Luis Eduardo Pineda-Zarao, Methamphetamine and Heroin Conspiracy, Missouri 2022

Kansas City, MO - A Mexican national who worked with a drug-trafficking organization tied to the Cárteles Unidos cartel in Michoacán, Mexico, has been convicted of his role in a $4.7 million conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and heroin in the Kansas City metropolitan area and throughout the United States.

Luis Eduardo Pineda-Zarao, 29, a citizen of Mexico residing in Lebanon, Tennessee, was found guilty of participating in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and heroin from February 28, 2020, to June 1, 2022.

The indictment alleges the conspiracy involved the distribution of over 335 kilograms of methamphetamine, with an average street price of $300 per ounce, and over 22 kilograms of heroin, with an average street price of $1,500 per ounce.

During the investigation, federal agents with Homeland Security Investigations conducted two undercover bulk cash pickups totaling $308,775 and seized $610,400 in bulk cash, over 56 kilograms of methamphetamine, 5.5 kilograms of heroin, 2.6 kilograms of marijuana, and at least eight firearms, two of which were stolen.

Pineda-Zarao is among 44 defendants charged in this case. Nine co-defendants have been sentenced and 34 co-defendants have pleaded guilty and await sentencing.

Following the presentation of evidence, the jury in the U.S. District Court in Kansas City, MO, deliberated for less than an hour before returning guilty verdicts to U.S. District Judge Greg Kays.

Under federal statutes, Pineda-Zarao is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison without parole, up to a sentence of life in federal prison without parole.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdmo/pr/jury-convicts-mexican-national-47-million-meth-heroin-conspiracy