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50 Pounds of Fentanyl Seized in Southern California; 3 Suspects Face Felony Charges




Los Angeles County authorities on March 11 announced a major drug bust that resulted in three arrests and the seizure of 50 pounds of fentanyl.

The fentanyl haul was more than the total seized at the U.S.-Canadian border last year, according to District Attorney Nathan Hochman.

Two of the three arrested were not required to post bond before they were released back into the community Wednesday, according to inmate records.


Local police in Downey, about 16 miles south of Los Angeles, worked with a state and county fentanyl task force during the investigation.

“To say this investigation has saved thousands of lives is an understatement,” Downey Police Chief Scott Lougher said at a news conference Tuesday in downtown Los Angeles, where he was joined by Attorney General Rob Bonta and Hochman.

The three defendants, who were arrested March 5 in Downey, are Pricilla Gomez, 43, of Torrance; her brother Gustavo Omar Gomez, 47, of Huntington Park; and Carlos Manuel Mariscal, 38, also of Huntington Park.


Mariscal was charged with two counts of possession for sale of a controlled substance, one count of possession of a firearm silencer, and one count of illegally possessing ammunition as an ex-convict. He could get 38 years and eight months in prison.

Gustavo Gomez and Mariscal were released without having to post bond, according to inmate records.

According to Bonta, the state’s fentanyl task force and local police had received “reliable information” that Pricilla Gomez was allegedly an illegal drug courier.

On Jan. 22, Downey police pulled her over for having tinted windows and discovered a kilogram of fentanyl in her vehicle, officials reported.

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