Mexican Drug Cartel stopped in West Virginia for trafficking fentanyl and cocaine out of an autobody shop

Two drug trafficking organizations, including one with ties to the Sinaloa Drug Cartel, have been dismantled after a federal grand jury indicted twenty-five people.

United States Attorney William Ihlenfeld announced charges against individuals who were operating a large-scale fentanyl and cocaine trafficking operation out of an autobody shop in Martinsburg, West Virginia.

The group is alleged to have imported significant amounts of drugs from Puerto Rico through the U.S. Postal Service as well as from a source connected to the Sinaloa Cartel. Saul Alexi Padilla-Garcia, age 34, of Shepherdstown, West Virginia, and seventeen others have been charged after an investigation that included close coordination with federal law enforcement agents in Chicago and Northern California.

“This case underscores the scope of the threat posed by Mexican drug cartels to the people of West Virginia,” said U.S. Attorney Ihlenfeld. “These transnational organizations will operate anywhere that there is profit to be made, including here in our region. Fortunately, we have one of the best drug task forces in the country to push back against dangerous groups like this one.”

In addition to Padilla-Garcia, those charged include:

• Juan Carlos Suarez-Lugo, age 55, from Martinsburg, West Virginia;
• Victor Jose Canales, 45, hometown unknown;
• Alexis Alvarado, 37, Ranson, West Virginia;
• Mauricio Antonio Alvarado-Flores, age 37, hometown unknown;
• Olvin Luis-Melendez Robles, age unknown, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania;
• Mario Pellot-Acevedo, 58, Martinsburg, West Virginia;
• Eddi Heredia Cruz, 27, Shepherdstown, West Virginia;
• Jose Alberto Camarena Rocha, 30, California;
• Manuel Sanchez Gomez, 37, California;
• Angel Lopez, 43, of Fresno, California;
• Sergio Rubio Pacheco, 33, Fresno, California;
• Moises Marrero, 39, of Ranson, West Virginia;
• James Reyes, 54, of Martinsburg, West Virginia;
• David Reyes, 60, hometown unknown;
• Charles Edward Branson, 53, Martinsburg, West Virginia;
• Danny William Mendez Delacruz, 41, Martinsburg, West Virginia; and
• Yan Lionel Diaz-Cruz, 27, Ranson, West Virginia.

The arrests are the culmination of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation that began in 2023. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach.

Law enforcement arrested 15 today and are still searching for Gomez, Melendez-Robles, and Diaz-Cruz.

In a separate case, seven people are facing charges after investigators seized nearly 40,000 fentanyl pills and 12 firearms earlier this year in Berkeley County. According to the indictment, the individuals involved had a stash house on Shepherdstown Road in Martinsburg where they stored their drugs and guns. Those indicted include:

• Delano Alan Butler, 43, of Martinsburg, West Virginia;
• Faith Elizabeth Small, 22, Hagerstown, Maryland;
• Jwan Martine Smith, 38, Martinsburg, West Virginia;
• Geraldine Lagata Hill, 43, Stephens, Virginia;
• Cody Aaron Ashby, 32, Martinsburg, West Virginia;
• Crystal Lyn Lewis, 34, Martinsburg, West Virginia; and
• Matthew James Elsea, 42, Martinsburg, West Virginia.

Six of the defendants were taken into custody. Officers are still searching for Smith

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