Brother, Sister Indicted on Drug Charges

LOS ANGELES — A Costa Mesa brother and sister accused of running a nationwide drug trafficking ring were indicted Friday by a federal grand jury, officials announced.

The amount of drugs seized during the investigation represents one of the largest “speed” prosecutions by federal authorities in Los Angeles, officials said.

The five-count indictment accuses Everado Fernandez-Valencia, 34, and his sister, Guadalupe Fernandez-Valencia, 36, of repeatedly trying to deliver methamphetamine and amphetamine to their cousin, a suspected drug dealer in Atlanta.

A driver was hired to take the drugs to Georgia twice in recent weeks, said police, who arrested the alleged co-conspirators and seized the narcotics en route.

Detectives with the Southern California Drug Task Force had been investigating the alleged drug ring for months, using court-authorized wiretaps of the suspects’ residential and cellular telephones, Assistant U.S. Atty. Rob B. Villeza said.

Officials said the Costa Mesa defendants also are accused of running a “stash house” in Riverside, where they kept large amounts of narcotics before delivery. During a recent search, police said they found about 29 1/2 kilograms of methamphetamine buried in the backyard, along with 320 kilograms of marijuana and heroin.

The indictment charges two Riverside men, Javier Miranda, 20, and Alfredo Nunez, whose age was not available, with working for the Fernandez-Valencias at the Riverside house.