“The operation that led to the arrest of this individual and nearly two dozen others, provided relief to law abiding citizens in communities throughout Kings County. Thank you to the law enforcement officers, including California Department of Justice special agents, who faced great danger in investigating and arresting these suspects, and then assisted in the prosecution.”

CSLEA President Alan Barcelona

On August 11, 2025, Ryan Gines, 44, of Hanford, was sentenced to 15 years and six months in prison for trafficking methamphetamine.

According to court documents, in March 2019, numerous federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies partnered in Operation Red Reaper, an investigation into the Nuestra Familia prison gang and the Norteño street gang in Kings County. The investigation uncovered that Nuestra Familia was responsible for large-scale trafficking of methamphetamine and other controlled substances, as well as various firearms offenses and other violent crimes. The operation resulted in federal charges brought against 21 drug traffickers, including Gines.

In May 2019, recorded interceptions on a wiretap revealed that Gines was conspiring with others to obtain and sell more than 5 pounds of methamphetamine. With the aid of the wiretap, shortly after midnight, a Kings County Sheriff’s deputy stopped the car transporting that methamphetamine, searched the car, and found the drugs.

This case was the product of an investigation by the Kings County Gang Task Force, agents of the Special Operations Unit which is a team of agents from the California Department of Justice and the California Highway Patrol, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the FBI, the Kings County District Attorney’s Office, and the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office. The DEA, ATF, U.S. Marshals Service, and Homeland Security Investigations all assisted with the takedown.