Five people have been charged for their roles in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and heroin manufactured in Mexico in and around Klamath Falls, Oregon, announced Billy J. Williams, U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.
On October 9, 2019, a coordinated, multi-agency law enforcement operation was conducted to dismantle the drug trafficking organization. Five federal search warrants were executed in Klamath Falls and Dorris. Investigators seized more than 37 pounds of methamphetamine, 440 grams of heroin, 14 firearms, and nearly $50,000 in cash and arrested all five defendants.
All five defendants made their first appearances in federal court Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark D. Clarke and were detained pending further proceedings. Conspiring to distribute and possessing with intent to distribute methamphetamine carries a maximum sentence of life in prison with a 10-year mandatory minimum.
Rogelio Gomez-Arias, 23, Irving Beas Ceballos, 34, Alexis Chavez-Franco, 22, and Domingo Matias-Hernandez, 36, are each charged by indictment with conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine between May and October 2018. Additionally, Ceballos is charged with possessing methamphetamine and heroin with the intent to distribute and Gomez-Arias, Chavez-Franco and Matias-Hernandez are charged with distributing methamphetamine.
Juan Rodriguez-Ramirez, 62, is charged by criminal complaint with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine.
All defendants are known to reside in and around Klamath Falls and Dorris, California.
This case was investigated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Basin Interagency Narcotics Enforcement Team (BINET) and the Siskiyou Unified Major Investigation Team (SUMIT). It is being prosecuted the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon.
An indictment and criminal complaint are only accusations of a crime, and defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.