Alleged Mexican drug dealer extradited to Southern District of Illinois

ST. LOUIS –The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Marshals Service extradited Armando Medina-Hernandez from Mexico on Nov. 7, 2018, to face federal drug trafficking charges in the Southern District of Illinois.

According to the superseding indictment unsealed on Nov. 16, 2018, Medina has been charged by a federal grand jury with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances. Medina is accused of conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine and five kilograms or more of a mixture or substances containing a detectable amount of cocaine to the Southern District of Illinois and elsewhere.

“This extradition is further evidence of the partnership between U.S. and Mexican law enforcement officials to bring narcotic traffickers to face the American justice system,” according to DEA St. Louis Division Special Agent in Charge William Callahan.

Special Agent in Charge Callahan and U.S. Attorney Steven D. Weinhoeft recently met with high-level Mexican government counterparts in Chicago to discuss efforts to combat Mexican drug trafficking organizations supplying the greater St. Louis metropolitan area and southern Illinois.

“This extradition is the result of an international partnership where U.S. and Mexican law enforcement officials are a unified force committed to combat international drug trafficking,” U.S. Attorney Weinhoeft said. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office is committed to identifying and prosecuting offenders who directly impact the St. Louis metropolitan area and southern Illinois, even when we have to cross international borders to apprehend them.”

Special Agent in Charge Callahan and U.S. Attorney Weinhoeft credit the DEA agents and prosecutors who tracked the source of supply of the drugs to Mexico.

“We are seeing record heroin and fentanyl deaths throughout the St. Louis metro region and methamphetamine continues to plague the Midwest,” explained Special Agent in Charge Callahan. “In this case, our investigation tracked the source of this poison to Mexico, so that is where we went to begin to infiltrate this specific organization. The extradition of Medina back to the Southern District of Illinois is the first step in that direction.”

An indictment is a formal charge against a defendant. Under the law, that charge is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

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