Several people were in custody Friday after they were named in a federal indictment alleging conspiracy in a ring that involved smuggling illegal drugs, including fentanyl, into a Riverside County jail.
The individuals named in the indictment totaled 10, accused of smuggling methamphetamine, heroin and fentanyl into the correctional system over a presumably monthslong span ending in fall 2022. While prosecutors alleged multiple drugs were involved in the smuggling scheme, the unsealed indictment charges the defendants with conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.
The alleged ringleader was identified as Andrew Jesus Ayala, 46, of Riverside, who is affiliated with an unnamed street gang, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Ayala was arrested Friday, along with two others. They coordinated with “three in-custody defendants who wanted to obtain narcotics, a group of facilitators on the street and an at least one drug mule who concealed narcotics in a body cavity,” according to prosecutors. The remaining indicted individuals were already in custody.
“Drug smuggling endangers the lives of inmates and the sheriff’s deputies who are sworn to guard them,” said Acting United States Attorney Joseph McNally. “I thank and commend our partners at the FBI and the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department for the time and attention they have paid to this urgent and important matter.”
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco also commended “sheriff’s investigators and FBI agents who worked tirelessly on this case to ensure those responsible were identified and brought to justice” and said, “The smuggling of drugs into our jails, particularly with the emergence of fentanyl, has dramatically increased inmate deaths and medical emergencies within our corrections division.”
Bianco added that “the investigation highlights the importance of the cooperation and working relationship with our federal partner law enforcement agencies when it comes to public safety.”
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the case was cracked when investigators intercepted and recorded phone conversations indicating plans to smuggle narcotics into one of the county’s five detention facilities.
The alleged conspirators “arranged temporary housing for the drug mules before and after they went into custody and delivered narcotics,” the agency stated.
Prosecutors identified one incident in late 2022 when a defendant attempted to smuggle 1.75 ounces of methamphetamine concealed inside his body.
“That shipment was intercepted when the contraband was seen on an X-ray machine as the defendant was brought into custody,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Profits from the sale of fentanyl-laced pills intended for distribution within the jail were estimated at 10 times the street value, prosecutors said.
Background information on the defendants was unavailable.
Public safety officials reported 503 confirmed fentanyl-related deaths countywide in 2022, compared with just under 400 in 2021. That is a 200-fold increase from 2016’s two reported fentanyl-related fatalities.
The powerful synthetic opioid is produced in overseas labs, mainly in China, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, which reported fentanyl is smuggled across the U.S.-Mexico border by cartels. It is 80-100 times more potent than morphine and can be combined with a wide range of prescription and street drugs. Users often have no way of knowing what they are ingesting. Consuming just two milligrams of fentanyl can cause death.
Opioid overdose is the leading cause of death for Americans between 18 and 44 years old, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.
If convicted the accused face mandatory sentences of five to 40 years in federal prison.
