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Press Release

One Guilty In Multimillion Dollar Cocaine Conspiracy

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Texas

LAREDO, Texas – Jose Gomez-Ramirez, 30, has entered a plea of guilty to conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson announced today.

A sealed indictment was returned by a grand jury on Nov. 6, 2012. The indictment alleged a drug trafficking organization transported more than 200 kilograms of cocaine from 2010 to 2011, much of which was intercepted by authorities en route to Dallas. Agents also intercepted nearly $1.5 in cash proceeds related to drug trafficking by this organization. Gomez-Ramirez was arrested after crossing into the United States from Mexico. 

Today, U.S. District Judge Diana Saldaña accepted the plea of Gomez-Ramirez, of Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, to this conspiracy. In the guilty plea, he admitted he helped with the transportation of drugs from Mexico to Dallas and the surrounding areas. Specifically, Gomez-Ramirez admitted to coordinating the transportation of a 123.4 kilogram seizure of cocaine on Feb. 11, 2011. 

Gomez-Ramirez faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and a maximum of life in prison as well as a $10 million fine.  The United States is also seeking a money judgment in the amount of $5,303,660 based on the amount of cocaine and money transported by the organization during the span of the conspiracy.

The case is the result of a four-year Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force investigation dubbed Operation Roadblock led by the Drug Enforcement Administration with the assistance of Homeland Security Investigations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the United States Marshals Service. Assistant United States Attorney James Hepburn is the Assistant United States Attorney handling the case.

Updated April 30, 2015