The Fontana drug ring used current and former employees of Delta Global Services, which provides ground services for several airlines at San Diego International Airport, DEA agents wrote in an affidavit. The baggage handlers had clearance to bypass airport security and enter terminals.
A 22-year-old Fontana man who was getting ready to open a frozen yogurt franchise is being described by federal authorities as a drug kingpin who paid San Diego baggage handlers with special security clearance to help smuggle narcotics and cash onto commercial airline flights across the country.
A San Diego federal grand jury indicted 11 men this week on drug and conspiracy charges. Six of the seven alleged drug suppliers and couriers are from San Bernardino County, while the four baggage handlers are from the San Diego area.
The 10 men in custody pleaded not guilty Tuesday afternoon. Drug Enforcement Administration agents are still searching for one fugitive, Angel Ortega, 26, of San Bernardino. A federal criminal complaint described him as the “right-hand man” to drug kingpin Sergio Mejia-Gamboa, 22, of Fontana.
Gamboa was getting ready to open a frozen yogurt franchise in Fontana when he was arrested earlier this month, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Wheat said.
[…]
