Ulises Garcia-Razo Gets 10 Years for Cocaine Conspiracy

NORFOLK, Va. — Ulises Garcia-Razo, a 39-year-old Mexican national, was sentenced today to 10 years in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine. The sentence marks the culmination of a high-stakes federal drug probe targeting a transnational trafficking ring moving bulk narcotics from Mexico through Virginia.

Court documents reveal Garcia-Razo flew from Mexico to Norfolk on two separate trips in June and July 2018. His mission: collect over $500,000 in drug proceeds and retrieve multiple kilograms of unsold cocaine that had been shipped earlier to Virginia. Acting on behalf of a sprawling cocaine trafficking organization based in Mexico and California, Garcia-Razo helped orchestrate the movement of at least two major cocaine shipments during the spring and early summer of 2018.

The narcotics were transported cross-country by truck and delivered to a Public Storage facility in Virginia Beach, cunningly disguised as hot-air balloon equipment. The ruse allowed the cartel to stash and redistribute cocaine across the East Coast. But federal agents were closing in, tracking financial flows and suspicious shipments as part of Operation Goodfellas, a targeted OCDETF initiative aimed at dismantling elite drug networks.

In July 2018, the operation blew open when Garcia-Razo and multiple co-defendants were arrested at a Norfolk-area hotel. FBI, DEA, and Norfolk Police executed a precision sting, seizing 8 kilograms of cocaine and a thick stack of cash — the grim currency of the drug trade. The bust exposed the group’s operational reach and their reliance on U.S. logistics infrastructure to fuel their trafficking pipeline.

The case was prosecuted under the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) program, a federal juggernaut that channels resources to dismantle the most dangerous drug, weapons, and money laundering syndicates. The program’s mission: identify kingpins, sever supply chains, and strike at the financial heart of cartels flooding American streets with poison.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, joined FBI Norfolk’s Martin Culbreth, DEA Washington’s Jesse R. Fong, and Norfolk Police Chief Larry D. Boone in announcing the sentencing. Senior U.S. District Judge Robert G. Doumar handed down the 10-year term. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sherrie S. Capotesto prosecuted. Case records are available via the Eastern District of Virginia’s court docket under Case No. 2:18-cr-156.