Defendant Prosecuted as Part of HOPE Initiative which Seeks to Reduce the Number of Opioid-Related Deaths in New Mexico.
ALBUQUERQUE - David Mendez Bojorquez, 59, of Phoenix, Ariz., pleaded guilty this morning in federal court to a heroin trafficking charge under a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Mendez Bojorquez was arrested on Dec. 8, 2014, at the Greyhound Bus Station in Albuquerque, N.M., after DEA agents and task force officers executed a federal search warrant on his suitcase and found a package containing more than a gross kilogram of heroin. Mendez Bojorquez subsequently was indicted on Dec. 16, 2014, and charged with possession of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of heroin.
During today’s change of plea hearing, Mendez Bojorquez pled guilty to a felony information charging him with possession with intent to distribute a mixture and substance containing a detectible amount of heroin. In his plea agreement, Mendez Bojorquez admitted that he had heroin in his suitcase when he was encountered by law enforcement officers at the Greyhound Bus Station on Dec. 7, 2014. He further admitted that the officers found and seized the heroin after obtaining a search warrant for his suitcase.
Mendez Bojorquez will be in federal custody pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled. At sentencing, he faces a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.
This case was investigated by the Interdiction Unit of the DEA’s Albuquerque office which focuses on disrupting the flow of narcotics, weapons, and the proceeds of illegal activities as they are smuggled into or through New Mexico in passenger buses, passenger trains, commercial vehicles and automobiles. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David Walsh.
This case is being prosecuted pursuant to the New Mexico Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education (HOPE) Initiative. The HOPE Initiative is a collaboration between the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center that is partnering with the Bernalillo County Opioid Accountability Initiative with the overriding goal of reducing the number of opioid-related deaths in the District of New Mexico. The HOPE Initiative comprised of five components: (1) prevention and education; (2) treatment; (3) law enforcement; (4) reentry; and (5) strategic planning. The law enforcement component of the HOPE Initiative is led by the Organized Crime Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the DEA in conjunction with their federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement partners. Targeting members of major heroin trafficking organizations for investigation and prosecution is a priority of the HOPE Initiative.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
