(Press release from office of U.S. Attorney)
Three men who were sent by the Sinaloa Cartel to Lubbock, Texas, to distribute methamphetamine for the cartel were sentenced this morning [Friday] to lengthy federal prison sentences, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
Senior U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings sentenced Juan Carlos Pinales, 23, to 151 months in federal prison, Ramon Osvaldo Escobar-Robles, 25, to 78 months in federal prison, and Jesus Mario Moreno-Perez, 24, to 120 months in federal prison. Each pleaded guilty last year to one count of possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine and aiding and abetting. Escobar-Robles and Moreno-Perez are in the U.S. illegally.
According to documents filed in the case, a joint investigation by the FBI, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office and the Lubbock Police Department revealed that the Sinaloa cartel had sent three individuals to Lubbock to distribute methamphetamine for the cartel. In June 2015, a search warrant was executed at their residence on Birch Avenue in Lubbock.
At the time the warrant was executed, the three defendants were home. The search by law enforcement yielded several containers or bags of suspected methamphetamine in the attic, to include: two red Tupperware containers that contained a total of approximately 5.06 pounds of suspected methamphetamine, 19 clear plastic bags that contained a total of approximately 1.42 pounds of suspected methamphetamine, two clear plastic bags that contained a total of approximately 17.2 grams of suspected methamphetamine, and one clear plastic bag that contained approximately 31.2 grams of suspected methamphetamine; as well as a black pouch that contained approximately $3,783 in cash; numerous cell phones; money transfer receipts; and a spiral notebook that contained writings consistent with a drug ledger, showing amounts distributed to and owed by various persons.
A DPS crime laboratory analysis confirmed that the substance in the two red Tupperware containers was, in fact, methamphetamine with a net weight of 1,797.92 grams and a purity level of at least 91.7%. All three defendants admitted they jointly possessed the methamphetamine found in the attic.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Haag prosecuted the case.
Lt. Ray Mendoza with the Lubbock Police said that LPD officers are often looking into cases with possible cartel connections.
“There’s investigations going on every day, we always try to keep the pulse on the drug activity. We have specialized units that deal with that, experts that are in that field, it’s a daily occurrence we are always monitoring cartels– or any gangs for that matter. It’s not just the major gangs, if there’s drug trade we’re involved as far as trying to suppress it,” Mendoza said.
He added that meth trafficking is a big problem in Lubbock.
“Methamphetamine continues to be the biggest, highest volume of what’s going on [in drug trafficking], we see a little bit of everything, and try to suppress all of it, but meth seems to be what’s the biggest demand,” Mendoza said.
He explained that much of LPD’s narcotics work and cartel investigation work is high risk, so he can’t disclose many details about their operations.
Lt. Bryan Taylor with the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office said LSO is dealing with possible cartel activity on a weekly– and at times daily– basis. He said the cartel activity he’s seen is mostly narcotics related.
Taylor believes that cartel problems in Lubbock County have increased as the area has grown.
“Dealing with cartels is like a big spider web,” Taylor added. “You open up one door, it leads to another.”
