A Mexican national has been indicted on federal narcotics trafficking charges that allege he oversaw a drug trafficking organization that acquired large quantities of fentanyl and methamphetamine, stored the drugs at a Compton, California residence, and distributed the drugs locally and across the nation, often using the US Postal Service.
Edgar Valentin Felix Osuna, 25, of Sinaloa, Mexico, who was arrested on August 29, 2023, in Barstow while on his way to Las Vegas, was named in a three-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury.
The indictment charges Felix with conspiring to distribute and possess fentanyl and methamphetamine. He is also charged with substantive counts of distributing fentanyl and methamphetamine.
“From at least 2019, while in Mexico and while on federal probation (in a narcotics trafficking case in the District of Utah), Felix was facilitating the distribution of large quantities of fentanyl and other drugs that were being stored at a stash house in Compton, California that Felix controlled and was operated by Juan Gonzalez,” according to a criminal complaint previously filed in this case.
The indictment alleges that Felix obtained the narcotics, arranged deliveries to be made to the stash house, and orchestrated further distribution. Gonzalez and others allegedly wired the proceeds from drug sales to Felix.
This case stems from an investigation by the DEA and the United States Postal Inspection Service that culminated with a search of the Compton residence that led to the seizure of nearly 66 kilograms of fentanyl (which included nearly 27,000 counterfeit pills) and approximately 18.4 kilograms of methamphetamine.
The conspiracy count in the indictment alleges a series of acts, beginning with a May 5, 2019, distribution of approximately 4 kilograms of narcotics sold on behalf of Felix. The investigation outlined in the complaint alleges that drugs from the stash house were sometimes shipped via the United States Postal Service to addresses in New York, Pennsylvania, and Missouri. Those parcels were mailed by a now-deceased drug courier. After that man’s death, Gonzalez shipped at least one package to an address in Illinois, the complaint alleges.
On February 23, 2022, Felix allegedly directed the distribution of 22 kilograms of methamphetamine. The following day, law enforcement arrested Gonzalez and executed a search warrant at the stash house that resulted in the seizure of fentanyl, fake pills, and methamphetamine.
Gonzalez pleaded guilty last year to the distribution of fentanyl and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense. He was sentenced in January to 15 years in federal prison.
According to the complaint filed last month, Felix continued to distribute narcotics after Gonzalez was arrested, and law enforcement determined that he had returned to the United States by late 2022.
Each of the three counts in the indictment carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison and a statutory maximum sentence of life.
