Rotiha Chan, Methamphetamine Trafficking, North Carolina 2021

A California man has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for his role in a massive methamphetamine trafficking operation in North Carolina.

Rotiha Chan, 38, of Stockton, California, was sentenced to 136 months in prison for Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribution of 500 grams or more of a substance containing Methamphetamine and distribution of 50 grams or more of a substance containing Methamphetamine.

The investigation, which was part of Operation ‘Fighting Jelly Fish,’ an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation, uncovered that Chan was distributing kilograms of methamphetamine, cocaine, and marijuana to New Jersey, Ohio, and North Carolina.

Chan was arrested on January 26, 2021, by ATF agents in Stockton, California, after a lengthy investigation that revealed he had sent multiple packages of methamphetamine to Eastern North Carolina.

According to court documents, the United States Postal Service seized one pound of methamphetamine that Chan had sent to Rocky Run Road in New Bern from Stockton, California on December 2, 2019. A second package was seized by law enforcement nine days later, and on March 3, 2020, an undercover ATF agent ordered methamphetamine from Chan.

Chan sent two packages containing approximately 400 grams of methamphetamine, but the undercover agent contacted him and claimed that the packages had been seized by law enforcement, ordering another pound of methamphetamine. Chan sent two more packages containing more than 400 grams of methamphetamine.

On April 3, 2020, DEA agents encountered Chan and two others at the Columbus, Ohio airport and seized more than $70,000. On April 15, 2020, ATF purchased another 800 grams of methamphetamine from Chan, which he sent in two packages to Eastern North Carolina.

Chan was sentenced on January 28, 2022, by Chief U.S. District Judge Richard E. Myers II, after being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Severo.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the United States Postal Inspection Service, Craven County Sheriff’s Office, Kinston Police Department, and the Homeland Security Investigations-Stockton, California.

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