I-Team Exclusive: Inside Coachella Valley raid Operation ‘Narco Navigator’

A large multi-agency crackdown on illegal drugs in the Valley and beyond. Operation Narco Navigator, led by the Drug Enforcement Administration, targeting a drug transportation cell with most of the raids today in the city of Coachella.

Sixteen Federal Indictments were issued. Ten locations were targeted and 11 people were taken into custody today. The two-year investigation led to the involvement of six law enforcement agencies working together to put a local drug transportation cell out of business.

It began early this morning at 4 a.m. sharp, law enforcement from across Southern California gathered for a briefing of Operation Narco Navigator led by the Drug Enforcement Administration. This is a multi-year effort working to shut down a high-level drug trafficking cell in the Coachella Valley that’s been transporting large amounts of methamphetamine and other drugs from Mexico.

Highly-trained law enforcement personnel assembled at the Palm Springs Airport before dawn in preparation for the raids, then fanned out from Palm Springs to Coachella and beyond.

In addition to today’s arrests, three defendants were already in custody. Five defendants are at large, with three of those thought to be in Mexico.

WATCH: Early morning police raids in Coachella

According to DEA Assistant Special Agent in Charge, Frank Pepper, “This is a heck of a hit for here in the Coachella Valley allowing us to get a transportation cell off the streets and also having an effect of removing some firearms that were part of the overall investigation.”

Special Agent Pepper thanks more than a hundred law enforcement officials, from six agencies, who teamed up to capture known drug dealers as a part of Operation Narco Navigator. We were there as highly-trained law enforcement personnel assembled at the Palm Springs Airport before dawn in preparation for the raids, then fanned out from Palm Springs to Coachella and beyond.

“This cell was transporting large amounts of methamphetamine from Mexico into the Coachella Valley and customers or resellers were purchasing it and they were sending it across the United States,” according to DEA Supervisory Special Agent Dan Dobas.

Captured today, According to the DEA, the head of the local drug ring, Raul Lopez Valenzuela. Only our cameras rolling as he was captured in Coachella. This isn’t the first time this drug cell has been targeted by police.

“Throughout the course of the investigation we’ve seized approximately 54 pounds of meth, 4 guns, 3 were stolen approximately 30 thousand dollars in US cash, roughly 60 grams of heroin and assorted street drugs,” says Special Agent Dobas.

The operation doesn’t stop here. Even though this particular cell has been dismantled, the DEA will continue to pursue leads. Special Agent Dobas reiterated the DEA has a large presence here in the Coachella Valley.

“This is a huge team effort and this is what DEA does everyday we work with our partners and days like today when it acculminates into a takedown like this it’s a great opportunity to showcase what we can do,” says Asst. Special Agent in Charge, Pepper.

The investigation taking drugs, guns and criminals out of our neighborhoods.

Operation Narco Navigator by the numbers:

6 agencies, involving federal, state, county and local law enforcement personnel 16 indictments: 14 men, 2 women 10 locations targeted 54 pounds of meth seized 57 grams of heroin seized $29,900 seized 4 guns, 3 of which were stolen

The indictments

Operation “Narco Navigator” targeted a network of distribution that officials say all led to a Coachella man, who investigators say was sending drugs to sellers and customers both locally and in other states.

Federal authorities say 15 defendants named in the main indictment are accused of participating in “a consipiracy to distribute methamphetamine and to possess with the intent ot distribute methamphetamine.” They are identified as:

Raul Lopez-Valenzuela, 42, of Coachella, an illegal alien and the alleged leader of the drug trafficking organization; Balbino Valenzuela-Verdugo, also known as “Manuel,” 42, of Coachella, an illegal alien who is currently a fugitive and who allegedly was the primary distributor for the drug ring; Antonio Zamora, also known as “Foca,” 30, of Coachella, who currently is a fugitive and allegedly was a supplier of narcotics for the drug organization – including approximately 16 pounds of methamphetamine seized in 2015 and 2016; Jesus Garcia, also known as “Chuy,” 37, of Coachella, who allegedly was another supplier of narcotics to the Lopez-Valenzuela organization; Ernesto Alonzo Flores, also known as “Negro,” 36, of Coachella, another person who allegedly supplied narcotics to the drug ring – including approximately 24 pounds of methamphetamine seized from Valenzuela-Verdugo in 2016; Jesus Ramirez Granados, also known as “Chuy2,” 35, of Coachella, an illegal alien who allegedly distributed narcotics on behalf of the Lopez-Valenzuela drug trafficking organization; Daniel Kenneth Dalpezzo, 48, of Yucca Valley, who allegedly was a significant customer of the drug ring, purchasing large quantities of methamphetamine for further distribution; Charmaine Raygina Florio, 53, of Cathedral City, who is Dalpezzo’s former wife and allegedly purchased methamphetamine from the drug ring along with Dalpezzo; Tracy Cross, 45, of Palm Desert, who was already in custody; Alejandro Jose Rojas, 36, of Palm Springs, who was already in custody; Anthony Osteen, 38, of La Mesa, who allegedly worked with Rojas to coordinate obtaining narcotics; Roland Roe, 46, of Palm Springs, who was already in custody and who allegedly arranged for the supply of narcotics for at least one other defendant; Warren Barry, 54, of La Quinta, currently a fugitive, who allegedly was a courier for Lopez-Valenzuela, who was carrying a load of more than 10 pounds of methamphetamine that was seized by law enforcement authorities in late 2015 in Nebraska; Jason Sills, 37, of Palm Springs, an alleged distributor of narcotics in the Coachella Valley; and Ruben Arredondo-Diaz, 53, of Lexington, Nebraska, who is currently a fugitive and who allegedly arranged the distribution of drugs in Nebraska.

Another indictment names Sills and Salvador Lemus Ramos, also known as “Eddie.” Ramos is currently a fugitive, according to officials. That indictment ” describes a transaction in late 2015 in Cathedral City involving two pounds of methamphetamine where the buyer was an undercover DEA agent,” according to officials.

Watch “Operation Narco Navigator” tonight at 5:00 and 6:00 on News Channel 3.

The DEA operation was assisted by personnel from the following agencies: United States Border Patrol; the Palm Springs Police Department; the Palm Springs Fire Department; the Coachella Valley Narcotics Task Force; the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department; U.S. Customs and Border Protection; the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Marshal’s Service; the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation; the California Highway Patrol; the Riverside County District Attorney’s Gang Impact Team; and the Nebraska State Patrol.