11 arrested for trafficking heroin and meth throughout south Texas

LAREDO, Texas – Eleven members of a heroin and methamphetamine trafficking group were arrested Thursday throughout the Southern District of Texas and elsewhere for their involvement in a large-scale drug conspiracy, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson, Southern District of Texas.

The Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) case was conducted by U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Drug Enforcement Administration and the Texas Department of Public Safety.

According to an indictment returned under seal July 23, the group allegedly was responsible for smuggling heroin and methamphetamine from Mexico into the United States at ports of entry from San Diego, Calif., to Brownsville, Texas. Authorities allegedly intercepted shipments of drugs totaling 131 kilograms of heroin and 31 kilograms of methamphetamine. The drugs were transported utilizing private vehicles and were seized at the ports of entry or border checkpoints, according to the indictment.

The following defendants were arrested Thursday: Luis Daniel Aguilar, 22, Eduardo Aguilar-Vera, 37, Juan Trevino, 23, and Jose Librado Sanchez-Guerra, 29, all of Laredo; Edgar Loera, 30, and Antonio De Jesus Mejia-Contreras, 23, both of Mira Loma, Calif.; Clementina Aguilar-Castillo, 29, and Ericka Pina, 37, both of Corpus Christi; Eduardo Segura, 22, of Tucson, Ariz.; Leticia Corona, 37, of Dallas; and Miguel Angel Vives-Macias, 34, of San Antonio.

All defendants are charged with conspiring to import and possessing with intent to distribute controlled substances and face up to 10 years in federal prison and a possible $10 million fine upon conviction. Aguilar, Loera, Aguilar-Vera and Trevino are also charged with conspiring to launder monetary instruments. If convicted, they face up to 20 years in prison and a maximum $500,000 fine. The substantive counts of heroin and/or methamphetamine trafficking carry varying terms of federal imprisonment, up to a possibility of life, depending upon the amount of drugs involved.

Assistant U.S. Attorney José Angel Moreno, Southern District of Texas, is prosecuting this case.

An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence. A defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.