The trial for nearly 20 people accused of participating in a cocaine trafficking ring linked to a 2019 kidnapping over a drug debt owed to the Gulf Cartel will likely be rescheduled for later next year.
There are 19 people charged in the case, with one who has already pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine. The remaining 18 suspects have filed unopposed motions to continue their trial, which was set for Jan. 4, citing ongoing discovery.
U.S. District Judge Micaela Alvarez has already granted a dozen of those motions, resetting the trial for next May, court records indicate.
The investigation that resulted in these charges followed an Oct. 2, 2019, Texas Department of Public Safety traffic stop conducted on a tractor-trailer operated by an individual identified as D.G., according to a criminal complaint.
“As a result of the stop, 30 bundles suspected to contain cocaine were seized from the tractor-trailer D.G. was driving. Pending further investigation, D.G. was released by the DPS Trooper,” the document states.
Approximately two weeks later, D.G. and another individual identified as J.L. were reported missing and hadn’t been heard from or seen since Oct. 14, 2019.
Then, on Oct. 24, J.L called from Mexico saying that D.G. and the caller had been kidnapped and were in Mexico and that the kidnappers were demanding $800,000 for J.L’s release, according to the complaint.
The complaint said the FBI arrived at the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office Oct. 28, 2019, to interview Gerardo Ruiz and learned that a member of the Gulf Cartel instructed him and Oscar Serafin Ibarra to take J.L. and D.G. to Mexico to answer for the loss of 220 pounds of cocaine.
In order to do this, J.L. and D.G.’s families were threatened with death if J.L. and D.G. did not go to a property in rural Edinburg on Oct. 14, 2019, which is where they were met by the armed suspects who restrained them with zip-ties before crossing them into Mexico through the Donna port of entry.
They were then turned over to unidentified people in Mexico, according to the complaint.
“The unidentified subjects demanded a ransom be paid in order to release J.L. and D.G. J.L. and D.G. were handcuffed and beaten with boards during their captivity,” the complaint said. “J.L. and D.G. made multiple ransom calls to family members at the direction of their captors for amounts of $800,000 and $300,000, respectfully.”
Both individuals were held for two weeks before being released by the unidentified people in Mexico.
The FBI alleges that Ruiz, Ibarra and Juan Manuel Moreno-Martinez orchestrated the kidnapping and the indictment charges them with three counts of kidnapping.
Moreno-Martinez faces additional charges of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and money laundering.
The three have pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Geovanny Oreste Garcia-Quevado and Juan Carlos Rodriguez are also charged with money laundering and conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance to which they have pleaded not guilty.
A superseding indictment released Feb. 9, 2021, alleges the cocaine conspiracy and money laundering spanned between January 2017 and May 2020.
All of the remaining suspects in the case were charged with conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance.
Those individuals include Jose Joel Quevedo-Bouzamayor; Marlon Cervelo-Trujillo; Oilevy Blanco-Prieto; David Gonzalez; Armando Izquierdo; Lazaro Cruz; Laureano Javier Roldan-Quevedo; Ulises Marino; Yetmis Martinez-Pujol; Jesus M. Mesa; Yoany Ochoa-Labacena; Jorge Mendez Chavez; and Jerman Loera.
They have all pleaded not guilty.
The remaining suspect, Alejandro Enrique George-Boza, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and is scheduled for sentencing in March.
The superseding indictment is also seeking the forfeiture of a 2014 Mercedes Benz, a 2013 Dodge Ram, 10 trailers, including four freightliner trucks, two Great Dane trailers and four utility trailers, as well as properties in rural Edinburg.
