Mexican Drug Kingpin Pleads Guilty to I-70 Cocaine Bust

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – In a dramatic turn of events, Luis Gerardo Nieto-Acosta, the alleged kingpin of a cocaine ring, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine following the seizure of over $1 million worth of the drug during a traffic stop on Interstate 70 in Lafayette County.

Nieto-Acosta, a Mexican national aged 37, is one of four defendants charged in this case. The other three, Wilmer Antony Mendoza-Perez, Miguel Angel Anguiano-Viera, and Jose Eduardo Acosta-Bermejo, have also entered guilty pleas for their roles in the drug-trafficking conspiracy.

The operation was thwarted when a Missouri State Highway Patrol officer stopped Mendoza-Perez on January 24, 2023. Nieto-Acosta and Acosta-Bermejo were later found with the third defendant, Anguiano-Viera, in a Honda Pilot. The Penske rental truck containing the cocaine had been rented in Oklahoma City under false pretenses.

Inside the truck, officers discovered two boxes packed with 34 kilograms of cocaine, valued at approximately $1,020,000. The seizure came after a tense stand-off involving the Toyota Highlander, which attempted to evade law enforcement during the stop.

Nieto-Acosta faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison without parole, with a potential life sentence. Sentencing will be determined by the court based on advisory guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing is expected after completion of a presentence investigation.

This case has been prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert M. Smith and John C. Constance, with investigative support from the Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office, Kansas City Airport Police, Missouri State Highway Patrol, and the Drug Enforcement Administration.