{"id":79685,"date":"2025-12-03T12:09:37","date_gmt":"2025-12-03T12:09:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/79685\/"},"modified":"2025-12-03T12:09:37","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T12:09:37","slug":"deputies-dismantle-major-california-drug-trafficking-ring-based-in-yuba-county-14-arrests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/79685\/","title":{"rendered":"Deputies dismantle major California drug trafficking ring based in Yuba County, 14 arrests"},"content":{"rendered":"

(FOX40.COM) \u2014 A year-long undercover operation known as \u2018Operation Crystal River\u2019 recently led to the dismantling of a major statewide drug trafficking ring that was based in Yuba County.
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The investigation began in July of 2024, according to the Yuba County Sheriff\u2019s Office. At the time, law enforcement was looking into Jose Garcia-Avalos of Yuba City, who is accused of being \u201ca key distributor of large quantities of controlled substances throughout Yuba County and across California.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"<em>A<\/a><\/p>\n

A massive drug bust in Northern California known as \u2018Operation Crystal River\u2019 resulted in 14 arrests and the seizure of more than 500 pounds of drugs.\/YCSO<\/p>\n

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After a year of investigation, YCSO said it uncovered multiple drug trafficking organizations tied to Garcia Avalos. According to YCSO, the organizations were linked to the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.<\/p>\n

In October 2025, law enforcement executed multiple federal search warrants simultaneously across Yuba, Sutter, and Butte counties. This operation resulted in the arrest of 14 individuals on federal drug trafficking charges.<\/p>\n

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Operation Crystal River arrests<\/p>\n

\u2022 Jose Garcia-Avalos, 36, of Yuba City
\u2022 Octavio Hinojosa-Guzman, 43, of Yuba City
\u2022 Elmer Montiel-Romero, 21, of Yuba City
\u2022 Hector De Jesus, Mejia-Velasquez, 25, of Yuba City
\u2022 Juan Munoz-Guzman, 28, of Yuba City
\u2022 Leonel Abrego, 38, of Live Oak
\u2022 Lloyd Steve Lister, 53, of Yuba City
\u2022 Lyle Wayne Cooper, 53, of Olivehurst
\u2022 Brandi Emerson, 32, of Marysville
\u2022 Leon James Whiteley, 50, of Olivehurst
\u2022 Brian Sedgwick, 63, of Marysville
\u2022 Vanessa Flores-Gomez, 27, of Marysville
\u2022 Jessica Pack, 36, of Weaverville
\u2022 Coy Mobley, 53, of Weaverville<\/p>\n

At the conclusion of the investigation, law enforcement seized more than 500 pounds of
methamphetamine and about 135,000 counterfeit M-30 Oxycodone pills
containing fentanyl, according to YCSO.<\/p>\n

Investigators said they also found and dismantled a methamphetamine
conversion laboratory operating in Southern California.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX40 News. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(FOX40.COM) \u2014 A year-long undercover operation known as \u2018Operation Crystal River\u2019 recently led to the dismantling of a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":79686,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8,14660,45722,45723,45721,16383,41287],"class_list":{"0":"post-79685","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-california","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-california-headlines","10":"tag-california-news","11":"tag-drug-trafficking","12":"tag-jose-garcia-avalos","13":"tag-undercover-operation","14":"tag-ycso","15":"tag-yuba-city","16":"tag-yuba-county"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79685"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79685\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}