Pedro Alvarado-Montiel, Narcotics Trafficking, Texas 2023

Defendant Name, Crime, State Year

A 42-year-old Mexican national has been sentenced to 262 months in federal prison for his role in a narcotics trafficking operation in Texas. Pedro Alvarado-Montiel, also known as "Pelon," was found to be a member of the Sureños gang, a Mexican Mafia-affiliated gang.

Alvarado-Montiel was stopped by a Bastrop County Sheriff’s deputy on September 20, 2023, for a traffic violation. During the stop, the deputy searched the vehicle and found two clear, gallon-sized bags and one sandwich bag containing a black, sticky, tar-like substance. The substance was later determined to be approximately two kilograms of heroin.

Later that day, DEA agents executed a search warrant on Alvarado-Montiel’s residence in Dale, where they discovered a large amount of black tar-like substance spread out across the center island in the kitchen and stuck to the countertop along with plastic wrappings. Agents also found two 9mm handguns, multiple magazines, ammunition and wire transfer receipts. In another DEA lab test, the substance found in the home was determined to be approximately 2.1 kgs of heroin.

Alvarado-Montiel was charged in a five-count indictment on December 6, 2023, with conspiracy to import methamphetamine, importation of methamphetamine, conspiracy to import heroin, importation of heroin and possession of heroin with intent to distribute. He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to import methamphetamine on May 20, 2024.

A co-defendant, Horlando Depaz-Cruz, Jr., who was arrested on May 16, 2021, after being caught driving through the Del Rio Port of Entry with packages of methamphetamine and heroin inside a car battery, pleaded guilty to the same charge on July 31, 2023. Depaz-Cruz was sentenced on February 5, 2025, to 120 months in federal prison and a $2,000 fine.

The DEA and ICE Homeland Security Investigations investigated the case with assistance from U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Val Verde County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brett Miner prosecuted the case.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the federal government to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.

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