3 arrested in California in drug trafficking, money laundering investigation

TAMPA, Fla. — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents arrested three significant targets Tuesday in an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation in California.

Hugo Adalberto Adrian Ramirez, 42, of Ontario, California, Edgar Hurtado-Ramirez, 45, of Ontario, and Luis Fernando Mancillas Medina, 49, of Los Angeles, have been charged in Florida with conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Each faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years' imprisonment, up to life, on the drug charge and a maximum of 20 years in federal prison on the money laundering charge. A related indictment charging Maria Leticia-Hernandez, 23, of Ontario, with conspiracy to commit money laundering was also unsealed today; she faces up to 20 years in federal prison.

Ramirez, Medina, and Leticia-Hernandez were arrested yesterday, in the Los Angeles area, in conjunction with the arrests of 12 other co-conspirators throughout California in a related case. Hurtado-Ramirez is a fugitive. The San Diego-based OCDETF investigation was led by the Bureau of Land Management and is being prosecuted by the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California.   

These arrests are the latest in an investigation that has to date netted 23 convictions in the Middle District of Florida (MDFL) for drug trafficking, money laundering and firearm offenses. According to court documents, the investigation targeted a nationwide drug trafficking and money laundering organization based in California. The organization shipped cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana from California to locations throughout the United States, including the MDFL. The drugs were shipped via Federal Express, United Parcel Service and the United States Postal Service. They were also transported in automobiles that had been loaded on car haulers.

Co-conspirators retrieved packages of cocaine at various times in the MDFL, distributed the narcotics to lower level drug distributors in Tampa, St. Petersburg and elsewhere, and then arranged for drug proceeds to be returned to California via money couriers, wire transfers, and bank deposits. Co-conspirators used drug proceeds that had been deposited into various bank accounts to purchase items such as airline tickets, rental cars and hotel rooms for organization members.

The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking, weapons trafficking, and money laundering organizations, and those primarily responsible for the nation's illegal drug supply.