On eve of trial Mexican man instead pleads guilty in south Texas to trafficking 45 pounds of methamphetamine

LAREDO, Texas — A Mexican man was convicted Wednesday of possession with intent to distribute more than 500 grams of methamphetamine, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson, Southern District of Texas.

Andres Villarreal-Parades, 28, of Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, was set to begin trial Thursday, but he opted to plead guilty to the charges Wednesday.

These charges resulted from an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Texas police departments of Freer and Laredo, and the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force.

Parades admitted trafficking 20.5 kilograms (45 pounds) of crystal methamphetamine with a 95 percent purity level.

On July 28, 2014, authorities arrested co-conspirator Gilberto Jorge Rodriguez for a traffic violation, and they seized 20.5 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine. Upon further investigation, authorities identified Villarreal-Parades as the person who arranged the drug load.

Villarreal-Parades was arrested Aug. 21, 2014, and telephones were seized that were associated with the drug conspiracy. Through analysis of the seized phones, HSI special agents were able to connect the two defendants, and they discovered a drug operation that shipped large bulk methamphetamine from Laredo to Houston and Dallas.

The conspiracy spanned February through July 2014, during which time about 100 kilograms (220 pounds) of methamphetamine, valued at millions of dollars, were moved throughout the United States.

Rodriguez, 48, of Laredo, pleaded guilty to the same methamphetamine trafficking  charges in December 2014.

U.S. District Judge Marina Garcia-Marmolejo, who accepted both of the pleas, will set sentencing a later date. At that hearing, each faces a minimum of 10 years and up to life in federal prison, and a possible $10 million maximum fine.

Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) Sanjeev Bhasker and former AUSA Raul Guerra prosecuted the case.