A California jail guard allegedly helped a drug trafficker smuggle 20 kilograms from Mexico to a Rowland Heights stash home, Los Angeles County prosecutors mentioned Friday.
The correctional officer, Jesus Reyes, was charged with conspiring to promote medicine, possessing medicine on the market and transporting medicine throughout county strains. Reyes, 45, has but to enter a plea and it was unclear Friday if he was represented by a lawyer.
In line with a press release from Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman, Reyes in 2023 drove the cocaine from Mexico to a house rented by Jose Luis Aldahir Rocha Luque.
Luque, 27, who faces the identical fees as Reyes, allegedly maintained the home to retailer medicine and cash. It wasn’t clear if he was represented by an legal professional.
When authorities from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Division and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration searched the house on Aug. 1, 2023, they discovered 20 kilograms of cocaine and $179,680 in money, in accordance with Hochman’s assertion and a DEA forfeiture discover.
“It’s reprehensible {that a} state corrections officer might be seduced by greed and manipulated by others to commit such crimes that endanger the general public,” Hochman mentioned within the assertion.
Greg Risling, a spokesman for the district legal professional’s workplace, declined to say why prosecutors didn’t convey fees towards Reyes and Luque for almost three years. He directed questions on Reyes’ employment to the California Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation, which didn’t instantly reply.
Reyes’ prosecution comes two months after a California Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation lieutenant was arrested on federal fees that alleged he smuggled cellphones into Salinas Valley State Jail in change for $100,000. Matthew Madsen, 39, has pleaded not responsible to conspiring to commit trustworthy companies fraud and stays free on bond.
Salinas Valley has change into probably the most violent lockups within the state. 5 inmates had been killed on the Monterey County jail in 2025, and two extra have been killed this yr.
