Federal grand juries charged 15 people with drug and weapons crimes after raids led by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives early Wednesday morning, U.S. Attorney Joseph P. Russoniello announced Thursday.
Starting at 6 a.m., ATF, local law enforcement agencies and other federal agents arrested the suspects at homes in cities including San Francisco, Richmond, Oakland, Fremont and Redwood City.
The raids were part of two connected operations, Operation North Star and Operation Smack Down, which were part of an effort to cut off drug and weapon traffic connections to Mexico, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
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Authorities arrested nine people as part of Operation Smack Down, and they were all charged with conspiring to distribute and possessing with intent to distribute more than 1 kilogram of heroin and more than 50 grams of crystal methamphetamine.
Rafael Franco Perez, Joel Ceja Mendoza, Vicente Franco Escalera, Eduardo Mendez Juarez, Veronica Alvarado Gutierrez, Cornelio Mata Espinoza, Anthony Johnston, and Janetta Johnson were all individually arraigned in U.S. District Court in San Francisco on Wednesday.
The ninth person arrested in the operation, Josefina Rodriguez, was arraigned in Bakersfield on Thursday, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
In Operation North Star, authorities arrested six people on drug trafficking and weapons charges. They were also arraigned in U.S. District Court in San Francisco on Wednesday.
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