Two Mexican nationals, Pedro Ojeda-Ramirez, 24, and Ulises Alaim Saijas-Zamorano, 22, were sentenced to prison terms of 140 months and 60 months, respectively, in a federal court in Tucson, Arizona.

Ojeda-Ramirez and Saijas-Zamorano had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana, and Ojeda-Ramirez also pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking crime.

The convictions and sentences in this case are a result of a lengthy investigation by the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, the United States Border Patrol, and the Tohono O’odham Police Department.

The investigation began on May 2, 2016, when U.S. Border Patrol agents responded to a 911 call from a male subject who claimed he had been shot near a known drug-smuggling corridor within the Tohono O’odham reservation in Arizona.

Agents found two men, one of whom had sustained gunshot wounds to his legs, and discovered ten bundles of marijuana weighing approximately 224 kilograms, two AK-47-style firearms, a pistol, ammunition, a tactical vest, and a black ski mask.

After determining that the two men were bajadores, or bandits, who had stolen the drugs from a rival group of drug traffickers, agents began searching for members of the other group.

Ojeda-Ramirez was located less than three miles from the scene of the shooting and admitted that he and others had shot at the bajadores in an effort to retrieve the stolen drugs but had fled once they heard the approaching Border Patrol helicopters.

The prosecution in this case was handled by Serra M. Tsethlikai, Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of Arizona, Tucson.

The case numbers are CR-16-1111-TUC-CKJ and CR 16-1112-TUC-CKJ.

For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/.

Follow the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, on Twitter @USAO_AZ for the latest news.

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