FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
ANGELA DODGE |
Sept. 15, 2010 |
PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICER |
(713) 567-9388 |
OPERATION X-MEN NETS TWO ROMA POLICE OFFICERS AND OTHERS FOR ALLEGEDLY CONSPIRING TO TRAFFICK MARIJUANA
(MCALLEN, Texas) - Two members of the Roma, Texas, Police Department (RPD) were arrested yesterday along with five others as the result of a federal indictment charging each with conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute more than 50 kilograms of marijuana since August 2006, United States Attorney José Angel Moreno and acting Special Agent in Charge Thomas Hinojosa of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced today.
The indictment, the result of a year-long Organized Crime Drug Task Force investigation dubbed Operation X-Men, was returned under seal by a Houston grand jury on Aug. 26, 2010. The one-count indictment was partially unsealed yesterday following enforcement action by agents and officers of the DEA, Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigations, the Starr County High Intensity Drug Task Force, the Fort Bend and Harris County Sheriff’s Offices, the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) resulting in the arrest of RPD officer Jose Omar Garcia, 30, and his brother, RPD officer Roel Roberto Garcia, 36. Their father, Roel Garcia, 61, was also arrested yesterday in Roma along with Marco Arturo Garcia Jr., 28; Anabell Granados Garcia, 48; Jesus Manuel Garcia, 48; and Alejandro Garcia, 22. All were arrested without incident.
The United States will seek the continued detention of each of the defendants without bond pending trial at their initial appearance in McAllen, Texas, expected today. The case will be prosecuted in Houston.
The indictment remains sealed as to others charged but as yet not in custody.
The conspiracy count charged against each of the defendants carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison, a maximum fine of $1,000,000 and at least three years supervised release following any term of incarceration which may be imposed. There is no parole in the federal system.
The indictment is the result of Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Operation X-Men, an investigation affiliated with Project Deliverance, the largest Department of Justice Special Operations Division (SOD) operation to date targeting Mexican Drug Cartel infrastructure and transportation cells throughout the United States with special emphasis on the Southwest Border. The project originally consisted of 15 SOD operations and more than 141 investigations in 38 federal judicial districts in 30 states across the United States. Project Deliverance continues to have the support of Attorney General Holder, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and involve agents of the ATF, DEA, FBI, United States Marshals Service and DHS’s Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations as well as state and local law enforcement agencies and federal and state prosecutors.
Assistant United States Attorney Shelley J. Hicks is prosecuting the case.
An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence.
A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until convicted through due process of law.
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