Texas Man Indicted for Trafficking Over 50 Pounds of Cocaine

Memphis, TN – A Brownsville, Texas man has been indicted for possession with intent to distribute cocaine and conspiracy to distribute cocaine. U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant for the Western District of Tennessee announced the indictment today.

According to the indictment, on September 25, 2017, officers with the West Tennessee Drug Task Force conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle heading east on I-40. A subsequent search of the vehicle revealed over 50 pounds of cocaine. The occupants were bringing drugs from Houston, Texas through Tennessee on their way to Knoxville.

A thorough investigation conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration offices in Memphis, Houston, and Brownsville, Texas revealed 39-year-old Jose Manuel Escobedo, as the source trafficking the drugs from Brownsville, Texas, a town situated directly on the border of the United States and Mexico. The defendant was recently arrested in Brownsville, Texas and transported to Memphis, where he has been detained pending the outcome of his trial. If convicted, Escobedo faces a mandatory minimum sentence of at least 10 years up to life in prison.

The West Tennessee Drug Task Force, an extension of the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office, investigated the case, along with the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Griffith is prosecuting this case on the government’s behalf.