California Man Indicted for Smuggling Fentanyl Aboard Train

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A Bakersfield, California, man was indicted by a federal grand jury today for smuggling more than six kilograms of fentanyl through Kansas City aboard a train enroute to St. Louis, Mo.

Cesar Angulo Ramos, 18, was charged with possessing fentanyl with the intent to distribute in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo. Today’s indictment replaces a federal criminal complaint that was filed against Ramos on Sept. 26, 2023.

Ramos was a passenger on a train from Los Angeles, Calif., passing through Kansas City, Mo., enroute to St. Louis on Sept. 25, 2023. According to an affidavit filed in support of the original criminal complaint, Ramos was contacted by members of the DEA Kansas City Interdiction Task Force and the Missouri Western Interdiction Narcotics (MOWIN) Task Force after a police dog reacted to the apparent odor of controlled substances as it pulled toward Ramos at the train station.

Officers searched Ramos’s duffle bag, the affidavit says, and found 43 clear plastic bags that contained counterfeit M30 pills with fentanyl, which weighed a total of approximately 4.769 kilograms. Officers also searched a pillow Ramos was carrying that contained two bundles of fentanyl wrapped in black tape, which weighed a total of approximately 2.123 kilograms.

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 D. Michael Green. It was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department.