Multiple people snared in federal probe into drug smuggling at RivCo lockup

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KESQ) - Multiple people were arrested today after being named in a federal indictment alleging conspiracy in a ring that involved smuggling controlled substances, including fentanyl, into the Riverside County correctional system.

A total of 10 individuals were named in the indictment, which alleged the defendants engaged in smuggling substances into the correctional system over a presumably months-long span ending in the fall of 2022. The specific charges are conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and possession of methamphetamine for distribution.

The alleged ringleader was identified as 46-year-old Andrew Jesus Ayala of Riverside, affiliated with an unspecified street gang, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Ayala was taken into custody Friday, along with two others. They coordinated with ``three in-custody defendants who wanted to obtain narcotics, a group of facilitators on the street and an at least one drug mule who concealed narcotics in a body cavity,'' the government said in a statement.

"The smuggling of drugs into our jails, particularly with the emergence of fentanyl, has dramatically increased inmate deaths and medical emergencies within our corrections division,'' Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said. "I commend the sheriff's investigators and FBI agents who worked tirelessly on this case to ensure those responsible were identified and brought to justice."

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, the case was cracked when investigators intercepted and recorded phone conversations indicating plans to smuggle narcotics into one of the county's five detention facilities.  

The alleged conspirators "arranged temporary housing for the drug mules before and after they went into custody and delivered narcotics," the agency stated.

"In one incident in late 2022, a defendant attempted to smuggle one and three-quarters ounces of methamphetamine concealed inside his body, but that shipment was intercepted when the contraband was seen on an X-ray machine as the defendant was brought into custody."

Fentanyl intended for distribution inside the jail was expected to net 10 times its street value, prosecutors said.   

Background information on the defendants was unavailable.