A look at a warehouse near near Interstate 15 and Bonanza Road that was allegedly used by a Metro Police officer and his brother-in-law to store illegal marijuana, Thursday May 7, 2020.
Friday, May 8, 2020 | 12:10 a.m.
From his ranch-style home in the southern Las Vegas Valley, the firefighter assured the prospective marijuana buyer that the illicit operation was safeguarded from the law.
Eduardo “Lalo” Garcia allegedly said to the client that his associates were his local cop “brother,” and a Las Vegas businessman with political pull, according to Metro Police arresting documents.
Their enterprise had protection from “all angles,” Garcia said. They even had a chemist who created the perfect THC potion to transform dozens of pounds of legal hemp into marijuana, he said.
The protection, as it turns out, was a myth. The buyer was a confidential informant working with Metro, which had been investigating one of their own officers, Jesus Najera, who was suspected of conspiring with Garcia.
The meeting on March 26 inside Garcia’s garage in the 2300 block of East Camero Avenue — where 30 marijuana plants were lined up — was also under surveillance by detectives.
Following a series of SWAT raids, including at Najera’s apartment on April 30, where police found baggies of cocaine, 10 prescription opioid pills and a dose of ecstasy, the disgraced officer and Garcia were arrested.
Norberto Madrigal, their alleged associate who owned the warehouse where the hemp was believed to be sprayed with THC oil, hasn’t been charged, according to court logs. He’s the owner of demolition and cleaning companies, as well as a pair of legal marijuana-related businesses, police said.
Jesus Najera
Eduardo Garcia
Reached by phone, Madrigal said he had no comment and directed the Sun to his lawyer, who he didn’t name.
Police reports indicate Garcia bragged to the potential buyer that their operation was secure because Najera was working on getting promoted to detective with Metro and would be able to alert him of a police raid.
And Madrigal, Garcia said, was a board member with the Latin Chamber of Commerce Nevada and knew influential people. Chamber officials say Madrigal was nothing more than a volunteer who hasn’t been part of the group in some time.
Garcia, 46, a supervisor with the Nevada Division of Forestry, was booked on one count each of conspiracy to violate the Uniform Controlled Substance Act, trafficking of marijuana, trafficking of THC, possession of marijuana with intent to sell, sale of marijuana and unlawful production and manufacture of the drug. He remained at the Clark County Detention Center Thursday.
Najera, 34, who was hired by Metro in 2016, was jailed on three counts of conspiracy to violate the Uniform Controlled Substances Act and one count each of trafficking of THC, trafficking of marijuana and possession of cocaine, police said. He’s out on bond, according to jail logs.
Najera, who was assigned to Metro’s downtown Las Vegas substation, was placed on leave without pay following his arrest, police said.
It wasn’t clear if the pair, described by police as former brothers in law, had attorneys who could speak on their behalf.
A “source of information” told counterterrorism investigators in early February about the illicit enterprise, saying he was a friend of Madrigal’s and providing enough details for detectives to start their investigation.
About two weeks later, the informant met with Najera in a meeting monitored by detectives, police said.
Najera had discussed selling 90 pounds of THC-sprayed hemp to an out-of-state buyer and having 350 additional pounds for sale, police said. He’d mentioned both Garcia and Madrigal’s involvement, implying they split the earnings equally.
When running surveillance on Garcia, detectives followed him to Madrigal’s warehouse at 800 W. Mesquite Ave., near Interstate 15 and Bonanza Road, where he was seen loading black plastic bags onto a flatbed work truck on March 6. The informant told detectives that Garcia had spoken about having to move the illicit marijuana because the warehouse was going to be inspected.
Garcia, Najera and Madrigal were seen meeting at the warehouse two days later, police said. On March 10, detectives spotted a Clark County code enforcer walking with Madrigal through the building.
Later that month, the police source introduced another informant to Garcia, according to the documents. A sale for a pound of the THC-sprayed hemp was arranged with Metro-provided money.
By that time, Garcia had told the first informant that Madrigal had allegedly sold 50 pounds of the product behind his associates’ backs, and that he was trying to link up with Colombians to produce his own THC oil to sell. Police said he spoke about selling the remaining 200 pounds of product.
On March 26, the second informant met at Garcia’s home, where Garcia said he wanted to eventually transition to the legal pot business. The client bought a pound of supposed THC-sprayed marijuana. Police tested the pound of product, which didn’t test for marijuana.
Days later, the first informant met with Garcia and Najera and spoke about the sale, the business and other illicit activities. Garcia said the hemp would have to be sprayed again but that it would drive up the cost. Another Metro-observed sale to the second informant followed. This time the test confirmed the sample to be marijuana.
More controlled sales followed: one for 2 pounds, then another for an additional 2 pounds, police said. Eventually, the informant offered to buy the entire product. By this time police had cracked the operation.
Tests for the plant were pending, according to the documents.
At Garcia’s house, they found 32 plants of marijuana in the garage, police said. Under Nevada law, a resident can grow no more than 12 pot plants at home.
