A Mexican national was recently sentenced to 30 years in prison for his role in a large marijuana smuggling conspiracy.
From 2013 until his arrest in June 2019, Victor Gerardo Villegas, 34, was reportedly a member of a drug running organization that controlled human and drug smuggling activities in the area south of the Lower Valley of El Paso County, Texas, according to a Feb. 24 news release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
“This individual played a key role in a transnational criminal organization that posed a public safety threat to our border community by using our neighborhoods as locations for criminal activity,” said Frank Burrola, Homeland Security Investigations special agent in charge, El Paso, according to the release. “This sentence is the culmination of HSI’s dedication and commitment to work jointly with our law enforcement partners to rid our streets of criminals who would trash our communities for their own greed.”
The Gente Nueva de Durango Drug Trafficking Organization was reportedly responsible for recruiting undocumented non-citizens to smuggle large quantities of marijuana throughout the U.S. The drug mules would smuggle approximately 50 pounds of marijuana at a time in makeshift backpacks.
Villegas is said to have acted as a smuggling coordinator, managing operations and directing the flow of marijuana through the U.S. and transporting profits from the illicit activities back to Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico, where Villegas is from.
This joint investigation was conducted by the El Paso divisions of the DEA, FBI and HSI. Villegas and other members of the DTO were arrested as a result of the investigation.
“I am grateful for the tireless efforts of our law enforcement partners as we work together to pursue not only individual drug traffickers, but also large drug trafficking organizations and their leadership,” U.S. Attorney Ashley C. Hoff said.
