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69 Arrested on Federal Drug Trafficking/Money Laundering Charges Filed in Western District of Texas Under Project Deliverance
Arrests Part of Nationwide Crackdown on Members and Associates of Several Mexican-Based Drug Trafficking Organizations

U.S. Attorney’s Office June 10, 2010
  • Western District of Texas (210) 384-7100

Sixty-nine people have been arrested on federal charges filed in the Western District of Texas as part of a nationwide crackdown on alleged members and associates of several Mexican-based Drug Trafficking Organizations called Project Deliverance. Project Deliverance in the Western District of Texas has resulted in the seizure of approximately 6,800 pounds of marijuana, over 520 kilograms of cocaine, approximately seven kilograms of methamphetamine and an estimated $2.37 million worth of alleged criminally derived assets.

That announcement was made earlier today in El Paso by United States Attorney John E. Murphy; Joseph M. Arabit, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, El Paso Field Division; David Cuthbertson, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, El Paso Division; Manuel Oyola-Torres, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office of Investigations in El Paso; James Maxwell, Supervisory Special Agent of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation in El Paso; Ana Hinojosa, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Director of Field Operations; Randy Hill, U.S. Border Patrol El Paso Sector Chief; Robert Champion, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives, Dallas Field Division; El Paso Police Chief Greg Allen and El Paso County Sheriff Richard Wiles.

Federal charges filed in El Paso, Midland and Alpine include operating a Continuing Criminal Enterprise (CCE), conspiracy to import controlled substances (marijuana, cocaine, heroin and/or methamphetamine), conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Project Deliverance included:

  • Ten defendants charged in an indictment in El Paso targeting a drug trafficking/money laundering network based in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. Defendants include Juarez residents Jesus Rodrigo Fierro-Ramirez and Arturo Lozano-Mendez. From January 2000 until June 2010, this organization was allegedly responsible for the smuggling of more than 150 kilograms of cocaine into the United States and attempting to transport back to Mexico from Chicago, Mississippi and Kansas more than $1.5 million in drug proceeds.
  • Five defendants, including Reyes Lopez and Santiago Perez-Pinion, charged in a related indictment returned in El Paso with drug trafficking offenses. This group allegedly transported cocaine and hundreds of kilograms of marijuana to various cities in the United States. The indictment also seeks the criminal forfeiture of three properties in El Paso which were used to further the drug trafficking conspiracy.
  • Eleven members of a Ciudad Juarez/El Paso-based drug trafficking organization led by Carlos Mario Gomez-Muro (aka Cacho) indicted in El Paso for conspiring to possess with intent to distribute marijuana. The indictment also charges Mexican citizen Veronica Cortez-Cruz, a high-level associate of Gomez. Since March 2009, this organization was allegedly responsible for the smuggling and distribution of hundreds of kilograms of cocaine.
  • Multiple indictments returned in El Paso charging 11 defendants including Victor Vargas-Montes and his drug trafficking/money laundering network based in Ciudad Juarez/El Paso. For two months beginning in July 2007, this organization was allegedly responsible for the smuggling of more than 150 kilograms of cocaine into the United States. From July 2009 to February 2010, this organization was also responsible for the smuggling of more than 2,500 pounds of marijuana. During this time period, authorities also seized more than $800,000 in drug proceeds. The indictment also seeks the criminal forfeiture of two of Vargas-Montes’ homes in El Paso which he used to further his drug trafficking conspiracy.
  • A nine-defendant indictment in El Paso charging Victor Hugo Porras Lara and his drug distribution network based in El Paso. Since April 2009, this organization was allegedly responsible for the distribution of more than 150 kilograms of cocaine and more than 150 kilograms of marijuana from El Paso to Phoenix, Detroit, Atlanta and Wichita, Kansas.
  • A six-defendant indictment in El Paso charging Fernando Garcia-Baeza (aka El Ingeniero) and his drug distribution network based in Ciudad Juarez/El Paso. Since January 2009, this organization was allegedly responsible for the distribution of more than 20 kilograms of cocaine and approximately one pound of methamphetamine from El Paso to North Carolina and New York. The indictment also seeks the criminal forfeiture of $85,150 in drug proceeds.
  • Eleven members of a Ciudad Juarez/El Paso-based drug trafficking organization, including Pedro Antonio Palma-Rios, indicted in El Paso for conspiring to possess with intent to distribute cocaine. Since March 2009, this organization was allegedly responsible for the transportation of hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from El Paso to Kansas City, Memphis and Chicago. Authorities seized 14 kilograms of cocaine in Memphis in April 2009; 108 kilograms of cocaine in El Paso in August 2009; and, 15 kilograms of cocaine in Kansas City in October 2009.
  • A four-defendant indictment returned in El Paso charging Roberto Uribe-Zubiate and his marijuana distribution network based in Ciudad Juarez/El Paso. The indictment also charges Mario Rigoberto Mireles-Zubiate, who allegedly coordinated the transportation of marijuana in the United States. During the course of this investigation, agents seized 2,200 pounds of marijuana from a tractor trailer in Sierra Blanca, Texas.
  • An eight-defendant indictment returned in El Paso charging Arturo Herrera-Moreno and Edilberto Herrera-Moreno and their drug distribution network based in Ciudad Juarez/El Paso. From August 2009 until March 2010, this organization was allegedly responsible for the distribution of large quantities of cocaine from Mexico to Atlanta, New York and Chicago, and returning large amounts of currency to Mexico through El Paso.
  • A nine-defendant indictment charging Raul Santos (aka Candelario or Pariente) and his drug distribution/money laundering network based in Ciudad Juarez. Since January 2005, this organization was allegedly responsible for the distribution of more than 100 kilograms of cocaine and more than 50 kilograms of marijuana from El Paso to Chicago, Illinois and California. Members of the organization also allegedly laundered over $1.8 million in drug proceeds during that same time period.
  • A 16-defendant indictment returned in Midland charging a drug trafficking/money laundering network based out of Ciudad Juarez led by Luis Enrique Loya-Alcaraz (aka Guero) and Jorge Aguilar. The indictment alleges that from January 2006 until May 2010, this organization was allegedly responsible for the smuggling and distribution of more than 150 kilograms of cocaine to North Carolina, Kansas, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Florida and South Carolina. This organization was also responsible for the attempted transportation of more than $3.5 million in drug proceeds back to Mexico.

An indictment is merely a charge and should not be considered as evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Project Deliverance resulted from investigations conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration; Federal Bureau of Investigation; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation; U.S. Customs and Border Protection; U.S. Border Patrol; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; U.S. Marshals Service; Texas Department of Public Safety; Police Departments from El Paso, Alpine, Andrews, Fort Stockton, Midland, Odessa and Pecos; and, Sheriff’s Offices from El Paso, Andrews, Brewster, Ector, Hudspeth, Midland and Pecos counties.

Project Deliverance is part of the Department of Justice’s Southwest Border Strategy, announced in March 2009, which uses intelligence-driven, federal prosecutor-led task forces that bring together federal, state and local law enforcement components to identify, disrupt and dismantle the Mexican drug cartels through investigation, prosecution and extradition of their key leaders and facilitators, and seizure and forfeiture of their assets. Through continued joint cooperation at all levels of the Obama and Calderon administrations, the Department of Justice and its partners are actively working to stem the flow of illegal narcotics, weapons and bulk cash moving across the U.S./Mexico border.

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