Mexican Mafia and Cartel Drug Bust and Takedown
Evidence photos of drugs seized in the raid by law-enforcement. The ATF and several other southern California law-enforcement agencies arrested 8 defendants and seized over 600 pounds of methamphetamine (street value $19 million dollars), guns and rifles. The three year investigation dubbed "Operation Efe Trece" was designed to take down a newly forming partnership between the Mexican drug cartels and powerful local southern California prison and street gangs, including the "Mexican Mafia, La Fa Photo by Ted Soqui/Corbis via Getty Images

After an extensive wiretap investigation exposed the San Diego-based methamphetamine distribution network, a federal grand jury has indicted 60 members of the meth web, authorities stated Tuesday.

Tied to the international crime organization, Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel, the San Diego-based organization is accused of supplying and distributing tons of methamphetamine to dozens of sub-distributors throughout the county.

Aside from San Diego, the federal prosecutors also linked the San Diego network to the distribution in states like Arizona, Iowa, Kansas, Hawaii, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Minnesota, and Texas. They were also linked to the international drug trade in Australia and New Zealand.

According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, the United States Attorney's Office stated during a news conference Tuesday that over the past month, hundreds of law enforcement officers spread out across San Diego County along with five other states to make arrests and serve search warrants. The Attorney's office added that out of the 60 charged individuals, forty-four defendants were already in the custody of the state or the federal agency. While the other 16 remain fugitives.

Moreover, officials stated that the year-long investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration of the U.S. and other related agencies called "Operation Crystal Hydra," has resulted in the seizure of 220 pounds of meth. Aside from drugs, they also seized $250,000 in cash and 90 guns that range from modern, to antique, and even homemade, 10 News San Diego reported.

After authorities unsealed the indictment Tuesday, they revealed that charges include conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, meth importation, and possession for distribution. They also faced charges of money-laundering conspiracy.

The Meth Network

Based on the search warrant affidavit, the investigation in the county started in Spring of 2020 after law enforcement got information from a confidential informant that a 54-year-old San Diego man named John Bomenka is a major methamphetamine dealer in the area.

After authorities found the person behind the name, their investigation expanded. They also discovered that the principal source of the meth was David Villegas, a 49-year-old San Diegan who lives in a motorhome at Mission Bay RV Resort.

Court records show that the discovery of Villegas led authorities to Reyes Espinoza, a 35-year-old resident of San Ysidro, who was allegedly a meth source that was sitting on the higher position of the chain of the distribution business and assisted by several family members.

Investigators stated that Espinoza is the link of the San Diego distributors to the Sinaloa Cartel, which for years has produced cheap, high-quality meth in its "superlabs" located in the south of the border to supply markets across the U.S.

San Diego's DEA Special Agent in Charge John Callery shared that after San Diego being placed as one of the nation's major transshipment hubs for meth, the network Espinoza was found busy, ordering up more than 100 pounds of the drug per week for distribution.

Based on the information from the Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Sutton, the illicit product was highly mobile. It was first smuggled into the U.S. hidden inside the compartments of cars and motorcycles, the Associated Press reported.

WATCH: San Diego Based Meth Ring Busted - Fox 5 San Diego