LAREDO, Texas – A brazen attempt to smuggle 4.8 kilos of 99.73% pure methamphetamine into the United States has ended in a 10-year prison sentence for a 28-year-old resident of Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico.
Gerardo Cervantes-Valenzuela, 28, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine on July 8. U.S. District Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo ordered him to serve 120 months in federal prison.
Cervantes-Valenzuela is not a U.S. citizen and is expected to face deportation proceedings following his release. The court noted his prior federal conviction for drug trafficking in handing down the sentence.
On June 7, 2018, Cervantes-Valenzuela provided an informant with two drug-laden fire extinguishers, which law enforcement obtained and used as part of an undercover operation that led to additional arrests and convictions of co-conspirators in Georgia.
The combined weight of the drugs from the two extinguishers was over 4.8 kilos of 99.73% pure methamphetamine. The Organized Crime and Drug Task (OCDETF) operation known as Gelo Podre, conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) as part of Project Python, targeted the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación.
Project Python has resulted in more than 600 arrests, 350 indictments, and significant seizures of money and drugs across the United States. Laredo DEA led the investigation with the assistance of the Laredo Police Department, Henry County, Georgia, Police Department, Flint, Georgia, Circuit Drug Enforcement Task Force, Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and Georgia State Troopers. Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony J. Evans prosecuted the case.
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Key Facts
- State: Texas
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Organized Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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