Brown Announces Seizure of 200 Pounds Of Methamphetamine and Heroin

LOS ANGELES – Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced that state narcotics agents seized 119 pounds of ice methamphetamine and 85 pounds of heroin in two separate operations in Southern California last night.

The two drug busts by Brown’s Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement also netted two pounds of cocaine and more than $33,000 in cash. Three suspects are in custody: Marco Alejo, 44, of Moreno Valley, Jorge Gonzalez, 39, of Torrance, and Sarah Magdalena Altamirano, 40, of Torrance.

“We’ve been fighting to keep dangerous, addictive drugs like methamphetamine and heroin off our streets,” said Brown. “Last night’s drug busts send another unequivocal message that California will do everything it can to arrest and lock up these callous purveyors of death and addiction.”

In last night’s raids, agents served a search warrant at 1507 South Palmetto Street in Ontario. During the subsequent search, agents discovered 81 pounds of methamphetamine hidden in a closet in an upstairs bedroom. Marco Alejo was seen leaving the residence and was later detained by police and placed under arrest.

A few hours later, agents placed a home at 1018 West 223rd Street in Torrance under surveillance. When Jorge Gonzalez and his wife, Sarah Magdalena Altamirano, left the home in a pick-up truck, investigators followed. Officers stopped and searched their vehicle, discovering a suitcase containing 39 cellophane-wrapped one-pound packages of brown powder heroin. Both Gonzalez and his wife Altamirano were arrested.

Investigators then searched their residence and found approximately 46 pounds of black tar heroin, 38 pounds of ice methamphetamine, 2 pounds of cocaine and more than $33,000 in cash.

Alejo, Gonzalez and Altamirano are being held on $1 million bail.

State agents were joined in the raids by the Los Angeles Interagency Metropolitan Police Apprehension Crime Task Force (L.A. IMPACT), Ontario Police Department, Pomona Police Department and California Highway Patrol.