4 arrests in Sonoma County, 140 pounds of meth seized statewide in 16-month drug trafficking investigation

Four Sonoma County men were arrested Wednesday evening and Thursday morning as part of an investigation by federal and local authorities into a North Bay meth trafficking operation.

Agents with the United States Drug Enforcement Administration and sheriff’s deputies with Sonoma and Marin counties recovered about 1 ½ pounds of meth while serving three search warrants in Cloverdale and two in Santa Rosa, according to DEA spokesperson Casey Rettig.

Fernando Dias, 22, of Cloverdale; Samuel Cholula, 21, of Cloverdale; Christian Torres, 21, of Santa Rosa; and Jesus Nunez-Camacho Jr., 33, of Santa Rosa were arrested and referred to the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office for charges, according to a DEA news release.

Dias and Cholula were arraigned Friday morning on six charges of possessing and selling controlled substances on several dates spanning Dec. 22, 2021, and Feb. 3. Torres was charged June 8 with two counts of possessing and selling controlled substances. Nunez-Camacho’s case was still under review as of Friday afternoon, according to Chief Deputy District Attorney Brian Staebell.

This week’s arrests came as authorities wrap up a 16-month investigation in which they have seized more than 140 pounds of meth across California, all “destined for the North Bay” and connected to a Bay Area drug organization, Rettig said.

Agents on March 18 seized 70 pounds of meth alongside $40,000 in cash from a storage locker in San Jose. California Highway Patrol officers found another 70 pounds of the illegal drug May 27 in Madera County after pulling over a vehicle — the driver of which fled the scene.

Altogether, the street value of the 141 ½ pounds of confiscated meth was approximately $250,000, Rettig said.

The DEA suspected the meth uncovered in the three incidents since March came from traffickers in Southern California and was intended for distribution, Rettig said.

“It’s very common for drugs to be trafficked up through the I-5 corridor or Highway 101, and that’s how they make their way to the Bay Area from Southern California,” Rettig said. “Were they intended to take it beyond (the North Bay)? Who knows if there were other points further north.”

Though Rettig would not describe details of the investigation, she said, after the first two seizures, investigators were able to link the individual incidents together and “uncovered the scope of the organization.”

The most recent seizures and arrests were a “multi-phase” enforcement action, Rettig said.

It began with warrants served Wednesday evening in Cloverdale and continued through Thursday morning at multiple locations in Santa Rosa. The 1 ½ pounds of meth was found at one location.

The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office Property Crimes and Narcotics Unit and the Marin County Sheriff's Office’s Specialized Investigative Unitpartnered with the DEA Santa Rosa Resident Office on the investigation since it began 16 months ago. Santa Rosa Police Department spokesperson Sgt. Chris Mahurin said his department’s narcotics team was not aware of the investigation.

The investigation into the local drug operations is ongoing. Additional arrests are possible, Rettig said.

You can reach Staff Writer Alana Minkler at 707-526-8511 or alana.minkler@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @alana_minkler.