Telesforo Lozano, Cocaine Courier, Mobile AL, 2016

Telesforo Lozano, a 60-year-old Mexican National, has been sentenced to 60 months of hard time in the slammer for his role as a cocaine courier for a Mexican drug cartel.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Alabama, Lozano was found guilty by a federal jury in July 2016 of conspiring to distribute cocaine and possession with intent to distribute cocaine.

The jury heard evidence that Lozano was hired to transport massive amounts of cocaine from Mexico to Atlanta, Georgia, and was caught with 4.34 kilograms of the illicit substance concealed in a hidden compartment of a black Ford F-150 truck.

On August 21, 2015, Lozano drove across the border from Juarez, Mexico into El Paso, Texas, with the contraband. Two days later, he was pulled over for a traffic violation on I-10 East in Mobile County, Alabama, by an Alabama State Trooper. A subsequent search of Lozano’s truck led to law enforcement’s seizure of the concealed cocaine, which had a retail value of approximately $500,000.

The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, with Assistant United States Attorneys George May and Sinan Kalayoglu leading the prosecution.

Senior U.S. District Judge Callie V. S. Granade handed down the sentence, ordering Lozano to undergo 4 years of supervised release after finishing his term of imprisonment, receive substance abuse testing, and deportation consideration. Lozano was also hit with a $200 mandatory special assessment.

The sentencing brings an end to a lengthy and complex investigation into Lozano’s activities, which had far-reaching implications for the community and a significant impact on the war on drugs.