A Laredo man was sentenced on July 15 to 135 months in federal prison for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl, following his guilty plea earlier this year. Jorge Humberto Medrano Jr., 24, will also serve five years of supervised release after completing his prison term.
At the sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge John A. Kazen addressed Medrano’s close ties to Cártel del Noreste and highlighted the heightened dangers associated with trafficking fentanyl laced with xylazine. The court heard that xylazine is a veterinary tranquilizer not affected by Narcan and can cause severe skin injuries. Judge Kazen said Medrano “compounded the already extreme danger of fentanyl as compared to other drugs by lacing it with xylazine,” and noted how these actions contribute to the ongoing fentanyl epidemic and related overdoses in the community.
The investigation revealed that Medrano trafficked fentanyl and smuggled aliens over multiple years, selling fentanyl laced with xylazine on more than 20 occasions to undercover law enforcement officers. He also attempted to recruit others into alien smuggling operations directly connected to Cártel del Noreste. Authorities linked him through ledgers and intercepted events involving nearly 2,000 illegal aliens, recovering evidence from his residence including a hat bearing cartel insignia.
Medrano has been in custody since his arrest and will remain so until he is transferred to a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon Scott Bowling prosecuted the case.
This prosecution falls under the Homeland Security Task Force initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The task force brings together agencies such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations; FBI; Drug Enforcement Administration; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; U.S. Marshals Service; U.S. Postal Inspection Service; Department of Transportation; IRS Criminal Investigation; Interpol/Department of State; Naval Criminal Investigative Service; Texas Department of Public Safety; and is led locally by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas.
The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas has offices in Houston, Galveston, Corpus Christi, Laredo, McAllen and Brownsville, employs more than 200 attorneys covering 43 counties with a population exceeding nine million people, focuses on prosecuting federal crimes as part of the Department of Justice under the Attorney General, according to its official website. Notable former leaders include Alamdar Hamdani (2022-2025) and Ryan Patrick, according to its official history page.