SALINAS — Law enforcement officials from the Salinas Police Department and other agencies announced Thursday they seized drugs, firearms and money in connection with NorCal Transportation, a company at the center of an investigation into illegal narcotics sales that culminated in the arrests of eight suspects.
More than 170 law enforcement personnel assisted in the execution of multiple search warrants and assisted in the apprehension of the suspects identified in the investigation, leading to charges including conspiracy to transport and distribute narcotics, firearms possession, gang enhancements and conspiracy to commit murder.
The investigation yielded about 60 pounds of methamphetamine, five pounds of heroin, a pound and a half of cocaine and 25,000 fentanyl pills along with nine firearms, two bank accounts, a NorCal Transportation tractor-trailer and about $90,000 in cash and cashier’s checks. Police say all items seized are believed to be proceeds from illegal narcotics sales.
The Salinas Police Department Investigations Unit, the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office, Salinas Violence Suppression Task Force and Homeland Security Investigations Monterey Office, have been conducting the ongoing investigation into NorCal Transportation, which is suspected of operating a drug trafficking organization with the specific intent to transport and distribute narcotics between Yuma, Arizona, and Salinas.
The investigation revealed that NorCal Transportation was directly connected to the Sinaloa Cartel and transporting narcotics in conjunction with Norteño gang leaders.
On Sept. 9, law enforcement officials executed five search warrants and arrested four individuals, while Homeland Security Investigations in Arizona assisted with executing four search warrants, leading to the arrest of four individuals.
The suspects arrested in California were booked into Monterey County Jail and those arrested in Arizona were booked into the Yuma County Jail.
Salinas police and Homeland Security in Monterey were assisted by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the FBI, California State Parole, Monterey County Sheriff’s Office, California Highway Patrol, Arizona Department of Public Safety, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, San Benito County Sheriff’s Office, San Benito County Probation Department, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Yuma County Sheriff’s Office, Yuma County Narcotics Task Force, and the Yuma Police Department.
