SAN JOSE — A solo-vehicle accident 1,100 miles from the Bay Area was the first domino to fall in an investigation that led federal agents to a Santa Clara warehouse believed to be an “active methamphetamine conversion site,” court records show.
On Aug. 3, the Drug Enforcement Administration raided a warehouse on the 600 block of Martin Avenue in Santa Clara, where they found “processed and unprocessed” methamphetamine as well as the makings of a laboratory designed to convert it from liquid to crystal form, according to recently unsealed court documents. So far, one person — Marco Antonio Manriquez — has been charged in connection with the investigation, but several more suspects were identified in the court filings.
The investigation began July 1, in Rawlins, Wyoming, where a car containing 40 pounds of methamphetamine crashed on Interstate 80, according to the criminal complaint. A Rawlins officer responded to the collision and told the car’s two occupants, both Bay Area residents, he was going to search the car, when one admitted a large amount of drugs was hidden inside.
One of the vehicle’s occupants ultimately became a confidential source whose name has been left out of public court filings. Authorities say the informant is of “unknown reliability” but that much of the information he or she provided was verified in the ensuing investigation.
The informant told authorities that the drugs had been picked up from the Martin Avenue warehouse, which was staffed with an in-house “cook” in charge of crystalizing shipments of methamphetamine that had been smuggled to the area, then repackaging them for distribution throughout California and the United States. The informant identified the head of the drug ring by name, and also alleged that Manriquez played a role in distributing drugs, according to the complaint.
The DEA conducted surveillance at the warehouse on Aug. 2, and watched the suspected leader of the drug ring and Manriquez leave the area with a “white bag with honey bee emblems” and drive in a red Nissan Altima to Milpitas, where they handed the bag to the driver of a Chevrolet Equinox. From there, agents tipped off the California Highway Patrol, which pulled over the Equinox in Benicia and found 24 pounds of methamphetamine inside the bag, according to the complaint.
Manriquez and the alleged leader of the drug ring — who is referred to only as “Co-Conspirator One” in court records — were arrested during the DEA raid on the warehouse.
Manriquez was appointed an attorney at an Aug. 5 court hearing. He has not yet entered a plea and the next court date has been set for Aug. 15, records show.
Source: www.mercurynews.com