Five Members of Mexican Drug Trafficking Organization Plead Guilty to Drug Trafficking and Money Laundering Charges

ALBUQUERQUE – Five of the 22 defendants charged with federal drug trafficking and international money laundering charges in a superseding indictment filed in Aug. 2017, entered guilty pleas in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., recently under plea agreements recommending sentences ranging from 36 months to 20 years of imprisonment.

Twenty-three defendants were charged on April 19, 2017, in a 44-count indictment, as the result of a 16-month DEA-led federal investigation targeting a Mexican drug trafficking organization (DTO) responsible for importing large quantities of heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine from Mexico, and distributing the drugs in New Mexico, Texas, Kansas, Kentucky and Illinois.  During the investigation, law enforcement authorities seized approximately 30 kilograms of heroin, 64 kilograms of methamphetamine, 17 kilograms of cocaine, 20 kilograms of marijuana, 24 firearms, $102,000 in currency, and three vehicles.  The investigation concluded in April 2017, with a multi-agency law enforcement operation that included the execution of arrest warrants in New Mexico and Texas, and six search warrants in El Paso, Tex., Sunland Park, N.M., Belen, N.M., and Albuquerque, N.M.

A superseding indictment was subsequently filed on Aug. 16, 2017, that included all of the charges from the indictment but removed one defendant.  The superseding indictment charged the 22 defendants with participating in a conspiracy to distribute heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine between April 2016 and April 2017.  It also charged nine of the defendants with participating in an international money laundering conspiracy during that same period in time.  The superseding indictment also charges certain defendants with engaging in a series of substantive drug trafficking and money laundering offenses, and using communication devices (telephones) to facilitate their criminal activities.  It charges one defendant with a firearms offense.

The superseding indictment included 77 overt acts allegedly committed by the defendants in furtherance of the drug trafficking conspiracy which describe the expansive sweep of the DTO’s drug distribution operation and the significant quantities of drugs involved.  For example, the overt acts alleged that the DTO’s drug trafficking and money laundering activities extended to Kentucky, where law enforcement officers seized $15,300 in drug proceeds from a courier who was transporting the money to New Mexico in April 2016; Oklahoma, where law enforcement officers seized 4.44 kilograms of methamphetamine from a courier in June 2016; and New Mexico, where law enforcement officers seized six kilograms of heroin and 3.56 kilograms of methamphetamine from a courier at a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint in Oct. 2016.

The superseding indictment also included forfeiture allegations, which sought forfeiture to the United States of the proceeds of the DTO’s drug trafficking and money-laundering activities, including $56,556 seized by the DEA during the investigation. 

The following five defendants have entered guilty pleas in the past two weeks:

• Jose Manuel Ortiz-Campos, 28, a legal permanent resident residing in El Paso, Texas, pleaded guilty on June 19, 2018, to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and heroin, conspiracy to commit international money laundering, possession of methamphetamine and heroin with intent to distribute, and international money laundering.  Ortiz-Campos admitted that in April 2017, he obtained drugs brought into the United States in the southern New Mexico and El Paso, Texas areas, and transported and delivered the drugs to Albuquerque and other locations.  Ortiz-Campos admitted  collecting drug proceeds for delivery to Mexico.  Under the terms of his plea agreement, Ortiz-Campos will be sentenced within the range of 180 to 240 months in federal prison and will then be deported.
• Manuel German Ibarra, 34, of Albuquerque, N.M., pled guilty on June 26, 2018 to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, conspiracy to commit international money laundering, using a communication facility in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and international money laundering.  Ibarra admitted that in April 2017, he worked with others to distribute drugs in New Mexico and other locations by receiving and storing drugs in Albuquerque.  Ibarra also delivered drug proceeds to couriers who transported the money to Mexico.  Ibarra was responsible for trafficking approximately 3.6 kilograms of methamphetamine and three kilograms of cocaine.  At sentencing, Ibarra faces a statutory mandatory minimum penalty of ten years and a maximum of life in federal prison.
• Daisy Hidalgo, 23, of Anthony, N.M., and Jasmine Lucia Soto, 20, of Chaparral, N.M., pled guilty on June 27, 2018, to conspiring to distribute methamphetamine and heroin, and possessing methamphetamine and heroin with intent to distribute.  Each admitted that in Nov. 2016, they drove or rode in vehicles loaded with drugs through checkpoints, and on Nov. 22, 2016, they were stopped for traffic violations in Belen, N.M., and law enforcement seized approximately 6.82 kilograms of pure methamphetamine and 3.0 kilograms of heroin from their vehicles.  At sentencing, Hidalgo faces a statutory mandatory minimum penalty of ten years and a maximum of life in federal prison.  Soto entered her guilty plea under a plea agreement recommending a sentence of 36 months of imprisonment.
• Today, Diego Armando Rivas-Aguilar, 24, of El Paso, Texas, pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and heroin, and to using a communication device in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.  Rivas-Aguilar admitted that between April 2016 and Feb. 2017, he maintained a stash house in El Paso, Texas, where he distributed drugs imported into the United States, and the drugs were then transported to Albuquerque and other locations.  Rivas-Aguilar admitted that during this period, law enforcement agents seized approximately 15.2 kilograms of methamphetamine and 11.38 kilograms of heroin that had been delivered to the stash house and that Rivas-Aguilar subsequently delivered to transportation crews within the DTO.  Rivas-Aguilar pled guilty under a plea agreement recommending a sentence of 63 months of imprisonment followed by a term of supervised release to be determined by the court. 

To date, eight of the 22 defendants have entered guilty pleas and are awaiting sentencing.  Twelve defendants have entered pleas of not guilty and are pending trial.  Three defendants have yet to be arrested and are considered fugitives.  Charges in indictments and criminal complaints are only accusations.  All criminal defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

The Las Cruces and Albuquerque offices of the DEA conducted the investigation with assistance from the U.S. Border Patrol, New Mexico State Police and Hatch Police Department.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Selesia L. Winston and Sarah M. Davenport of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office are prosecuting the cases as part of the OCDETF Program and the New Mexico Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education (HOPE) Initiative. 

The OCDETF Program is a nationwide Department of Justice program that combines the resources and unique expertise of federal agencies, along with their local counterparts, in a coordinated effort to disrupt and dismantle major drug trafficking organizations.

The HOPE Initiative was launched in January 2015 by the UNM Health Sciences Center and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in response to the national opioid epidemic, which has had a disproportionately devastating impact on New Mexico.  Opioid addiction has taken a toll on public safety, public health and the economic viability of our communities.  Working in partnership with the DEA, the Bernalillo County Opioid Accountability Initiative, Healing Addiction in our Community (HAC), the Albuquerque Public Schools and other community stakeholders, HOPE’s principal goals are to protect our communities from the dangers associated with heroin and opioid painkillers and reducing the number of opioid-related deaths in New Mexico.  The HOPE Initiative is comprised of five components:  (1) prevention and education; (2) treatment; (3) law enforcement; (4) reentry; and (5) strategic planning.  HOPE’s law enforcement component is led by the Organized Crime Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the DEA in conjunction with their federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement partners.  Targeting members of major heroin and opioid trafficking organizations for investigation and prosecution is a priority of the HOPE Initiative.