Mexican national drug ring leader who plotted to kill Centralia officer sentenced to 15 years

A 35-year-old Mexican national, illegally residing in California, was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years in prison for her leadership role in a massive drug distribution ring and plot to kill a Centralia police officer.

Iris Adrianna Amador-Garcia of Bellflower, California, arranged the distribution of pounds of methamphetamine, hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills, and large quantities of heroin, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) stated.

Amador-Garcia also laundered drug proceeds, possessed firearms, and distributed drugs as far away as New York, southeastern states, and Fiji.

Drug ring leader plots to kill Centralia officer after a major drug seizure

The DOJ noted that after a large load of drugs was seized during a traffic stop, Amador-Garcia devised a plan to locate and kill the Centralia officer who conducted the stop.

“Threats against law enforcement is a line in the sand that is completely unacceptable,” U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour said in ordering the 15-year sentence.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd expanded on Amador-Garcia’s role in the scheme and how she would stop at nothing to “protect what she had built.”

“This criminal organization was well-organized, well-sourced, and well-connected. This defendant was prepared to take drastic measures to protect what she had built. She and her criminal associates were intercepted openly discussing killing an officer after a large shipment of drugs was seized,” Floyd said. “I am grateful for the diligent work of law enforcement to keep that officer safe, and to take these dangerous traffickers off the street and shut down their pipeline of devastating narcotics.”

As early as February 2020, law enforcement identified the leaders of the drug trafficking ring, according to records filed in the case. Indictments were returned in the fall of 2021.

The leaders of the drug ring, Amador-Garcia and Jose Alfredo Maldonado-Ramirez, both distributed the drugs across several states, including Massachusetts, New York, Illinois, Ohio, Florida, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Virginia.

Over the course of the investigation, law enforcement seized nine pounds of methamphetamine in a traffic stop on May 16, 2020. An additional 30 pounds of methamphetamine was seized in a stop on April 2, 2021, and 57 pounds of methamphetamine and 20,000 fentanyl pills were seized in a traffic stop on September 28, 2021.

A photo of a portion of the drugs seized by law enforcement. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Department of Justice)

Another seizure was made on August 17, 2021, when law enforcement recovered 19 pounds of methamphetamine that conspirators attempted to mail to Fiji.

During a search of a residence where Amador-Garcia was living with her brother and two co-conspirators, agents seized a kilogram of fentanyl, 80,000 fentanyl pills, and two firearms. Eight other firearms were seized at locations in Washington and California.

A photo of a portion of the drugs seized by law enforcement. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Department of Justice)

When asking for a 15-year sentence, prosecutors noted that Amador-Garcia was an equal leader of the drug ring alongside Maldonado-Ramirez.

“The nation-wide reach of this Drug Trafficking Organization (DTO), led by Amador-Garcia and Maldonado-Ramirez, sets it apart from most organizations prosecuted in this District,” prosecutors said. “This DTO distributed dangerous drugs to all corners of the United States. They distributed to several large redistributors in Washington, as well as others in the northeast, southeast, and the Midwest. In addition, the DTO even expanded to distributing drugs internationally to Fiji. The majority of drugs they were selling, both in Washington and elsewhere, were coming from Amador-Garcia’s family in Mexico.”

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