Just five years ago, one of the largest U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration investigations in history, known as Operation Imperial Emperor, spotlighted Imperial County as a major trafficking corridor and led to the seizure of about $45.2 million, 27,229 pounds of marijuana, 9,512 pounds of cocaine, 705 pounds of methamphetamine, 227 pounds of ice, 11 pounds of heroin, roughly 100 weapons and 94 vehicles in various locations, according to the DEA.
“El Magallanes” is a 30-year-old Mexicali resident, a college graduate and a parent who’s been involved in drug trafficking since he was about 18 years old.
From a young age he gathered the connections that led him to cross cars laden with cocaine and marijuana to Calexico until he was caught at age 20 and sent to prison in San Diego for a couple of years.
There, he met others who were involved in drug trafficking and thereby made the contacts he’d eventually use when he started selling drugs at 24.
“Blow is sold fast,” said “El Magallanes,” who noted there is a fair amount circulating right now.
“El Magallanes,” who requested anonymity in exchange for participating in this story, is but a bit player in the often violent, multi-billion-dollar industry of cocaine trafficking in North America that also streams through the Imperial Valley.
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