Seventeen people face federal charges for operating a fentanyl and cocaine trafficking operation out of a West Virginia body shop, according to the Northern District of West Virginia U.S. Attorney’s Office. 

The group imported “significant” amounts of drugs from Puerto Rico through the U.S. Postal Service as well as through a source connected to the Sinaloa Cartel, according to a press release. 

“This case underscores the scope of the threat posed by Mexican drug cartels to the people of West Virginia,” said U.S. Attorney William Ihlenfeld, in the release. “These transnational organizations will operate anywhere that there is profit to be made, including here in our region. Fortunately, we have one of the best drug task forces in the country to push back against dangerous groups like this one.”

The investigation included close coordination with federal law enforcement agents in Chicago and Northern California, the release says. 

As of last week, 16 of the individuals had been arrested. They were still searching for Manuel Sanchez Gomez, 37, of California and Danny William Mendez-Delacrus, 41, of West Virginia. 

Arrests made include: 

• • Saul Alexi Padilla-Garcia, 34, West Virginia;
  • Juan Carlos Suarez-Lugo, 55, West Virginia;
  • Victor Jose Canales, 45, hometown unknown;
  • Alexis Alvarado, 37, West Virginia;
  • Mauricio Antonio Alvarado-Flores, 37, hometown unknown;
  • Olvin Luis-Melendez Robles, age unknown, Pennsylvania;
  • Mario Pellot-Acevedo, 58, West Virginia;
  • Eddi Heredia Cruz, 27, West Virginia;
  • Jose Alberto Camarena Rocha, 30, California;
  • Angel Lopez, 43, California;  
  • Sergio Rubio Pacheco, 33, California;
  • Moises Marrero, 39, West Virginia;
  • James Reyes, 54, West Virginia;
  • David Reyes, 60, Maryland;
  • Charles Edward Branson, 53, West Virginia;              
  • Yan Lionel Diaz-Cruz, 27, West Virginia.

“The arrests are the culmination of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation that began in 2023,” the release says. “OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach.”

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