SAN FRANCISCO (KRON)—Sixteen people have been charged following a federal criminal complaint accusing them of drug trafficking across the Northern and Eastern districts of California.
The U.S. Department of Justice claims they all trafficked methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine and prescription.
The court also says the 16 people maintained marijuana grow houses in San Francisco, Oakland, Antioch, Discovery Bay, Tracy and Delano.
Oscar Vladimir Escalante is accused of leading the operation and worked with an armorer to enhance their firearms and make them automatic. The complaint labeled what each person said in the conspiracy.
The court says these are the roles the other defendants played in the drug trafficking operation:
– Melina Escalante, Oscar’s wife, assisted him in laundering the proceeds of his drug business;
– Claudia Munoz, Oscar’s girlfriend, managed utilities and rental of real property for the grow houses;
– Jorge Gomez managed a number of the grow houses;
– David Vigil managed cultivation in a grow house and supplied methamphetamine;
– Alfredo Ortiz assisted in the operations at four grow houses;
– Julian Reayoung distributed heroin, methamphetamine, and marijuana;
– Christian Vanleer distributed heroin, cocaine, and alprazolam;
– Michael Vicochea operated a grow house and distributed methamphetamine;
– Ignacio Gonzalez managed a grow house and collected money from people who received drugs;
– Daniel Medina-Garay distributed heroin and functioned as a street-level dealer;
– Adam Abdelwahhab modified firearms to make them fully automatic and then supplied them to the conspirators;
– Louis Ramirez assisted in growing and distributing marijuana and concentrated cannabis;
– Joel Salcedo supplied heroin and methamphetamine to Oscar Escalante and Michael Vicochea;
– Sean Chin was involved with at least one marijuana grow; and
– James Hinkle assisted with growing and transporting marijuana plants.