LEADERS OF DRUG TRAFFICKING RING
TARGETED BY OPERATION SODA POP
HIT WITH SENTENCES OF 10 YEARS AND MORE

KANSAS CITY, KAN. – Leaders of a Kansas City, Kan., drug ring targeted by a federal drug enforcement investigation called Operation Soda Pop are drawing sentences of 10 years or more in prison.

“The government has seized more than $1.8 million in cash and property from the members of this far-reaching conspiracy to flood the market in the Kansas City metropolitan area with marijuana and cocaine from Mexico,” said U.S. Attorney Eric Melgren. “This was a carefully planned and executed criminal enterprise in which the conspirators tried to disguise their conduct behind seemingly legitimate storefronts, frequent trips to Mexico in vehicles modified with hidden compartments and furtive cellular phone conversations conducted in a coded language.”

Operation Soda Pop, an organized crime drug enforcement task force operation announced Sept. 4, 2004, has resulted so far in the convictions of 16 conspirators. Among those who have been sentenced:

• Dennis Goyer was sentenced to 300 months in prison.
• Gerardo Reyes-Lopez was sentenced Nov. 21 to 151 months.
• Bill Joe Antle was sentenced Nov. 15 to 108 months.
• Oswaldo F. Pozo was sentenced in September to 151 months.
• Daniel Moreno was sentenced in August to 135 months.
• Norma J. Renteria was sentenced in July to 120 months.

Upcoming sentencing hearings include: Lewis Lamonte Smith (2/5/07); Maria Hernandez (1/8/07); Sigfredo Paez (1/8/07); Jacinto E. Hernandez (1/2/07); Sandra Etters (12/18/06); Carlos Roberto Ortega (11/27/06); Eduardo Agramon-Castro (11/27/06); Mauricio A. Garces (12/18/06).

Others charged in the case who already have been sentenced include Jesus Casteaneda (33 months); and Germain Devia (time served).

Operation Soda Pop was an 18-month investigation coordinated by the Drug Enforcement Administration with the assistance of the Kansas City, Kan., Police Department, the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation Division and other federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.

A federal grand jury indictment returned in August 2004 charged that from Jan. 1, 2002, through Aug. 11, 2004, a multi-national drug transportation and distribution organization organized the shipment of marijuana and cocaine from Mexico through El Paso, Texas, into the Kansas City area. The indictment alleged that the organization transported marijuana and cocaine using commercial trucks, passenger vehicles, and trailers and
that cash derived from the sale and distribution of the cocaine and marijuana was collected, packaged, concealed in motor vehicles and transported to El Paso, Texas, and then on to various locations in Mexico. The indictment alleged that proceeds from the sale of the cocaine and marijuana were also used to purchase personal and real property in Texas, Kansas, Missouri, and Mexico.

According to court documents:

– Conspirators purchased an automobile repair business, Anaco Transmission, in Merriam, Kan., where marijuana and cocaine was received and distributed.
– Marijuana also was delivered from El Paso, Texas, to a turf farm in Stillwell, Kan..
– Members of the organization traveled to El Paso, Texas, to coordinate the shipments of marijuana and cocaine to the Kansas City area. They conspired to distribute approximately 11,272 kilograms (approximately 24,798 pounds) of marijuana and approximately 293 kilograms (approximately 644 pounds) of cocaine from Jan. 1, 2002, through Aug. 11, 2004.

Melgren said the Drug Enforcement Administration received vital assistance in the investigation from the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation; the Bureau of Immigration and Custom Enforcement; the Kansas City, Kan., Police Department; the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office; and the Overland Park Police Department. Other agencies also assisted with the investigation and the execution of search warrants including the FBI; the Missouri Highway Patrol; the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department; the Kansas Highway Patrol; the Jackson County Drug Task Force; the U.S. Marshals Service; and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri.

Melgren commended Assistant U.S. Attorney Tris Hunt, Assistant U.S. Attorney Marietta Parker, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Christensen and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney David Zabel,x` who prosecuted the case.

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