According to the Riverside Police Department, officers launched a School Threat Assessment and Response (STAR) investigation Monday night after parents from Central Middle School flagged a concerning Instagram post.

Police said the post showed a student holding what looked like a gun and contained a list of classmates’ names. Investigators worked through the night to identify the boy with help from the school resource officer.

According to police, a search of the student’s home uncovered a “realistic” toy gun, and the boy was arrested and booked into juvenile detention on suspicion of making criminal threats and conspiracy. Investigators said they expected a second student would also be charged with conspiracy.

The arrest comes amid a wave of similar social media threats reported in Southern California and nationally in recent weeks, leading to the arrests of students as young as 11.

Police in Riverside ask that threatening posts be reported to the city’s non-emergency line at 951-354-2007. Social media posts that suggest potential school violence, but without a specific threat, can be reported via the Atlas 1 mobile app.

The post Riverside Middle Schooler Arrested For Alleged School Threat appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

RIVERSIDE, CA — This week, a 51-year-old Riverside County man was sentenced to 21 years in federal prison for his lead role in an operation that saw large quantities of methamphetamine trafficked from Mexico into the Inland Empire, prosecutors announced.

Timoteo Gomez, of Riverside, was sentenced Monday by United States District Judge Jesus G. Bernal. He is the 16th conviction in the federal probe that targeted criminal activities of the Riverside-based Casa Blanca Rifa criminal street gang. According to prosecutors, the gang is responsible for drug trafficking and associated violence in Riverside and the surrounding community.

From at least April 2020 until August 2020, Gomez and others purchased methamphetamine from their suppliers in Mexico as well as Los Angeles and Riverside counties and distributed it across the Inland Empire, according to prosecutors.

In April 2020, Gomez and others smuggled 46.6 pounds of methamphetamine from Mexico across the U.S. port of entry at Calexico and into Riverside County. In May 2020, another co-conspirator attempted to drive a 90.4 pounds-load of methamphetamine into the United States from Mexico through the San Ysidro port of entry, prosecutors said.

“In total, law enforcement seized more than 150 pounds of methamphetamine and $31,035 in cash during this investigation,” according to the prosecutors.

Gomez has been in federal custody since his June 2021 arrest. He pleaded guilty in January 2022 to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

The FBI’s Inland Empire Safe Streets Task Force, which includes the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, IRS Criminal Investigation, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, and the Riverside Police Department, led the investigation into the operation.

During the investigation, the task force received assistance from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the U.S. Marshals Service.

The post Feds Target Casa Blanca Rifa Street Gang In Riverside County appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.