Twelve drug traffickers associated with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel have been sentenced to federal prison terms ranging from four and a half to 40 years, according to U.S. Attorney Leigha Simonton for the Northern District of Texas.
One of the key figures, Francisco Javier Rodriguez Arreola, aged 45 and a Mexican citizen, received the longest sentence of 40 years for his role in a methamphetamine distribution conspiracy. Rodriguez Arreola was apprehended in 2021 in Del Rio, Texas, while attempting to reenter the U.S. illegally from Mexico. Court documents revealed his involvement in coordinating the transportation of nearly 200 kilograms of liquid methamphetamine from Mexico to Dallas, concealed in a semi-truck's diesel tank.
During the investigation, wiretaps captured Rodriguez Arreola communicating with co-conspirators using coded language about drug movements and sales. Testimony indicated his previous incarceration and deportation, with evidence showing his reentry into the drug trade shortly after deportation in 2020.
Rodriguez Arreola's sentencing highlighted his role as a key broker for the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, facilitating multiple drug deliveries into the United States. He was identified as having ties to high-ranking cartel members, including direct associates of cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, also known as El Mencho.
Other defendants received varying prison terms for their involvement in the conspiracy, with sentences ranging from 55 to 480 months.
List of Defendants
- Ricardo Hernandez Zarate, sentenced to 480 months in prison for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance and 240 months in prison for money laundering (concurrent sentences)
- Pedro Hernandez Zarate, sentenced to 360 months in prison for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance
- Uriel Marin Gaona, sentenced to 120 months in prison for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance
- Benito Diaz Hernandez, sentenced to 210 months in prison for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance
- Marcos Garcia Reyes, sentenced to 87 months in prison for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled
- Heleodoro Rosales Ramirez, sentenced to 168 months in prison for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance
- Rafael Diaz, sentenced to 60 months in prison for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance
- Jose Alberto Plascencia Torres, sentenced to 292 months in prison for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance and possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance
- Elmer Gardea Tello, sentenced to 55 months in prison for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled (cocaine)
- Walter Daniel Chapa Marty, sentenced to 121 months in prison for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance
- Salvador Antonio Martinez, sentenced to 151 months in prison for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance and possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance
Over the course of the investigation, law enforcement seized approximately 650 kilograms of methamphetamine drugs, 17 guns, $220,922 in U.S. currency, and $12,200 in real and personal property.
The investigation was led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office, with special assistance provided by the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Gainesville Police Department, Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, the Dallas Police Department, the Fort Worth Police Department, the Williamson County, Texas Sheriff’s Department, the Hawkins County Sheriff’s Department in Tennessee, the FBI’s Knoxville Field Office (Tennessee Resident Agency Office), and the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Dallas Strike Force 1. Assistant U.S. Attorney George Leal prosecuted the case.
