Members of the Los Angeles Strike Force arrested eight defendants named in a federal grand jury indictment that alleges a drug trafficking organization operating in Los Angeles and Riverside counties distributed large quantities of methamphetamine, heroin, fentanyl and other narcotics across the United States. The defendants arrested today – and nine others who are still being sought by authorities – are charged in a 20-count indictment that outlines an 18-month investigation that led to multiple seizures of narcotics, firearms and approximately $1.5 million in drug proceeds. The indictment alleges that the drug ring was headed by Rigoberto Sanchez Martinez, 36, of Perris, who obtained wholesale quantities of narcotics, oversaw their storage, and coordinated distribution of the drugs to locations that included the states of Washington and New York. Martinez was one of the eight defendants arrested this morning.