A federal indictment unsealed Tuesday brought charges against 27 members of an alleged meth smuggling operation out of Pomona and Ontario, California. In a predawn raid, federal and local agencies arrested 16 of the indicted defendants. Officials are calling the bust “Operation Crystal Light.”
A few additional defendants were already in custody on separate charges and four are fugitives.
Authorities say Ricardo Curiel would purchase meth from a supplier in Mexico and arrange its shipment to the U.S., where another defendant, Chris Cardenas, would receive the shipment and direct it to a stash house in Ontario.