A drug trafficking ring that mailed methamphetamine and cocaine from California to Pennsylvania, including Lower Bucks County, has been dismantled, federal authorities said.
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Aived Abel Garcia, 26, of Chula Vista, California, was sentenced last week to 70 months in prison and five years of supervised release for his role in the organization, said Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Nelson S.T. Thayer Jr.
U.S. District Court Judge Joshua D. Wolson handed down the sentence.
Miguel Aliaga, 37, of Whitehall, Pennsylvania, and Avrian Haywood Mack, 22, of Reading, Pennsylvania, were sentenced earlier this month to 60 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release.
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The defendants pleaded guilty late last year to drug trafficking charges after being indicted in January 2024.
Authorities said the organization mailed drugs from California to locations in Pennsylvania, including Reading, Quakertown Borough, Bensalem Township, Plymouth Township and Coopersburg.
Members of the organization then distributed the drugs to dealers, according to federal authorities.
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Garcia would travel from California to Pennsylvania to pick up packages, collect money, and deposit it into a bank account, authorities said.
Garcia, Mack and Aliaga then distributed bulk amounts of methamphetamine and cocaine, officials said.
The investigation, which began in early 2023, involved arrests and search warrants in Bucks, Berks and Lehigh counties, as well as Los Angeles and San Diego.
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In September 2023, the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office said guns and ammunition were found during the investigation.
“These defendants took part in a cross-country conspiracy that brought significant amounts of methamphetamine and cocaine from California to the Eastern District of Pennsylvania,” said Thayer.
The case was investigated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Philadelphia’s El Dorado Task Force, HSI Allentown, HSI Los Angeles, HSI San Diego, HSI LAX, Bucks County District Attorney’s Office Drug Strike Force, Quakertown Borough Police Department, Pennsylvania State Police, Richland Township Police Department, Liberty Mid-Atlantic High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, Berks County Detectives, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, Bensalem Police Department, Montgomery County Detectives, and the Orange County Probation Office.
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The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lizmar Bosques and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Gannon, who was on assignment from the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office.
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