OGDEN, Utah, May 20, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — The Weber-Morgan Narcotics Strike Force set up an undercover buy of 10 pounds of methamphetamine that netted three alleged downstate drug traffickers.
All three suspects were arrested in a restaurant parking lot on 21st Street in Ogden. Strike Force agents converged after watching the trio show an undercover operative the meth in a container in the bed of a black Dodge truck Tuesday night, at which time the operative signaled the agents to move in, as court documents described the bust.
The pre-arranged meeting spot for the transaction was orchestrated by phone calls between the two male defendants and the operative, according to charging documents.
Ordered by a judge held without bail in the Weber County Jail, the three were arraigned Friday in Ogden’s 2nd District Court.
Jose Rosales-Amezcua, 32, Salt Lake City; Ramon Silvestre Franco, 41, West Valley City, and Deysi Vanessa Pineda, 30, Provo, are all formally charged with second-degree felony possession with intent to distribute.
Franco, who is on parole, was also charged with possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person, another second-degree felony, for a handgun allegedly found in a gun case behind the passenger seat of the truck.
“Jose admitted he got the drugs from Ramon. Ramon said he was getting $1,000 dollars for bringing the drugs,” according to charging documents. Both men were called “part of a large-scale drug trafficking organization” by agents in requesting they be held without bail.
Franco is on parole for his 2015 convictions on felony criminal mischief and theft charges in Salt Lake County as well as attempted murder for firing at police during a chase in West Valley City as he drove a stolen car, according to court records. No injuries resulted but two patrol cars sustained bullet holes.
Pineda has an outstanding arrest warrant for skipping a court appearance in Salt Lake City’s 3rd District Court in January on misdemeanor counts of identity theft and possession of drug paraphernalia, court records show. “If Deysi is released she is likely to continue to assist in the distribution of illicit narcotics creating a danger to the community,” according to her probable cause affidavit.
Rosales’ priors include two protective orders and a conviction in 2012 in Salt Lake County, where he was sentenced to a year in jail for stealing a car.
While the charging documents did not include an estimate of the street value of the meth seized, various websites including the DEA vary, based on purity and demand, placing a pound of meth worth in the range of $2,500 to $5,000 in general, but sometimes much higher. The DEA website includes an account of a 2022 bust in New York City citing the meth at as much as $40,000 a pound.
