The Los Angeles Times is reporting that "Four Modesto residents, including the president of the city’s Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, are facing federal conspiracy charges after prosecutors say they were part of a trafficking ring that sold methamphetamine. Randy Picchi, 61; Tina Picchi, 51; Michael Mize, 61; and Michael Pack, 32, are charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, the U.S. attorney’s office said in a release. Randy Picchi, Tina Picchi and Mize were arrested Tuesday and will appear in federal court in Fresno on Wednesday. It was not immediately clear whether Pack was in custody.
"Randy Picchi, the president of the Modesto Hells Angels, is accused of leading a drug conspiracy and directing his wife, Tina Picchi, to regularly deliver drugs to Mize and others across Northern California. She was stopped by law enforcement and found with approximately 4 ounces of methamphetamine, authorities said. Prosecutors say Picchi used Pack, a prospect with the Hells Angels club, to help obtain methamphetamine on at least one occasion. Pack was found with 499 grams of meth in his possession during a traffic stop, authorities said."
Another crystal meth dealer posing with Sonny Barger. The Aging Rebel posted wire tap transcripts. The FBI is leading the federal investigation and they were assisted by the ATF and the Modesto Police Department who were seen during the raid. Since the ATF were caught in Operation Fast and Furious, their integrity has been in question. The FBI must not have included them in the investigation or at least included them just enough to not be implicated in the bust.
ATF's integrity has been in question long before Fast and Furious, because the FBI had to be called in for both Waco and Ruby Ridge people forget that it was ATF that instigated both debacles. ATF was effectively a rogue agency back in the 90's, their litany of sins was a very long one.
ReplyDeleteBut as far as 1%er's go, ATF has long made them a focus, not only because where you find them you also find illegal weapons trafficking which is ATF's responsibility but also because it gives them cred as a "real" law enforcement agency on par with the FBI, doing undercover work and such, Jay Dobbins and Billy Queen being the most high profile examples.
Yes but in Operation Fast and Furious the ATF were the ones doing the illegal weapons trafficking AND were involved in massive cocaine trafficking. They sold the Mexican cartel guns and brought back tons of cocaine as payment. I don't know Billy Queen but don't get me started on Jay Dobbins. Some agents go under cover because they covet the life. I do not. There is nothing in that world that interests me.
DeleteThere are gun dealers who got in trouble BECAUSE when bad guys showed up in their store they called ATF, ATF said, "Go ahead and sell them the guns they want". Even though it was illegal for the store owner to do so.
DeleteBilly Queen was the UC who was with the Mongols. He seems a little different than "Jaybird", I agree with you that Dobbins seems to resemble that kind of guy.
Yeah that's all I'm gonna say about Jay Dobbins. His claim to fame was lying to the Hells Angels and telling them he shot a Mongol when he hadn't. That's not much of an accomplishment. The parties and the strippers, that's all just trailer trash.
DeleteOMG those men are much too old to be playing cops and robbers. They ought to have gotten a day job or improved their education. Really, at their ages still playing drug dealer???? If it weren't so serious, one could do a pretty funny sit. com about aging bikers running a drug ring. At their ages, they haven't learnt anything, they're still getting caught. stupid, stupid, stupid
ReplyDeleteI do remember decades ago reading material about how the guns in Mexico were coming from the U.S.A. It was one of the reasons so many people in Mexico were being killed by gun violence. Then it was reported some of those guns were provided by American agencies. That is never a good thing, regardless of the initial intent. The end does not justify the means.
Sonny doesn't look so good. Looks like he belongs in an old folks home with a walker. Ya can't sell drugs forever.
DeleteThere are of course guns coming from America to Mexico, the cartels have people going into guns shops to buy, or try to buy on their behalf all the time, and gun dealers regularly turn down attempts to purchase or co-operate with ATF in taking down such buyers, in fact I was watching the video of such an arrest just a few weeks ago. Pretty funny, almost all the cars driving around in the parking lot were ATF. Rolled these dudes right up, seized the guns he'd just bought and a bunch of cash besides, also his 2 buddies who were waiting for him in their vehicle.
DeleteLess talked about are guns coming into Mexico across their OTHER border. (The cartels are 'equal opportunity' like that....;-) Even more significant than civilian guns smuggled across from the states are stolen military/police guns from anywhere south of Mexico. M16A1 rifles left in Vietnam 50 years ago have been recovered in Central America, they were supplied as "fraternal socialist support" through Cuba via North Vietnam. One thing you gotta say for Commies, they know how to stick together....but yeah, when you see Korean (south) made grenades being recovered from cartels in Mexico, chances are they came from shipments of such supplied to the El Salvadorean or Guatamalan military, both have bought that item from South Korea. You're not going to tell me they got them in the states.....
Sounds like everyone wants a piece of the pie. No doubt the United States is the biggest supplier of guns to the cartels.
DeleteU.S. Remains World’s Top Arms Exporter: https://www.rferl.org/a/us-russia-lead-world-global-arms-exports/29814176.html
Lord of War: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ej83QvHuiNI