“When law enforcement officers identify and dismantle drug labs in our neighborhoods and communities, they are working to keep us safe and to improve our quality of life.  We are grateful to these brave officers who put themselves in harm’s way in order to protect us.” – CSLEA President Alan Barcelona

FRESNO — On May 22, 2023, Jose Monge-Ponce, 33, of Mexico, was sentenced to 11 years and four months in prison for conspiring to manufacture, to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, and marijuana.

According to court documents, in January 2019, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at an unoccupied residence in Madera and found Ponce and his co-defendants, Oscar Rene Marrot-Garcia, 30, of Chowchilla and Francisco Alcantar-Miranda, 34, of Mexico. Inside the residence, the detectives found a methamphetamine lab, along with 22.4 pounds of methamphetamine in solution, 17 pounds of finished methamphetamine, 4 pounds of heroin, 1 pound of cocaine, 24 pounds of marijuana, and $18,000 in cash. Ponce was in possession of a loaded unregistered firearm, three cellphones, and pay-owe sheets. On Feb. 13, 2023, Ponce pleaded guilty to the conspiracy.

Alcantar and Marrot also previously entered guilty pleas and were sentenced to 10 years and six and a half years in prison, respectively.

This case was the product of an investigation by the Madera County Sheriff’s Office Narcotic Enforcement Team (MADNET) and the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) High Impact Investigation Team (HITT), consisting of agents of Homeland Security Investigations, the California Department of Justice, the California Highway Patrol, the Sheriff’s Offices of Fresno, Tulare, and King Counties, and the Fresno Police Department.