Mexican citizen sentenced for conspiring to import nearly 2,000 kg of cocaine into US

A Mexican national has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for conspiring to import roughly 1,900 kilograms of cocaine into the United States, according to the Justice Department. 

The department, in announcing the sentencing Tuesday of Jesus Rauda-Avila, 46, also said the drug trafficking operation was led by a man named Marisela Flores-Torruco and operated in New York, Texas and other U.S. states.

Operation leaders got the cocaine from Colombia, coordinating its passage through Central America and Mexico and into the U.S. While investigating, law enforcement officers said they made numerous seizures: about 971 kilograms on April 21, 2017, 500 kilograms on May 10, 2017 and more. Almost all the seizures were connected to the DTO involving Avila and Flores-Torruco.

From 2016 to October 2017, Rauda-Avila directed the transportation of funds, drivers and vehicles from northern to southern Mexico to buy and pick up cocaine, which was then transported to the U.S. for distribution, the DOJ also said. He also directed at least 10 narcotics purchases in partnership with Flores-Torruco’s DTO; each involved 100-400 kilograms of cocaine.

He pleaded guilty to conspiring to import cocaine to the U.S., and three of his co-conspirators – Flores-Torruco, Qiyun Chen and Jose Francisco Mendoza-Gomez – have been convicted in Virginia for their participation.

Flores-Torruco was sentenced to 16 years and eight months in prison after pleading guilty to the possession, manufacturing and distribution of a controlled substance.

Chen and Mendoza-Gomez were sentenced to 10 years. Chen pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy, while Mendoza-Gomez pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import cocaine into the U.S.

DOJ Criminal Division Assistant Attorney General Andrew Tysen Duva believes this level of Mexican drug trafficking operations, or Mexican drug trafficking importations is the root of the injection of drugs and violence into U.S. communities.

“Because of people like this defendant, countless Americans’ lives are ruined, and their families are left picking up the pieces,” he said.

Katherine Pugh is a reporter for Just the News. Follow her on X for more coverage.