U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton announced the sentencing of twelve drug traffickers who have ties to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (JNGC). Each of the twelve individuals will face between 4 and a half and forty years in federal prison. 

Francisco Javier Rodriguez Arreola was the highest profile individual sentenced in the case, and he received a sentence of forty years in federal prison on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine. A 45-year-old Mexican citizen, Rodriguez Arreola was arrested in 2021 while attempting to illegally reenter the United State after being deported.

Rodriguez Arreola was responsible for funding drivers and traffickers to transport and distribute the drug, including methamphetamine, as well as arranging routes and delivery schedules, finding places to store and transfer shipments, and other intelligence duties. Law enforcement discovered he had “significant ties to Plaza Bosses who had access to cartel leadership,” according to a release. 

The eleven other cartel members were Ricardo Hernandez Zarate, Pedro Hernandez Zarate, Uriel Marin Gaona, Benito Diaz Hernandez, Marcos Garcia Reyes, Heleodoro Rosales Ramirez, Rafael Diaz, Jose Alberto Plascencia Torres, Elmer Gardea Tello, Walter Daniel Chapa Marty, and Salvador Antonio Martinez. They each had various charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance against them, among others, with sentences ranging from 60 months to 480 months. 

Through the investigation into this trafficking group, authorities seized 650 kilograms of methamphetamine drugs, 17 guns, $220,922 in U.S. currency, and $12,200 in other property.