Edwar Salazar-Belleda, Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine, Kansas 2021

Kansas City Man Sentenced to 102 Months in Prison for Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine

A man was sentenced to 102 months in prison for his involvement in a Kansas City metro-based drug trafficking ring with ties to Mexico.

According to court documents, Edwar Salazar-Belleda, 34, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine.

Salazar-Belleda was part of an international drug trafficking ring operating with meth brought in from Mexico. The co-conspirators laundered illegal proceeds as wire payments destined for individuals in Mexico and California.

From August 2019 through May 2021, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) led an undercover investigation which included multiple purchases of meth, heroin, and firearms. Romel Alvarado-Calderon, 27, of Kansas City, Kansas, was the head of the operation, and Salazar-Belleda acted as a broker.

In April 2021, Salazar-Belleda was arrested after a trash bag containing 7.57 kilograms of 98.6% pure meth was found in his hotel room. Law enforcement also located digital scales, meth, heroin, a stolen firearm, and ammunition in his suitcase.

Over the course of the conspiracy investigation, more than 150 kilograms of meth, more than 11 ounces of heroin, marijuana, and numerous firearms were either purchased or seized.

Salazar-Belleda's sentence was handed down in connection with the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Strike Force Initiative, which provides for the establishment of permanent multi-agency task force teams that work side-by-side in the same location.

Defendant: Edwar Salazar-Belleda

Criminal Charges: Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine

City and State: Kansas City, Kansas

Date: April 2021 (arrest), 2023 (sentencing)

Sentence: 102 months in prison

This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Strike Force Initiative, which provides for the establishment of permanent multi-agency task force teams that work side-by-side in the same location.

The specific mission of the OCDETF Kansas City Metro Strike Force is to disrupt and dismantle major criminal organizations and subsidiary organizations, including criminal gangs, transnational drug cartels, racketeering organizations, and other groups engaged in illicit activities that present a threat to public safety and national security and are related to the illegal smuggling and trafficking of narcotics or other controlled substances, weapons, humans, or the illegal concealment or transfer of proceeds derived from such illicit activities in the Western District of Missouri and District of Kansas.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ks/pr/man-sentenced-kansas-city-drug-ring-tied-mexican-cartel