Forney resident sentenced for trafficking “ice” for Michoacan Cartel

LAREDO, Texas – A 40-year-old Texan has been sentenced for conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute approximately 19 kilograms of meth, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.

Ernesto Diaz-Velazquez pleaded guilty Dec. 6, 2022.

U.S. District Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo has now ordered Diaz-Velazquez to serve 84 months in federal prison. At the hearing, the court heard additional evidence that he trafficked meth “ice” in the city of Laredo. In handing down the sentence, the court noted the high-purity of meth and that it belonged to Michoacan Cartel. Judge Marmolejo admonished the defendant for seeking to distribute such a dangerous and disfiguring drug. 

On Sept. 5, 2017, authorities launched an investigation into suspected drug trafficking across the local port of entry. It led to Diaz-Velazquez as the individual who took possession of approximately 18.58 kilograms of pure meth at a local store parking lot. He received the high-purity meth in liquid form. 

The investigation revealed the Michoacan Cartel was the ultimate source of the drug supply. 

Diaz-Velazquez was permitted to remain on bond and voluntarily surrender to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

The Drug Enforcement Administration conducted the investigation with assistance from the Laredo Police Department as part of an OCDETF operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, mutlti-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found on the Department of Justice’s OCDETF webpage.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Francisco J. Rodriguez is prosecuting the case.