State police arrest men in meth sting that began in California

Virginia State Police arrested three local men on Feb. 27 on drug charges following an investigation that began in San Bernardino, Calif., and ended in Dry Fork.

Alfonso Barajas Monterrey, 39, and Hector Flores Gomez, 26, both of Sandy Creek Road in Dry Fork, and Noel Rodriguez-Montes, 21, of Iris Lane in Danville are each charged with transporting more than a pound of methamphetamine into Virginia with the intent to distribute.

The men also face two charges of possessing 100 grams or more of the drug.

All three were arraigned on the charges March 2 and are being held without bond.

In February, a deputy sheriff with the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office in California contacted Virginia State Police special agents about a package marked for shipment to Dry Fork.

According to General District Court papers, the deputy’s K-9 partner had alerted her to the package that contained approximately 1.3 pounds of methamphetamine.

The California deputy shipped the package via UPS to a state police special agent in Roanoke instead of the Dry Fork address and state police got a search warrant and tested the contents, which allegedly came back positive for methamphetamine.

Special agents then resealed the package, and with UPS’s help, made a controlled delivery to the house on Sandy Creek Road on Feb. 27.

According to the arrest warrant, Monterrey and Gomez allegedly acknowledged and accepted the package, and Rodriguez-Montes allegedly admitted to knowing the package was being sent from California and that it contained methamphetamine.

The package was addressed to Christina Delgado at the Sandy Creek Road residence.

During a search of the residence, multiple identifications for each of the three men were found.

Court paperwork shows that Rodriguez-Montes has lived in California and Mexico.

Monterrey just moved to Virginia from Kentucky four months ago.

And Gomez came from the state of Washington three months ago.