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April 20, 2023Omaha, NE, United StatesNarcotics

Unlawfully present Mexican national sentenced to over 12 years for drug trafficking after HSI Kansas City probe

OMAHA, Neb. — Acting Special Agent in Charge for Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Kansas City Taekuk Cho and U.S. Attorney Steven Russell announced that Bartolo Roman-Tapia, 23, of Mexico, was sentenced on April 19, 2023, in federal court in Omaha for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine following an HSI probe.

U.S. District Court Judge Brian C. Buescher sentenced Roman-Tapia to 151 months’ imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system. After his release from prison, Roman-Tapia will be subject to removal. The judge also ordered him to serve a five-year term of supervised release.

On June 22, 2021, law enforcement officers executed a federal search warrant on a South Omaha apartment. HSI Kansas City special agents encountered Roman-Tapia locked inside the apartment’s bedroom, where they discovered 28 one-pound packages of methamphetamine, $18,754 in narcotics proceeds, two cellular telephones, a scale, money remitter receipts and a drug payment ledger, apartment keys, and a wallet with Roman-Tapia's identification. The money was previously forfeited to the United States as proceeds from narcotics trafficking.

HSI is the principal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel, and finance move. HSI’s workforce of more than 8,700 employees consists of more than 6,000 special agents assigned to 237 cities throughout the United States, and 93 overseas locations in 56 countries. HSI’s international presence represents DHS’s largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.

Learn more about HSI’s mission to combat drug trafficking in your community on Twitter @HSIKansasCity.

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