JAMAICANS CAUGHT UP IN BIG DRUG TRAFFICKING RING

Federal authorities say they have dismantled an international drug ring trafficking cocaine from Mexico into Pittsburgh that began with the seizure of a cocaine package by U.S. postal service agents in Pittsburgh two years ago.

Twenty-seven members of the alleged ring have been indicted by a grand jury following a wiretap investigation dubbed “Operation Tripwire.”

The defendants were charged under seal on Aug. 25 in Pittsburgh and the case was unsealed Friday in U.S. District Court.

The investigation involved federal, state and local agencies and identified the organization’s national network and operations in Los Angeles, Tucson, Ariz., and Western Pennsylvania.

“This investigation dismantled a large-scale drug trafficking pipeline that brought major quantities of cocaine from Mexican cartels, into the United States through California and Arizona, and across the country to the streets of Pittsburgh,” U.S. Attorney Scott Brady said.

The investigation, led by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, began shortly after Allegheny County was designated as a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area in 2018. HIDTA designations, coordinated through the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, allow for more resources to combat drug trafficking.

Postal service agents said the case started when a USPS OIG agent in Pittsburgh identified a local address that was receiving large volumes of suspicious packages from California. He secured a federal search warrant for one of the packages and found four kilos of cocaine inside.

From there, agents worked to identify other ring members across the United States. The lead defendant is identified as Jamaal Maragh, 38, of Turtle Creek, who according to DEA supplied cocaine in Western Pennsylvania. He in turn was supplied from contacts in Los Angeles who got their supply from Mexican cartel members.

Mr. Brady said the investigation is the largest to date since Allegheny, Washington and Beaver counties were designated as a HIDTA. That brought in $3 million for local law enforcement partnering with federal agents and allowed the U.S. attorney’s office to set up eight task forces to combat drug dealers.

Investigators have seen an increase in Mexican cartel activity in the Pittsburgh region and Mr. Brady said the goal of his office is to dismantle drug-trafficking organizations top to bottom.

“We want to rip this weed out by its roots,” he said.

The Operation Tripwire case involved seven months of wiretaps and resulted in the seizure this week of $500,000 in cash and 50 kilos of cocaine, but there had been other major seizures over the months in various locations. Mr. Brady said $600,000 had been previously seized after a traffic stop in California and 27 kilos of cocaine had been recovered from a truck traveling cross-country.

All told, he said, agents seized 90 kilos of coke and $1.3 million cash during the investigation.

Prosecutors have moved to forfeit about $846,000 in drug proceeds.

The indictment charges the 27 defendants with conspiracy to distribute cocaine in Western Pennsylvania and elsewhere from October 2018 to June of this year.

These are the people charged:

Jamaal Maragh, 38, of Turtle Creek; Noel Perez Aguilar, 48, of Los Angeles; Juan Carlos Alejandres, 26, of Los Angeles; Dino Aquiline, 61, of Pittsburgh; Ramon S. Araiza-Vega, 27, of Rio Rico, Ariz.; Jose D. Delosrios Benitez, 30, of Inglewood, Calif.; Johnny Bravo Jr., 32, of Los Angeles; Lucien Burton, 50, of Los Angeles; Keith L. Clark, 49, of Pittsburgh; Antonio Egurrola-Gamboa, 32, of Tucson, Ariz.; Roberto Egurrola-Vasquez, 32, of Tucson; Sherita James, 34, of McKees Rocks; Howard E. Johnson III, 30, of Pittsburgh; Alexis A. Perez Lopez, 44, of Los Angeles; Clayton F. Manning, 43, of Los Angeles; John W. Montgomery, 32, of Tarentum; Manuel J. Murrietta, 52, of Nogales, Ariz.; Patricia Murrietta, 49, of Nogales, Ariz.; Rachel M. Novalesi, 37, of Rochester, Beaver County; Justo Edgardo Parra Jr., 28, of Nogales, Ariz.; Robert E. Reed II, 60, of Verona; Odean Samuels, 32, of Canoga Park, Calif.; Manuel Silvestre, 49, of Los Angeles; Kevin Thomas Jr., 33, of Pittsburgh; Steven L. Trent Jr., 50, of Penn Hills; Darrick Watkins, 50, of Los Angeles; and Kressmore J. Watson, 33, of Los Angeles.