DELANO — Two men were arrested in what police are calling a major bust of a large scale drug trafficking organization that was transporting hundreds of pounds of methamphetamine and heroin from Mexico to Kern County, Sacramento and Phoenix, Arizona.
Leobaldo Martinez Carranza, 22 and 26-year-old Leonel Valdez Castro, both of Delano, were booked into the Kern County Jail on various drug related charges.
Meanwhile, 39-year-old Jose Manuel Valdez Torres, who is suspected of maintaining homes in each city and coordinating the exchange of drugs and money, is still at large.
According to the Kern County Sheriff’s Office, Torres is believed to have fled to Mexico with his wife. The arrests were the result of a six-month investigation that concluded with multiple search warrants being served in the cities of Delano, Sacramento, and Phoenix on June 25.
Investigators said that during their investigation they arrested one and seized five pounds of methamphetamine, $10,000 in US currency, one handgun and one assault rifle in Phoenix. While seven suspects were arrested and four pounds of methamphetamine, two pounds of heroin, $150,000 in US currency, one shotgun, two rifles, four handguns, and one assault rifle were seized in Sacramento.
In Delano detectives found 40 pounds of methamphetamine, one half pound of heroin and $50,000 in US currency.
