A federal grand jury on Thursday indicted 13 members of a large-scale drug organization that operated in several states along the West Coast, authorities said.
Those indicted are all illegal immigrants from Mexico and operated acres of growth operations on federal and state lands, officials said.
Prosecutors say that one of the men indicted, Hubert Mario Ramirez, 24, of Stockton, financed two large marijuana plots - one on federal Bureau of Land Management land in western El Dorado County and one on Clementine State Park near Auburn in Placer County.
About $5 million to $6 million worth of marijuana and $60,000 to $70,000 worth of methamphetamine were seized when the men were arrested on July 30.
The charges include conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, conspiracy to manufacture more than 1,000 plants of marijuana, manufacturing more than 1,000 plants of marijuana, conspiracy to posses with intent to distribute marijuana and possession with intent to distribute marijuana.
One of them, Adrian Ortega-Diaz, 39, of Stockton, was also charged with being a deported alien found in the United States.
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