Four individuals from Mexico have been sentenced for conspiring to smuggle over 100 kilograms of cocaine, according to an announcement by U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei. The events took place in McAllen, Texas, involving Bolivar Ramos-Barragan, Angel Ramirez-Serna, and Claudia Contreras-Viveros, who all previously pleaded guilty.
U.S. District Judge Drew B. Tipton sentenced Ramos-Barragan to 70 months of imprisonment. Ramirez-Serna received a 36-month term, and Contreras-Viveros was handed a 50-month sentence. None are U.S. citizens, and all are expected to face removal proceedings following their sentences.
Another co-conspirator, Victor Aguilar, was previously sentenced to 127 months.
The investigation uncovered that during 2022 and 2023, these individuals smuggled multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine from Mexico to the United States. The operation involved using vehicles to transport the drugs, which were then stored in local stash houses before distribution. In December 2022, authorities arrested Ramirez-Serna with eight kilograms of cocaine. The following month, Filiberto Elizalde-Hernandez delivered the same quantity to Contreras-Viveros and Aguilar. Ramos-Barragan was responsible for overseeing the distribution during these events.
The conspirators' activities were found to involve over 100 kilograms of cocaine.
Elizalde-Hernandez is scheduled for sentencing on April 28.
Ramos-Barragan, Ramirez-Serna, and Contreras-Viveros will stay in custody until they are transferred to a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility.
The Drug Enforcement Administration conducted the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation with help from the Edinburg Police Department and the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office. OCDETF's mission is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the highest-level criminal organizations threatening the U.S. by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Details about the OCDETF Program are available on the Department of Justice’s OCDETF webpage.
Assistant U.S. Attorney James Sturgis prosecuted the case.