Miguel Bustamante-Conchas, Heroin Trafficking, New Mexico 2014

ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO – A federal jury has delivered a guilty verdict against Miguel Bustamante-Conchas, 39, a Mexican national with legal permanent resident status in the United States, on heroin trafficking charges.

The verdict was handed down earlier today after a six-day trial, announced U.S. Attorney Damon P. Martinez and Special Agent in Charge Will R. Glaspy of the DEA’s El Paso Field Division. Bustamante-Conchas was one of seven men arrested in June 2013 on federal narcotics trafficking charges as a result of a 15-month multi-agency investigation targeting heroin traffickers operating out of Albuquerque’s Northeast Heights.

During the course of the investigation, more than 25 pounds of heroin were seized. Two indictments were filed as a result of the investigation, with Bustamante-Conchas and four other men charged in one indictment, and two others charged in a second indictment. The other six defendants entered guilty pleas to heroin trafficking charges, while Bustamante-Conchas elected to proceed to trial.

The trial against Bustamante-Conchas began on July 30, 2014, on a three-count superseding indictment charging him with conspiracy to distribute large quantities of heroin in Bernalillo County, N.M., from Oct. 2012 to June 2013; aiding and abetting the possession of heroin with intent to distribute; and aiding and abetting the use of a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime. On Aug. 4, 2014, the court dismissed the firearms charge at the conclusion of the United States’ case and submitted the two heroin trafficking charges to the jury yesterday afternoon.

The evidence at trial established that Bustamante-Conchas played a leadership role in a major heroin trafficking organization by managing the acquisition, storage, and distribution of kilograms of heroin and overseeing the collection of cash proceeds from the sale of heroin. Evidence of Bustamante-Conchas’ role in the drug trafficking organization was secured from wiretaps on telephones used by his subordinates, evidence seized during a law enforcement operation on June 14, 2013, and evidence seized on June 19, 2013.

The evidence included three pounds of heroin, drug ledgers, numerous cellphones, and narcotics paraphernalia, which were seized at the residences maintained as stash houses by Bustamante-Conchas and his co-conspirators. An additional 22 pounds of heroin were seized on June 19, 2013, from another of the organization’s stash houses.

Bustamante-Conchas was remanded into federal custody after the jury delivered its verdict and will remain detained pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled. At sentencing, Bustamante-Conchas faces a prison term of not less than ten years and not more than life followed by a term of supervised release to be determined by the court.

Related Federal Cases