Crime

A federal investigation resulted in the arrest and conviction of a Morgan Hill man who supplied highly pure methamphetamine to western Arkansas drug dealers, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. A total of three suspects were sentenced Oct. 17 on a variety of convictions on drug trafficking and related charges, according to Conner Eldridge, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas. Javier Lopez-Canseco, 22 of Morgan Hill, was sentenced to 108 months in prison and three years supervised release for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s office. Also sentenced were two Arkansas residents—Luis Garcia-Duenas, 33 of Springdale, to 151 months in prison for distribution of methamphetamine; and Victor Herrera-Perez, 31 of Fayetteville, to 46 months in prison for distribution of methamphetamine. U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks presided over the sentencing hearing in federal court in Fayetteville, Ark.All three suspects pleaded guilty to the charges Feb. 18, according to authorities. The arrests followed several months of undercover investigation by federal agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration. “With the investigation, arrest, and now sentencing of these three individuals, another drug trafficking organization has been put out of business in the Western District of Arkansas,” Eldridge said. “Other crimes, sometimes violent, often accompany this type of illegal activity, and prosecuting those involved remains a top priority of this office.”Federal agents arranged a series of “monitored controlled purchases” of methamphetamine from Herrera-Perez and Garcia-Duenas over the summer of 2013, according to the press release. Through this repeated contact with the drug dealers, agents were eventually connected to Lopez-Canseco, who they suspected was the source of supply for the drugs they had been purchasing. On Sept. 19, 2013, agents arranged a purchase of a “large quantity” of methamphetamine from Garcia-Duenas, the press release said. The two parties agreed the dealer would be paid $20,000 in cash at a future date. Several conversations followed over the next few days regarding the drug debt, which led to telephone contact with Lopez-Canseco, authorities said. Lopez-Canseco told the undercover buyer that the $20,000 debt should be paid directly to him. The suspect agreed to a meeting at a business in Springdale, Ark., describing the vehicle he would be in, the press release said. When Lopez-Canseco arrived to the meeting, agents contacted him and took possession of his cell phone, which investigators determined was the same device he used to set up the meeting, authorities said. The suspected substance was sent to the crime lab, where it registered as 551 grams of 98.7-percent pure methamphetamine, according to the press release. 

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