There are a lot of drugs being moved in and out of Los Angeles. It's probably one of the hottest drug areas on the world. Certainly, there are other locations, but Los Angeles is so compacted with so many people.
It's such a beautiful area and there's a lot of drug uses so you've got people bringing in drugs. There's a lot of money involved. California Health and Safety Code 11352 defines the crime of drug trafficking.
So, if you or a loved one has been swept up in the net of drug trafficking prosecutor, the police are involved, whether it be at the local level with the LAPD or Sheriffs, or whether it be at the federal level with the FBI, Homeland Security, Secret Service, Drug Enforcement Agents.
Then you're going to want to get an attorney who has experience because when it comes to these drug trafficking charges in Los Angeles or anywhere in the nation, they really take these cases seriously and you really put yourself in a bad position if you don't hire the right attorney who has experience and who has handled the type of drug offense you have.
Drug Trafficking is the Business of Moving Drugs
Drug trafficking is kind of an umbrella term in Los Angeles. It has to do with the business of moving drugs — whether it be a mule who's just moving it in a car and gets caught on a wiretap by the feds or the state, or whether it be the supplier.
The person who's actually getting the drugs from inside the United States somewhere from inside Los Angeles, California or even from outside the country.
I see a lot of these drug trafficking cases are originating in countries like Costa Rica, Columbia Guatemala, Mexico. Sometimes multiple countries are involved.
It's being grown somewhere, then it's being trucked to another location, then ultimately it ends up coming into the United States. Somebody gets their hands on it and they get charged with drug trafficking.
Penalties for Drug Trafficking
Another little angle is selling the drugs. Who are the people who are selling the drugs? Making the money on the street? That's who the government is going to go after.
That's who the police and prosecutors go after and that's who the judges in Los Angeles county are going to punish and there are huge sentences on the line when it comes to a drug trafficking charge in Los Angeles county.
Sometimes there are minimum sentences. Sometimes there's enhancement for weight, meaning the amount of drugs that are involved, the type of drugs that are involved.
There's all sorts of different things to take into account when you're talking about these drug trafficking charges — whether you're on the low-end of it where the person's a user or just a common street seller, or whether it's a scenario where somebody is making thousands of dollars because they're the supplier.
They're the big person that negotiating the drug trafficking sales and they're trying to insulate themselves. In those cases, the prosecutors — and a lot of times even the police will try to get other lower level people to give information on the higher-ups to try to get to the source of the drugs.
The people that are really moving it — the people that are negotiating and the people that are making money — and the people that are dangerous that are using guns and threats to move drugs in Los Angeles.
Criminal Lawyer for Drug Trafficking Charges
These are the people that the prosecutors are going after and are targeting. But first, a lot of times they get the lower level people and then they move on to the smaller level people.
So, if you're involved in a drug trafficking case in Los Angeles, pick up the phone. Ask to speak to Ron Hedding. I've been doing this 26 years. I've worked for the DA's office. I've worked for a judge and I've been a criminal defense attorney now handling drug trafficking cases in Los Angeles in specific since 1994.
Hedding Law Firm is a criminal defense law firm located in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles County at 16000 Ventura Blvd #1208 Encino, CA 91436. Contact us for a free case evaluation at (213) 542-0979.
