Aaron Iribe, Methamphetamine Trafficking, California 2020

Tulare Man Sentenced to Over Five Years in Prison for Methamphetamine Trafficking

Aaron Iribe, 35, of Tulare, has been sentenced to five years and 10 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced. Iribe was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge Daniel J. Calabretta.

According to court documents, on July 27, 2020, Iribe coordinated the delivery of 16 pounds of methamphetamine to an undercover officer. The methamphetamine was seized from a vehicle driven by Iribe’s co-defendant, Daniel Lopez. The undercover officer arranged to purchase 20 pounds of methamphetamine for $80,000 from Iribe’s Mexico-based co-conspirator.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Tri-County Drug Enforcement Team (TRIDENT). Assistant U.S. Attorney David W. Spencer is prosecuting the case.

Co-defendant Daniel Lopez pleaded guilty on Aug. 8, 2024, and is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 19, 2024. This prosecution is part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Strike Force Initiative, which provides for the establishment of permanent multi-agency task force teams that work side-by-side in the same location.

The Sacramento Strike Force is a co-located model that enables agents from different agencies to collaborate on intelligence-driven, multi-jurisdictional operations to disrupt and dismantle the most significant drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations.

As part of this strike force, the agents have identified, investigated, disrupted, and dismantled the most significant drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) shipping narcotics, firearms, and money through the Eastern District of California, thereby reducing the flow of these criminal resources in California and the rest of the United States.

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