California Supplier ‘Alex’ Sentenced to Life for Meth Trafficking

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – In a major blow to the state’s opioid crisis, Alejandro Gallegos, a 41-year-old California-based supplier, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine and 500 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of cocaine.

Gallegos, also known as ‘Alex,’ ‘Rooster,’ ‘G’ and ‘Primo,’ admitted to a major supplier role in a drug trafficking organization (DTO) that operated in the Charleston area. According to court documents and statements made in court, from in or about February 2021 to in or about March 2023, Gallegos conspired with others to distribute methamphetamine and cocaine within the Southern District of West Virginia.

On March 18, 2023, Gallegos directed co-defendant Ildiberto Gonzalez Jr. to deliver approximately 196 pounds of methamphetamine and four kilograms of cocaine from California to Bluefield, West Virginia, in his 2009 Freightliner semi-truck with attached trailer. Gallegos arranged the shipment in exchange for approximately $400,000 with another co-conspirator in West Virginia.

Gallegos is scheduled to be sentenced on October 10, 2024, and faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years and up to life in prison, at least five years of supervised release, and a $10 million fine. Gonzalez, 30, of San Bernadino, California, pleaded guilty on September 12, 2023, to conspiracy to distribute a quantity of methamphetamine and awaits sentencing.

Gallegos and Gonzalez are among 32 individuals indicted as a result of Operation Smoke and Mirrors, a major drug trafficking investigation that has yielded the largest methamphetamine seizure in West Virginia history. Law enforcement seized well over 400 pounds of methamphetamine as well as 40 pounds of cocaine, 3 pounds of fentanyl, 19 firearms and $935,000 in cash.

United States Attorney Will Thompson made the announcement and commended the investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the U.S. Department of Homeland Security-Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team (MDENT), the West Virginia State Police, the West Virginia National Guard Counter Drug program, the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office, the Charleston Police Department, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office and the Raleigh County Sheriff’s Office.

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