Defendant Charged in “Project Coronado” Faces Life in Prison
— Edgar Gomez-Huerta, 31, of Dallas, pleaded guilty today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul D. Stickey to one count of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine (ice), announced DEA Special Agent in Charge James Capra and U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas. Sentencing is set for September 8, 2010, before U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade.
Gomez-Huerta was arrested in October 2009 as part of the DEA-led “Project Coronado.” In that operation, approximately 84 members of methamphetamine and cocaine trafficking cells associated with Mexico’s La Familia cartel, based in the state of Michoacan, in southwestern Mexico, were arrested locally on charges outlined in 10 federal indictments and several complaints.
La Familia is one of the Mexican government’s highest priorities in its battle against drug trafficking organizations. In a highly publicized incident last summer, members of La Familia launched a series of attacks against Mexican federal police officers and military members following the arrests of some of the cartel’s high-level members, including Arnoldo Rueda-Medina, a.k.a. La Minsa and Miguel Angel Berraza-Villa, a.k.a. La Troca, resulting in the brutal murder of 16 federal police officers. Rueda-Medina and Berraza-Villa oversaw the shipments of cocaine and methamphetamine into the U.S. and coordinated the collection of drug proceeds in the U.S. for shipment to Mexico.
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