Ramiro Garcia-Valdivia, Heroin Trafficking, North Carolina 2020

A Mexican national has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in a significant heroin trafficking operation in Western North Carolina.

Ramiro Garcia-Valdivia, 33, of Mexico, was ordered by U.S. District Judge Max O. Cogburn Jr. to serve 10 years in prison and five years of supervised release for drug trafficking and immigration violations.

Garcia-Valdivia was working for the CJNG Mexican Cartel in 2019 and was responsible for trafficking multiple kilograms of heroin into Western North Carolina.

On October 1, 2019, law enforcement arrested Garcia-Valdivia in Gastonia, North Carolina, and recovered over 8 kilograms of heroin wrapped in bundles, hidden in his Ford Explorer vehicle.

Court records show that Garcia-Valdivia intended to deliver these narcotics to other co-conspirators.

Garcia-Valdivia was in the country illegally after being previously deported and engaged in drug trafficking activities while there was an outstanding immigration order for his deportation from the United States.

According to U.S. Attorney Andrew Murray, Garcia-Valdivia "violated our nation's drug and immigration laws, and trafficked large quantities of heroin, a poisonous substance that shatters our communities and causes thousands of overdose deaths in our country."

Garcia-Valdivia pleaded guilty to drug trafficking conspiracy, possession with intent to distribute heroin, and illegal reentry by an aggravated felon on March 10, 2020.

The investigation was led by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations, the North Carolina Highway Patrol, and the Gaston County Police Department.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sanjeev Bhasker and Kenneth Smith prosecuted the case.

Garcia-Valdivia is currently in federal custody and will be transferred to the custody of the federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdnc/pr/illegal-alien-caught-trafficking-eight-kilograms-mexican-heroin-sentenced-10-years