Two men admit to selling cocaine in a parking lot
LAREDO, Texas – A local man and a Mexican national have pleaded guilty for their involvement in a conspiracy to distribute 42.5 kilograms of cocaine in the U.S., announced Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Houston Division, Special Agent in Charge Will R. Glaspy and U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick.
Frederico Hernandez, 26, Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico, and Miguel Angel Cruz-Recio, 41, Laredo, admitted that on June 7, they conducted a drug transaction in a Laredo Home Depot parking lot involving 5.5 kilograms of cocaine.
Hernandez has left the scene but authorities attempted to conduct a traffic stop on the vehicle Cruz-Recio was driving. That ultimately led to a brief police chase that ended as he crashed his vehicle into a telephone pole. He attempted to flee on foot, but was soon captured.
Authorities later discovered an additional 37 kilograms of cocaine and a handgun at his residence.
Law enforcement later apprehended Hernandez as he attempted to apply for entry into Laredo from Mexico at the Gateway to the Americas Bridge.
U.S. District Court Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo accepted the plea today and set sentencing for Feb. 3, 2020. At that time, both men face up to life in prison.
They have been and will remain in custody pending that hearing.
The Drug Enforcement Administration conducted the investigation with the assistance of the Laredo Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Harrison is prosecuting the case.
