19 Arrested In Connection With Austin-Based Cocaine Distribution And Bulk Cash Smuggling Operation
AUSTIN, Texas - Federal, state and local authorities have arrested 19 individuals in connection with a cocaine distribution and bulk cash smuggling conspiracy based in Austin announced Drug Enforcement (DEA) Special Agent in Charge Javier Pena, United States Attorney Robert Pitman, and Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw.
A two-count federal grand jury (A13cr067), returned on Tuesday and unsealed today, charges the defendants with one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine. The indictment also charges six defendants with one count of bulk cash smuggling. The indictment alleges that from January 2009 to the present the defendants conspired to possess with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine. According to the indictment, G. R. Custom Body and Paint in Austin, owned by defendant Hugo Gaspar, served as the primary distribution hub for multiple sources of cocaine smuggled into the United States from Mexico. Authorities allege that in addition to distributing cocaine in the Austin area, cocaine was transported to Houston and Dallas as well as Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina, Florida and Alabama for further distribution. Proceeds from the sale of the cocaine were transported back to Austin and ultimately to Mexico. During this investigation, authorities have seized over $1millon in U.S. Currency and approximately 120 pounds of cocaine attributed to this cocaine distribution network.
A separate, but related, federal grand jury (A13cr027) returned last month in Austin charges 20-year-old Erick Rodriguez-Aguilar and 19-year-old Julio Ramon Sandoval-Arizmendi for their roles in this operation. Both are charged with one count of possession with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine. Rodriguez and Sandoval both remain in federal custody.
Upon conviction of the drug charge, the defendants face between ten years and life in federal prison; of the bulk cash smuggling charge, they face up to five years in federal prison.
“The investigation uncovered one of the most significant drug organizations in the Austin area in terms of sheer quantities of cocaine being distributed, and the convoluted distribution web which facilitated the large-scale trafficking operation,” stated DEA Special Agent in Charge Javier Pena.
“Today marks a milestone in disrupting a major Mexico-based cocaine trafficking organization that supplies narcotics to the Central Texas area and beyond. Thanks to the efforts of DPS Criminal Investigations Division agents working in conjunction with our federal and local law enforcement partners, our neighborhoods are safer today with these individuals off our streets and behind bars,” stated Lt. Colonel David Baker, DPS Deputy Director - Law Enforcement Operations.
This case resulted from an investigation by the South Texas High Intensity Drug Trafficking (HIDTA) made up of investigators from the following agencies: Drug Enforcement (DEA), Federal Bureau of (FBI), Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and (ATF), Internal Revenue Service- Criminal (IRS-CI), Homeland Security (HSI), United States Marshals Service, Texas Department of Public Safety, Austin Police Department, Round Rock Police Department, Georgetown Police Department, Cedar Park Police Department, Temple Police Department, Travis County District Attorney’s Office, Travis County Sheriff’s Office, Williamson County Sheriff’s Office, Hays County Sheriff’s Office and the Bastrop County Sheriff’s Office.
