19.4 Pounds of Cocaine Seized at Checkpoint on Highway 54 on July 20, 2017; 19.1 Pounds of Cocaine Seized at Checkpoint on Interstate 25 on July 21, 2017
ALBUQUERQUE - Yesterday morning, a U.S. Magistrate Judge sitting in Las Cruces, N.M., found probable cause to support criminal complaints that separately charged Francisco Alberto Guerrero-Rodriguez, 20, and Noe Lucero-Ceniceros, 28, both Mexican nationals, illegally in the United States, with cocaine trafficking offenses. The charges against the two defendant arise out of seizures of large quantities of cocaine at two U.S. Border Patrol checkpoints in southern New Mexico. Guerrero-Rodriguez and Lucero-Ceniceros both were remanded into custody pending their trials, which have yet to be scheduled.
Border Patrol agents arrested Guerrero-Rodriguez on July 20, 2017, after they allegedly seized 8.8 kilograms (19.4 pounds) of cocaine from his vehicle. The cocaine was found during an inspection at the U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint on Highway 54 south of Alamogordo, N.M., in Otero County, N.M. According to the criminal complaint, the cocaine was contained in seven bundles that were concealed in an “after-market compartment above the gas tank" that was accessed through a trap door under the vehicle’s back seat.
Border Patrol agents arrested Lucero-Ceniceros on July 21, 2017, after they allegedly seized approximately 8.68 kilograms (19.14 pounds) of cocaine from his vehicle. The cocaine was found during an inspection at the U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint on Interstate 25 near Hatch, N.M., in Dona Ana County, N.M. According to the complaint, the cocaine was found in a concealed compartment that was accessible through a trapdoor that was only accessible after removing the vehicle’s rear passenger compartment.
If convicted of the charges in the criminal complaints, Guerrero-Rodriguez and Lucero-Ceniceros each face a statutory minimum of ten years and a maximum of life in federal prison. Charges in criminal complaints are merely accusations and criminal defendants are presumed innocent unless found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
This case was investigated by the U.S. Border Patrol and the Las Cruces office of the DEA. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark A. Saltman is prosecuting the case against Guerrero-Rodriguez, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Dustin C. Segovia is prosecuting the case against Lucero-Ceniceros.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
