A lengthy multi-agency investigation has ended with the arrest of 29 people on drug-trafficking, conspiracy and gun-related charges — including a woman with ties to the Mexican Mafia and a suspected Nazi sympathizer, officials said.
More than 15,000 suspected fentanyl pills, 990 grams of fentanyl, 10 pounds of methamphetamine, 7 pounds of heroin, 112 pounds of marijuana, 13 guns and $60,000 in cash were seized from criminals released from Baker Street gangs on Thursday. US Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of California.
“It is precisely this type of coordinated effort that allows us to most effectively protect our communities and hold gang members accountable,” US Attorney Philip A. Talbert said in the release.
KTLA sister station KGET reported that the Bakersfield Police Department, Kern County Sheriff’s Office and Homeland Security Investigations were involved.
Drug purchases monitored by law enforcement and wiretaps led to the arrests after an 18-month investigation, according to court filings.
Bakersfield residents facing federal charges are William Arthur Pausch, 43; Rosa Fernandez, 43; Dale Vincent Perez, 39; Dale Wesley Hubbard, 49; Darlene Crystal Viera, 40; Manuel Yance, 25; George Louis Yance, 28; Luis Mauricio Castenon, 33; David Garcia, 35; and Bryan Steven Reyes, 28. Also facing federal charges are Timothy Robert Hingston, 39, of North Hollywood, and Spender Matthew Hopper, 35, of Montrose.
In federal documents, a confidential informant reported that Fernandez, who goes by “Madrina,” had ties to the Mexican Mafia and was distributing drugs in the Bakersfield area. The informant said Fernandez was also affiliated with the East Side Bakers Street Gang.
Pausch is a suspected member of the East Side Bakers, who was in business with Fernandez, according to court filings.
According to the filings, the wiretap helped federal agents identify Hingston, Hopper and Perez as co-conspirators. Authorities say Hingston was a suspected Nazi sympathizer and white supremacist who supplied Pausch with drugs, Hopper delivered drugs from Los Angeles to Bakersfield, and Perez Sureno was a gang member.
After Hingston’s arrest in August after the BPD seized the drugs, Pausch sent Hingston a text asking him to forgive the debt, according to the filing.
Hingston texted back that he had to pay “cartel people.”
“I told them I don’t hang around (expletive) with cartel people and I don’t pay (expletive),” Kingston wrote, according to the filings. “That’s suicide!!!”
Another defendant, Reyes, is known as the “Illuminati” and “a member of the Mexican Mafia prison gang-affiliated Varrio Bakers gang, who distributes narcotics and firearms,” โโthe filings say. Authorities said Luis Mauricio Castenon, known as “Damage,” had ties to the Big Hazards Sureno street gang and was also suspected of ties to the Mexican Mafia.
