United States Drug Enforcement Administration

SAN DIEGO – Orlando Balderas Guerrero, of Menifee, Calif., was sentenced in federal court today to 10 years in custody for participating in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.    

According to his plea agreement, Guerrero admitted that for a one-year period, he obtained bulk methamphetamine from a broker in Mexico and subsequently sold smaller quantities of methamphetamine to dozens of customers in North San Diego County. To distribute the methamphetamine, the defendant used a paging system and then directed his couriers to deliver the methamphetamine to his customers. According to court records, the defendant obtained pound quantities of methamphetamine each month from his methamphetamine supplier in Mexico.

“San Diego communities are being flooded by high quantities of low-cost methamphetamine made in Mexico,” said DEA Acting Special Agent in Charge Steve Woodland. “The methamphetamine we’re seeing is highly pure, highly potent, and highly addictive. As a result, San Diego County had 438 meth-related deaths in 2018. Every day, DEA agents work to put distributers like Mr. Guerrero behind bars and we will continue to investigate and arrest other distributors who are profiting off of the death of San Diegans.” 

U.S. Attorney Robert Brewer praised federal agents from the DEA, the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations, and the prosecutor for working hard to achieve justice and protect the community from the scourge of methamphetamine.

“Meth is certainly not a new problem, but we have new cause for concern given the recent spike in meth-related deaths and meth seizures,” U.S. Attorney Brewer said. “We will keep doing our part to hold dealers accountable, and this is another step in that direction."

AGENCIES

United States Attorney’s Office, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations

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