DEA sting pops suspects, 100 pounds of Mexican meth

EL PASO, Texas ( Border Report ) – A confidential informant, in communication with a Mexican drug trafficker, has assisted the Drug Enforcement Administration in removing 100 pounds of methamphetamine from the streets of San Diego. This brave act led to the arrest of two men on drug charges.

According to documents filed Sept. 3 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, the seizure and arrests took place at a grocery store parking lot on the 5600 block of Mission Center Road in San Diego during a “buy-bust” operation.

The enforcement action began brewing after the DEA confidential source made a deal with the unnamed trafficker calling from a number in Mexico to purchase the 100 pounds of meth at a wholesale price of $70,000.

Court records reveal a meticulously planned DEA task force operation, which included the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. They set up surveillance at the drop-off point chosen by the trafficker. Law enforcement provided a vehicle to the informant, who received instructions from the trafficker through phone calls and the WhatsApp messaging app.

The confidential source was approached by a silver Chevrolet Silverado and a silver Nissan Rogue driving in tandem. A complaint affidavit alleges Josue Martinez got off the Silverado and engaged the informant in conversation while Daniel Mokay Lopez remained in the Nissan as a “lookout.”

Martinez got into the informant’s vehicle, which drove toward an unmarked car, where a female DEA agent “flashed” the $70,000 in cash from a shopping bag. Records show the two males drove back toward the Nissan, and Martinez opened the trunk to reveal a brown suitcase and a gray duffel bag filled with plastic-wrapped packages.

The informant made an ‘arrest signal,’ and the highly professional task force officers swiftly and effectively swarmed the scene, taking everyone into custody, as records show.

In separate interviews, Martinez and Mokay allegedly admitted to transporting the drugs from a safe house to the drop-off point. Neither one admitted ownership and said they were paid by an unnamed “coordinator” for their participation.

The two face a preliminary hearing on Sept. 17 in a federal courtroom in San Diego on felony charges of conspiracy to possess and distribute a controlled substance.

There’s no record of the Mexican trafficker being arrested yet.

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