News Releases and Statements

On the day of the takedown, officers executed 16 search warrants and seized 84.4 kilograms of methamphetamine, 4.5 kilograms of heroin, 10.4 kilograms of fentanyl, 7.6 kilograms of cocaine, 10.5 kilograms of marijuana, 687 Xanax pills, 3.1 kilograms of unknown pills, a quantity of bulk cash, five firearms, a 3D printer with manufactured ghost gun parts, and a liquid methamphetamine conversion lab.

On June 7, José Mendoza, 34, of Medanales, was sentenced to 10 years and four months in prison followed by four years of supervised release. Ryan Rodriguez, 29, of Chamita, was sentenced to four years in prison followed by three years of supervised release.

Juan Manuel Barajas-Magana, 35, pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine.

A Los Lunas man was sentenced to 10 years in prison for possessing with the intent to distribute 40 grams and more of fentanyl, and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, May 31. Esteban Renteria III pleaded guilty to those charges, July 26.

Sergio Ruiz, 57, was convicted by a federal grand jury on one count each of conspiracy to distribute 500 grams and more of a mixture and substance containing methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute 500 grams and more of a mixture and substance containing methamphetamine, and importation of 500 grams and more of a mixture and substance containing methamphetamine into the United States.

A federal grand jury returned a two-count indictment against Luis Alberto Garza Cisneros, 33.

Angel Dominguez Ramirez, Jr., 50, a former U.S. Marine with dual U.S. and Mexican citizenship, was sentenced in federal court June 1, to 195 months in prison for leading an international organization that transported large quantities of cocaine from South America to Mexico and into the United States.

Saul Caro, 33, and the victim – identified on court records as M.S. – exchanged text messages on April 11, 2021, to coordinate the sale of counterfeit oxycodone pills laced with fentanyl, according to the plea agreement. Caro delivered the pills to M.S.’s residence.

Unlawfully present Salvadoran citizen, Jose Guzman Moreno, 62, was flown from Buffalo Niagara International Airport in Cheektowaga, New York to a staging area in Louisiana, prior to arriving in El Salvador International Airport in San Salvador on a flight coordinated by ICE’s Air Operations Unit. Upon arrival, the noncitizen was turned over to officials from El Salvador.

This was an undercover operation targeting the demand for commercial sex, sex buyers, and human trafficking, which led to 43 arrests for crimes including child sex trafficking, prostitution, drug charges, and misconduct involving weapons. The focus was on hotel prostitution and street prostitution enforcement.

Oscar S. Acuna, Jr., 35, of Tucson, Arizona, is scheduled to be sentenced July 12, before a United States District Judge.

Sergio Bustos-Cruz, 31, was indicted on two counts for A South Texas grand jury returned a two-count indictment for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine.

The subterranean passageway, stretching from Tijuana, Mexico to a warehouse in Otay Mesa, California just east of the port of entry, is estimated to be about 1,744 feet long, 61 feet deep and 4-feet in diameter, with reinforced walls, a rail system, electricity, and a ventilation system.

Gerardo Jimenez, 30, from Pharr, Texas, plead guilty May 11 for smuggling heroin and methamphetamines.

Robert Martinez Hinojosa, 63, Alice, Texas; and Matthew John Sayles, 42, Raul Benavides, 48, Juan Lebrado Pena, 31, and Gilberto Saldana Jr., 41, all of Corpus Christi, pleaded guilty to violating the RICO statute. Hinojosa received 268 months, while Sayles, Benavides, Pena and Saldana received respective sentences of 90, 108, 210 and 271 months.

Pedro Adan Sevilla, 25, of Phoenix, Arizona, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to smuggle goods from the United States, possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and possession of a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime.

Kory Mammen, 52, from Sioux City, Iowa, pled guilty on January 4, 2022, to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. In 2000 and 2011, Mammen was convicted in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

Heather Sorgdrager, age 41, from Sioux City, received the prison term after an October 18, 2021, guilty plea to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

Ana Luisa Ponce, 54, from Brownsville, Texas, was sentenced April 22 in federal court to 262 months in federal prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. At the hearing, the court heard Ponce had admitted to previously transporting narcotics for the same drug trafficking organization.

On April 19, a federal grand jury returned a multi-count indictment against the following citizens of Mexico, Oscar Obed Manzanares, 22, Jose Bernardo Gonzalez-Gomez, 55, Jose Santiago Luna-Duran, 45, Arlando Garcia-Garcia, 40, and Martin Vela-Alanis, 58, both legal permanent residents from Edinburg, Texas; and Martin Adrusbel Vela, 35, also from Edinburg.

Donovan Lang, 27, from Sioux City, Iowa, pled guilty on November 19, 2021, to one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

William Hageman, 56, from rural Cherokee County, Iowa, pled guilty on December 17, 2021, to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and possession of firearms by a prohibited person.

A total of 13 people were arrested Wednesday in connection to a large-scale narcotics trafficking operation following an investigation by multiple federal law enforcement agencies, including ICE's HSI special agents in Kentucky.

Luke Law, 20, from Dallas, Texas, was sentenced April 14 in federal court to 60 months in federal prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. In handing down the sentence, the judge ordered the defendant to speak to high school students at least three times a year about avoiding drugs and avoiding the choices he made.

Jonathan Mefford was sentenced for selling fentanyl-laced pills that caused the death of a 20-year-old Chula Vista man, identified in court records as J.P., in October 2018, and for distributing multi-pound level quantities of methamphetamine from San Diego to Kansas.