Three Mexican nationals have been convicted of smuggling 611 kilograms of marijuana into the United States aboard a high-speed lancha, a crime that cut through federal waters off the Texas coast. Julio Cesar Cruz-Amaro, 31, Tito Mar-Herrera, 35, and Miguel Angel Ender-Diaz, 56, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import controlled substances, marking a grim win in the federal war against maritime drug routes.
The crew was intercepted on December 13, 2017, after U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) radar picked up a suspicious vessel speeding northbound toward the U.S. shoreline. Operating under cover of night and riding the choppy Gulf swells, the lancha carried 30 tightly wrapped bales of marijuana. Authorities moved fast, capturing Cruz-Amaro, Mar-Herrera, and Ender-Diaz just nine nautical miles offshore near Packery Channel, outside Port Aransas.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) joined the USCG in the interdiction, boarding the slender, 25-foot fishing craft — a typical lancha rigged with a single outboard motor capable of outrunning patrol boats. But not this time. The smugglers had no backup, no weapons, and no way out. All three admitted they were hired by a criminal organization to deliver the narcotics through the Corpus Christi corridor — a known smuggling gateway.
The seized marijuana weighed in at 611 kilograms — worth an estimated street value in the millions. The lancha, built for coastal fishing, had been repurposed for one thing only: moving bulk drugs across the maritime border. These vessels, often overloaded and dangerously manned, have become a signature tool of cartels exploiting gaps in coastal surveillance.
U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos has scheduled sentencing for July 18, 2018. Each defendant — Cruz-Amaro, Mar-Herrera, and Ender-Diaz — faces a mandatory minimum of five years and up to 40 years in federal prison. They could also be fined up to $5 million. All three remain in federal custody, with no bond and no escape from the coming judgment.
The investigation was led by the U.S. Coast Guard with critical support from CBP. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey S. Miller handled prosecution, weaving testimony and maritime evidence into a case that didn’t need a trial. The guilty pleas cut through the legal fog — but the shadow of the organization that hired them still looms large in the Gulf’s drug underworld.
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Key Facts
- State: Texas
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Drug Trafficking
- Source: Official Source ↗
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