United States Drug Enforcement Administration

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - A 31-year-old Mexican National who was residing in Illinois has been ordered to federal prison for assisting a South Texas drug trafficking organization, announced DEA Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Houston Division, Steven Whipple and  Acting U.S. Attorney Abe Martinez.  Juan Carlos Gamez-Herrera pleaded guilty April 25, 2017.

Today, U.S. District Judge Hilda Tagle ordered him to prison for 120 months.  Not a U.S. citizen, he is expected to face deportation proceedings following his sentence.  At the hearing, Gamez-Herrera was found to be responsible for conspiring to possess with intent to distribute 41.2 kilograms of cocaine.

The investigation into Gamez-Herrera began following the seizure of $586,390 in U.S. currency near Corpus Christi on Aug. 11, 2016.

Between Aug. 1 and Nov. 29, 2016, Gamez-Herrera assisted a South Texas drug trafficking organization.  He would receive cocaine from South Texas and assist with the delivery and distribution of this cocaine to other persons in the Rockford, Illinois, area.  Gamez-Herrera also worked with other known and unknown co-conspirators to transfer the proceeds from the sale of the organization’s cocaine in the Rockford area to South Texas and eventually into Mexico.
 
The Drug Enforcement Administration and IRS-Criminal Investigation conducted the investigation known as “Operation Black Taxi.”  Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth Cusick is prosecuting the case.