A 33-year-old U.S. citizen pleaded guilty for his role in a drug smuggling scheme which intended to move cocaine up north, records show.
Last week, Gustavo Gonzalez Arredondo entered a guilty plea in connection with an investigation into drug smuggling.
In May 2019, an undercover police officer, who was acting as a commercial truck driver, received a call from Gonzalez.
During this call, Gonzalez allegedly asked to meet with the undercover agent in McAllen.
“This meeting had two purposes. First, Gonzalez would give the (undercover) approximately 10 kilograms of cocaine, which the (undercover) would transport to Chicago, Illinois. Second, the (undercover) would give Gonzalez an envelope containing the (undercover’s) identification and/or identifying information,” the complaint against Gonzalez stated.
Before the call with Gonzalez, and on multiple occasions, the undercover agent spoke with Omar Israel Lopez Urbina, a known drug trafficker, according to the complaint.
During those calls, Lopez told the undercover agent that he would pass along the undercover agent’s number to an unknown associate, later determined to be Gonzalez.
On May 29, 2019, Gonzalez met with the undercover agent and handed him a duffle bag loaded with 13 wrapped packages, or “bricks,” the complaint stated.
“Gonzalez provided the UC with a black duffel bag containing 13 ‘bricks,’ collected the UC’s identification and/or identifying information, watched as the UC counted the bundles inside the duffel bag, and left the area,” the document stated. “… Agents opened two ‘bricks’ with a knife and conducted field tests on a small portion of the contents of each ‘brick.’”
The bricks tested positive for cocaine and totaled 14.7 kilos of cocaine.
Gonzalez faces up to 10 years in federal prison at the sentencing hearing currently scheduled for Aug. 5, records show.
