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Press Release

Mexican National Sentenced to Prison for Participating in Marijuana Trafficking and Money Laundering Ring Operating in Southeastern New Mexico and West Texas

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of New Mexico
Drug Trafficking Organization Distributed Quantities of Marijuana from El Paso to Roswell to Lubbock

ALBUQUERQUE – Christian Hugo Contreras, 34, a Mexican national residing in El Paso, Tex., was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to 97 months in prison for his role in a marijuana trafficking and money laundering ring operating in southeastern New Mexico and west Texas. Contreras will be deported after completing his prison sentence.

 

Contreras was one of twelve defendants facing drug trafficking and money laundering charges as the result of a multi-agency investigation targeting marijuana traffickers and money launderers operating in southeastern New Mexico and west Texas. The charges against the defendants, which are contained in three separate federal indictments, were the result of an investigation that began in Oct. 2014, and initially targeted a marijuana trafficking organization allegedly led by Rodolfo Lopez, 33, of El Paso, that transported marijuana from El Paso to Chaves County, N.M., and Lubbock, Tex. The investigation expanded to include two smaller drug trafficking organizations that transported marijuana to Lubbock through Chaves County and Eddy County, N.M. The investigation was designated as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program, 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.

 

In one case, ten of the members of the marijuana importation and distribution ring, including Contreras, were charged in a 42-count indictment with drug trafficking and money laundering conspiracies and a series of drug and money laundering substantive offenses. The indictment charged all ten defendants with participating in a marijuana trafficking conspiracy between Nov. 2014 and April 2015 that distributed more than 100 kilograms of marijuana in Chaves County and other places. It also charged six of the defendants with participating in a conspiracy to launder the proceeds of their marijuana trafficking activities. Two defendants were charged with maintaining premises in Roswell, N.M., for the purpose of storing marijuana, and three defendants were charged with using a communications facility, telephones, to further the commission of drug trafficking crimes. The indictment also included 26 counts charging certain defendants with drug trafficking crimes and two counts charging certain defendants with money laundering.

 

In a separate case, Contreras and four other defendants were charged in another marijuana trafficking conspiracy. The indictment in that case charged the defendants with participating in a marijuana trafficking conspiracy between March 1, 2015 and March 24, 2015, in Chaves County. It also charged four of the defendants with possessing marijuana in Eddy County on March 23, 2015, with the intention of distributing it to others.

 

A third case charged three defendants with conspiracy to commit a marijuana trafficking crime in Eddy County between Feb. 12, 2015 and Feb. 26, 2015. Two of the defendants were also charged with possession of marijuana in Eddy County on Feb. 26, 2015, with the intention of distributing it to others.

 

On Nov. 13, 2015, Contreras entered guilty pleas in the two cases in which he was charged. With respect to the first case, Contreras pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute marijuana, conspiracy to commit money laundering, eight counts of using a communication device to facilitate drug trafficking crimes, and 11 counts of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, and money laundering. In the second case, Contreras pled guilty to two counts of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. In entering the guilty pleas, Contreras admitted that from Nov. 24, 2015 through April 11, 2015, he conspired with his co-defendants to transport between 100 and 400 kilograms of marijuana through New Mexico.

 

To date, ten of the 12 defendants charged in the three cases have entered guilty pleas and nine have been sentenced. Rodolfo Lopez, 31, of El Paso, and Emmanuel Lopez-Tellez, 33, a Mexican national have yet to be arrested and are considered fugitives. Charges in indictments are only accusations. All criminal defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

 

These cases are the result of an investigation by the Las Cruces offices of the DEA and IRS Criminal Investigation, the Hatch Police Department, the Sunland Police Department, the Chaves County Metro Narcotics Task Force, the Pecos Valley Drug Task Force, the Eddy County Sheriff’s Office. The El Paso office of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas and the Lubbock office of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas assisted in the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah M. Davenport of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office is prosecuting these cases.

 

The Chaves County Metro Narcotics Task Force is comprised of officers and investigators from the Chaves County Sheriff’s Office and the Roswell Police Department, and the Pecos Valley Drug Task Force is comprised of officers and investigators from the Artesia Police Department, Carlsbad Police Department, Eddy County Sheriff’s Office, FBI, HSI, the Probation and Parole Division of the New Mexico Corrections Department and the 5th Judicial District Attorney’s Office. Both Task Forces are part of the New Mexico HIDTA Region VI Drug Task Force. The High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program was created by Congress with the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988. HIDTA is a program of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) which provides assistance to federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies operating in areas determined to be critical drug-trafficking regions of the United States and seeks to reduce drug trafficking and production by facilitating coordinated law enforcement activities and information sharing.

Updated April 13, 2017

Topics
Drug Trafficking
Financial Fraud