California Man Indicted for Large-Scale Meth Distribution

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a California man was indicted by a federal grand jury today for attempting to sell a large amount of methamphetamine to an undercover law enforcement officer.

Javier Corona-Verduzco, 33, of Montclair, Calif., was charged in a two-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo. Today’s indictment replaces a federal criminal complaint that was filed against Corona-Verduzco on April 4, 2016.

Today’s indictment charges Corona-Verduzco with one count of possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute and one count of illegally reentering the United States after having been deported.

According to an affidavit filed in support of the original criminal complaint, Corona-Verduzco was attempting to sell pound quantities of methamphetamine to a confidential informant. Corona-Verduzco allegedly told the confidential informant that he had a large quantity of methamphetamine and was looking for customers to purchase multiple pound quantities.

The confidential informant told Corona-Verduzco that he/she knew someone who was interested in purchasing pounds of methamphetamine. According to the indictment, Corona-Verduzco agreed to meet the confidential informant and this acquaintance, who was actually an undercover law enforcement officer, on March 31, 2016. Corona-Verduzco met with the confidential informant and the undercover officer at a location in Kansas City, Kan., the affidavit says, and offered to sell 15 pounds of methamphetamine for approximately $80,000. Corona-Verduzco allegedly agreed to conduct the transaction at a house in Kansas City, Kan.

Corona-Verduzco and the confidential informant allegedly drove to a house in Kansas City, Mo., so that the confidential informant could check the quality of the methamphetamine for sale. At that location, the affidavit says, the confidential informant saw approximately 2.5 pounds of methamphetamine in a bag.

Corona-Verduzco was arrested the next day. According to the affidavit, he had told both the confidential informant and the undercover officer that the 15 pounds of methamphetamine he was attempting to sell them was in a gray Chevrolet Tahoe. Law enforcement officers located the Tahoe parked in front of the Kansas City, Mo., residence where Corona-Verduzco had taken the confidential informant the day before. Law enforcement officers found seven packages of methamphetamine, totaling 6.814 kilograms (approximately 15 pounds), hidden in a hollow compartment behind the driver’s side rear panel. Officers also found 400 grams of methamphetamine inside the residence.

According to the affidavit, Corona-Verduzco had been previously deported after being convicted of a felony.

Dickinson cautioned that the charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Q. McCarther. It was investigated by the Kansas City, Kan., Police Department, the Blue Springs, Mo., Police Department, Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Jackson County Drug Task Force.