CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Grimy Times has exclusively learned that Ramiro Garcia-Valdivia, a 33-year-old Mexican national, has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for smuggling over eight kilograms of heroin into North Carolina.
According to court documents, Garcia-Valdivia was a member of the CJNG Mexican Cartel and had been trafficking large quantities of the drug into Western North Carolina since 2019. He was apprehended on October 1, 2019, in Gastonia with the drugs hidden in his Ford Explorer.
U.S. District Judge Max O. Cogburn Jr. also ordered Garcia-Valdivia to serve five years of supervised release following his prison term for violating both drug and immigration laws while an outstanding deportation order was pending against him.
Garcia-Valdivia pleaded guilty on March 10, 2020, to charges of drug trafficking conspiracy, possession with intent to distribute heroin, and illegal reentry by an aggravated felon. He is currently in federal custody and will be transferred to the Bureau of Prisons for his sentence.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sanjeev Bhasker and Kenneth Smith prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States. The investigation was a collaborative effort led by ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations, the North Carolina Highway Patrol, and the Gaston County Police Department.
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Key Facts
- State: North Carolina
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Fraud & Financial Crimes|Organized Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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