Hermenegildo Espino-Trejo, Heroin and Meth Importation, Texas 2020

A 41-year-old Mexican man has been ordered to federal prison for 20 years for his role in a conspiracy to import heroin and meth into the United States.

Hermenegildo Espino-Trejo, a Mexican national, pleaded guilty to the charges on December 2, 2020, and was sentenced to 240 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Micaela Alvarez.

According to court documents, Espino-Trejo was the organizer and supervisor of a drug conspiracy that involved recruiting an unwitting truck driver to import a multi-million dollar load of narcotics into the United States.

On September 11, 2020, Espino-Trejo drove a tractor-trailer from Michoacan, Mexico, to Reynosa, Mexico, where he gave the vehicle to another driver and instructed him to cross the border and deliver it to a gas station in Pharr, Texas. Espino-Trejo planned to re-take possession of the trailer at the gas station.

However, at the Pharr point of entry, law enforcement discovered 148 kilograms of meth and 1 kilogram of heroin concealed within the trailer. They ultimately identified Espino-Trejo as the one who arranged the transportation and took him into custody.

The drugs had an estimated street value of approximately $2.4 million. Espino-Trejo admitted that he knew controlled substances were in the trailer and directed the driver to cross it into the United States, where he planned to further distribute the narcotics.

Espino-Trejo has been and will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

Customs and Border Protection and Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew Redavid and Scott Greenbaum prosecuted the case.

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