Dope Dealers Dont Play,Caesar Gallegos Allegedly Stole 20lbs Of Meth And Was Killed

[Whisper]

Meth Crime is Tied to a Murder in Merced County
Gustine homicide details revealed

MERCED — That a drug rip-off led to a kidnapping, execution and the seizure of about 20 pounds of meth were a few of the details related to a Gustine homicide that were released Friday by the Merced County Sheriff's Department.
Authorities are investigating last week's slaying of 34-year-old Cesar Gallegos, whose body was found Oct. 6 in an orchard near Highway 33 and Borba Road.
Sheriff Mark Pazin said at a news conference that the investigation into Gallegos' killing led law enforcement officials to make several arrests in Iowa and Southern California.
Detectives believe Gallegos was executed in the orchard after he and at least three others had ripped off a north Merced County methamphetamine lab of about 20 pounds of meth, Pazin said.
A break in the case happened after detectives learned Gallegos' wife reported to the Gustine Police Department that gunmen had come to the couple's home about 7 a.m. Oct. 6 and kidnapped him.
Detectives determined Gallegos was killed in retaliation for stealing the meth. After learning of Gallegos' death, officials said, his cohorts in the theft fled to the Los Angeles area.
Sheriff's detectives learned one of the suspects in Gallegos' slaying, 32-year-old Jose Ortiz, had fled to Iowa. Detectives notified the Des Moines Police Department, and Ortiz was taken into custody there on a homicide warrant Thursday afternoon.
"We don't know if he had family there, or if it was just a safe harbor," Pazin said.

Detectives are searching for others in connection with Gallegos' killing.
Tuesday, sheriff's detectives went to Hollywood and arrested three men suspected of being Gallegos' accomplices in the drug theft: Arturo Plado, 23, Epifanio Vargas, 27, and Damian Perez, 33.
The arrests were made with the help of the Los Angeles Interagency Metropolitan Police Apprehension Crime Task Force. The state's Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement also assisted in the investigation.
During the investigation, deputies seized 20 pounds of meth in Hollywood and Merced County, which they say was stolen from the north county lab. They also confiscated 2 pounds of marijuana.
[...]

http://www.modbee.com/2010/10/15/138...srevealed.html


Iowa arrest connected to Gustine homicide, sheriff says
Deputies seize 20 pounds of meth during investigation

A drug rip-off that led to a kidnapping, execution and the seizure of about 20 pounds of methamphetamine.
Those were just a few details released Friday by Merced County Sheriff's deputies in their investigation into last week's slaying of 34-year-old Cesar Gallegos outside Gustine. His body was found in an orchard near Highway 33 and Borba Road Oct. 6.
Sheriff Mark Pazin said at a news conference the investigation into Gallegos' killing led law enforcement to make several arrests in Iowa and Southern California.
Detectives believe Gallegos was murdered after he and at least three other suspects had ripped off a methamphetamine lab in north Merced County of about 20 pounds of meth, Pazin said.
A major break in the case happened after Gallegos' wife reported to law enforcement that gunmen had come to the couple's home and kidnapped him. Detectives determined Gallegos was killed in retaliation for stealing the meth. After learning of Gallegos' death, his cohorts in the theft fled to the Los Angeles area.
Merced County Sheriff's detectives learned one of Gallegos' alleged killers, 32-year-old Jose Ortiz, had fled to Iowa. Detectives notified Des Moines Police Department and Ortiz was taken into custody in Iowa on a homicide warrant Thursday afternoon.
In addition, on Tuesday sheriff's detectives from the Major Crimes Unit went to Hollywood and arrested Gallegos' cohorts: 23-year-old Arturo Plado, 27-year-old Epifanio Vargas and Damian Perez.

The arrests were made with assistance from the Los Angeles Interagency Metropolitan Police Apprehension Crime Task Force.
[...]

http://www.mercedsunstar.com/2010/10...o-gustine.html
Really good video at link
Hard time finding "this" Jose Ortiz theres a million arrest records for this name when I googled it

Merced County homicide suspect Jose Ortiz, 32, was captured by Des Moines Police on Thursday. Ortiz was wanted in connection with last week's killing of Cesar Gallegos, whose body was found in an orchard near Gustine

[badfish76]

20 POUNDS of meth??

Dear Gawd!

[Whisper]

Yeah I know thats quite a bit but Im not sure how much is made at a time or anything about it really
Its not around here
I asked a guy that runs a detox clinic here about 2 months ago about meth here in the city b/c I havent ever seen or heard anyone on it around here
Only arrest I know of was a cop here in the city busted with a meth lab
But the detox guy said its rare here,he said cracks the big one in the city which I figured b/c I see the crackhead hos walking their area at night if I have to drive downtown

[62julietandvoid]

Oxys and other pills are the dope of choice among addicts here. Don't think there is much meth. Get al lot of dealers from the big cities but the sheriff deputies and the city ones seem to be able to sniff them out. The big problem with the oxy heads are that the do a lot of burglaries and break ins , mugging too. All 3 have exploded around here.

[Dakota Valkyrie]

Absolutely nothing horrible (or odd) about drug dealers knocking each other off. Even if they employ the most gruesome of tactics, it's not a surprise.