Rebecca Zisser/BI
This article was reported in partnership with Type Investigations.
On June 14, 2016, several agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement loaded a van with 2,000 pounds of marijuana, drove it to a busy shopping center in Chula Vista, California, and parked it outside of a Starbucks. There, an undercover agent, Special Agent Ronaldo Gonzalez, had a plan to make a sale.
When the intended buyers, members of a known drug-trafficking organization, fell through, a contact helped him find another last-minute option, according to court documents. First, the contact showed up with two unknown potential buyers, whom Gonzalez later described as "kids," then two more young people appeared.