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Police Shut Down Large Meth Ring in Graves County

Police Shut Down Large Meth Ring in Graves County
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By Joe Jackson
Apr. 26, 2013 | MAYFIELD, KY
By Joe Jackson Apr. 26, 2013 | 04:52 PM | MAYFIELD, KY
Six Graves County residents have been arrested and one is still being sought for multiple drug offenses.

Thirty-year-old Alejandro Gonzalez-Castaneda of Mayfield was charged with trafficking in controlled substance 1st degree, methamphetamine.

Twenty-nine-year-old Liliana Espinoza of Mayfield was charged with trafficking in controlled substance, meth, possession of controlled substance 1st meth, wanton endangerment 1st degree and possession of marijuana.

Twenty-three-year-old David Gonzalez of Mayfield was charged with possession of controlled substance 1st degree (firearm enhanced) and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Twenty-one-year-old Genaro Castaneda, 23-year-old Martin Nicasio and 24-year-old Cabral Oronia, all of Mayfield, were each charged with trafficking in controlled substance 1st degree (firearm enhanced) and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Authorities are searching for 26-year-old Noel Matus-Aguilar of Mayfield on charges of trafficking in controlled substance 1st degree.

According to Graves County Sheriff Dewayne Redmon, the McCracken and Marshall County Sheriff’s Offices along with deputies from the Graves County Sheriff’s Office and officers of the Mayfield Police Department executed eight search warrants on different locations in various locations in Mayfield and Graves County late Thursday night and early Friday morning.

SWAT Teams assembled early Friday morning and started executing the searches shortly before 6 am as a result of an investigation that detectives have been working on for the past few weeks.

Redmon said that during a routine traffic stop on KY 58 east of Mayfield, two Hispanic men fled on foot after they got out of their vehicle while deputies were investigating a package found in the vehicle. One of the men, Alejandro Gonzalez-Castaneda, was later apprehended without incident and the other man, Noel Matus Aguilar, is still at large.

Officers found a cylinder-shaped object inside the vehicle and after a search warrant was obtained they learned that the object was an igloo water cooler wrapped in plastic and contained over two pounds of methamphetamine with a street value of approximately $100,000.

During the night, eight search warrants were sought as a result of the incident and other investigations that had been ongoing by the departments. One of the searches was at Gonzalez Auto Repair on North 8th Street in Mayfield.

Detectives determined that the auto repair business was being used as a front with only minor amounts of work being performed. Redmon said the business was the largest methamphetamine distribution center in Western Kentucky with numerous pounds per week being sold from the shop and hundreds of thousands of dollars flowing through the building in illegal methamphetamine sales.

In total, over two pounds of crystal methamphetamine were seized from several different locations in Graves County. Also seized as proceeds of illegal drug sales were a large amount of cash, several vehicles and ATV’s.

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