Watsonville Police Make Arrest In Record-Breaking Drug Case

WATSONVILLE, CA — Watsonville police made an arrest this week in a drug trafficking case that feds say was the largest federal seizure of methamphetamine in Northern California.

Jose Manuel Rodriguez, 39, was among 44 suspects in four separate investigations into a drug trafficking scheme involving the Mexican Sinaloa Cartel, officials said. The investigations — led by the Federal Bureau of Investigations and Drug Enforcement Administration — resulted in the seizure of some 1,100 pounds of methamphetamine, 500 grams of fentanyl, 20 pounds of cocaine, 20 pounds of heroin, 16 guns and $200,000 in cash.

Fentanyl trafficking has grown in recent years, causing a "surge in overdoses," according to U.S. Attorney David Anderson.

"We put a hurting on the Sinaloa Cartel," DEA Special Agent in Charge Daniel Comeaux said Thursday at a news conference held by federal prosecutors to announce multiple indictments and "breathtaking" drug seizures in the Bay Area.

Rodriguez jumped out of a window when Watsonville police served his arrest warrant at a home in the 1900 block of Freedom Blvd. Wednesday afternoon, police said in a statement.

Police declined to elaborate on his ties to Watsonville, but said Rodriguez was not a resident of the area.

Drugs, assault weapons and more were funneled from Mexico to the San Jose area and vice versa, officials said. Cartels use urban hubs to distribute their product, Comeaux said.

The Alameda County Narcotics Task Force, California Highway Patrol, and police departments in San Francisco, Redwood City, San Jose, Gilroy, Salinas, Hawthorne, Soledad, Santa Clara and Vallejo also played a role in the investigations.

More than 100 federal agents worked on the case, and served 15 arrest warrants and 13 search warrants.

The DEA has identified the Sinaloa Cartel as a Transnational Criminal Organization.

The cartel "controls drug trafficking activity in various regions in Mexico, particularly along the Pacific Coast. Additionally, it maintains the most expansive international footprint compared to other Mexican TCO's.

The Sinaloa Cartel exports and distributes wholesale amounts of methamphetamine, marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl in the United States," according to DEA's 2019 National Drug Threat Assessment.

Read more about the investigation here.

— Bay City News contributed to this report