Feds indict three Madera men for selling pounds of meth, thousands of fentanyl pills

Three Madera men have been charged with being at the center of a drug ring looking to traffic thousands of fentanyl pills and several pounds of methamphetamine.

A federal grand jury indicted Emilio Hernandez Yesca, 27; Jorge Perez, 24; and Jorge Luis Hernandez Gonzalez, 30, according to a statement from Department of Justice on Thursday.

A fourth man, Eli Quiroz Hernandez, 26, was indicted in a related case April 1, according to the DOJ.

Perez and Yesca are believed to be at the center of the organization.

Between October 2020 and March 2021, the two conspired to distribute more than 5,000 fentanyl pills and four pounds of meth. According to court records, they sold 1,400 fentanyl pills in two separate drug deals in October and November, and in February sold a pound of methamphetamine.

On March 2, the pair were stopped on their way to deliver 5,000 fentanyl pills and three pounds of meth. A loaded firearm was found in the car, the DOJ said.

The other men were charged with selling more than a pound of meth in separate instances in December and in February of this year.

The charges were the results of a months-long, multi-agency investigation and part of Operation Synthetic Opioid Surge (S.O.S.).

The program was started in 2018 to reduce the supply of deadly synthetic opioids in areas heavily impacted by the drug and identify wholesale distribution networks and international and domestic suppliers, according to the DOJ.

If convicted Perez, Hernandez and Gonzalez face a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison (the maximum is a life sentence) and a $10 million fine. Quiroz Hernandez faces a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison (up to 40 years) and a $5 million fine.

Both meth and fentanyl are a massive concern for law enforcement and health officials in the area.

In 2020, the number of fatal fentanyl overdoses more than doubled in Fresno County from the previous year. Meth caused the most overdose deaths in the county in 2019, 77 deaths in total.

This story was originally published April 29, 2021 at 2:02 PM with the headline "Feds indict three Madera men for selling pounds of meth, thousands of fentanyl pills."