, Horacio Quintana, 22, Joel Quintana Medina, 25, and Jesus Bernal Nunez, 33, all from Salinas, and Nestor Tavarez, 50, from Gonzales—were arraigned before Magistrate Judge Nathanael M. Cousins in San Jose federal court the same day.

The four Salinas men were arrested on felony charges that included conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of meth, distribution, possession with intent to distribute and use of a communications facility—legal speak for a phone—to commit a felony drug offense. 

Penalties for conspiracy to possess, or possession with intent to distribute include a minimum 10 years and up to a maximum of life in prison, and fines of up to $10 million.

Distribution of meth comes with a minimum five years and up to a maximum of 40 years in prison, and a maximum $5 million fine.

Use of a phone to commit a felony drug offense comes with a maximum of four years in prison.

The men were indicted in federal court on Sept. 28, for their roles in the meth trafficking network they were involved in between March and September this year, according to a DoJ press release.

Also indicted—but not caught up in the raids—was Oscar Gonzalez Quevedo, 34, of Mexicali, Mexico. Officials said on Oct. 13 that he remains a fugitive.

Quevedo is wanted on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of meth and three counts of distribution of 500 grams or more of meth.

Officials said as a result of their investigation they arrested two additional men, one in Salinas and one in Greenfield.

Alejandro Dominguez Hernandez was charged with distribution of a controlled substance after he allegedly distributed one pound of meth to a confidential source on Oct. 5, in Salinas.

Ernesto Calderon Ramirez was arrested on the same charge after he attempted to dispose of meth and cocaine when agents arrived with a search warrant at a home in Greenfield where he was located.

The Peninsula Regional Violence and Narcotic Team (PRVNT)—made up of Monterey Peninsula police departments, the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office and the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office—assisted in the investigation.

Also assisting were the U.S. Marshals Service, the California Department of Corrections, the California Highway Patrol, among other agencies, as part of an extensive investigation by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force.