Moss Bluff Man Warehoused and Sold Large Quantities of Marijuana

LAFAYETTE, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that a Moss Bluff man pleaded guilty Wednesday to operating a marijuana sales and transport conspiracy that stretched from Texas to Louisiana.

Daniel Cantu-Lopez, 42, of Moss Bluff, La., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Richard T. Haik to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana. According to evidence presented at the guilty plea, Cantu-Lopez was warehousing large quantities of marijuana in Houston and distributing it out of his trailer in Moss Bluff.  He directed the transport and sales of marijuana from June 2013 to September of 2013 from locations in Texas and Louisiana. During the course of the investigation, 4.9 kilograms of marijuana were seized from conspirator Juan Antonio Garcia on June 25, 2013 during a traffic stop in Vinton, La.; 453 grams of marijuana were seized on July 1, 2013 from conspirator Bertoldo Tolo Labra while being delivered to Moss Bluff; 380 kilograms of marijuana were seized on July 13, 2013 in George West, Texas, from conspirator Jamie Garza who was driving a truck and horse trailer; 4.5 kilograms of marijuana were purchased by an undercover agent on July 17, 2013 from Cantu-Lopez’s common-law wife Lisa Long in Moss Bluff; and 537 kilograms of marijuana were seized in Houston on September 13, 2013 from a pickup truck driven by conspirator Juan Garcia.

Cantu-Lopez faces up to 40 years in prison, five years supervised release, and a $5 million fine. A sentencing date was not set.

The defendant was arrested as part of Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) Operation “Cajun Gallo.” The DEA, the George West Texas Police Department, and the Houston Police Department participated in this OCDETF investigation. The OCDETF program is a joint federal, state and local cooperative approach to combat drug trafficking and is the nation’s primary tool for disrupting and dismantling major drug trafficking organizations, targeting national and regional level drug trafficking organizations, and coordinating the necessary law enforcement entities and resources to disrupt or dismantle the targeted criminal organization and seize their assets.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Howard C. Parker is prosecuting the case.