A former Santa Maria ISD school board trustee is among more than a dozen men and women who have been implicated in a years-long scheme to smuggle hundreds of pounds of cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin through the Rio Grande Valley.
Oscar Saldivar Jr. appeared in McAllen federal court for a bond and detention hearing on Tuesday. Federal prosecutors allege he helped smuggle 54 pounds of cocaine and more than 13 pounds of heroin as part of a large drug trafficking ring with members from across Hidalgo County.
A total of 16 men and women have been tied to the ring, according to court records. Of that number, 11 have made their first appearances before a magistrate judge this week.
The names of the other five suspects remain unknown.
Saldivar appeared with his defense attorney, Ruben Luna, and entered a plea of not guilty to the three charges he is facing.
Though the 22-count indictment remains under seal, The Monitor obtained a redacted copy, which shows that Saldivar is charged in those counts with a man named Ivan Ornelas-Pio, who goes by the aliases of “Chino,” “Tio” and “Titi.”
The indictment alleges that the drug trafficking ring’s members operated from at least March 2018 until earlier this month, when a host of the defendants were taken into custody by federal agents.
Together, the conspirators allegedly trafficked about 659 pounds of meth, 153 pounds of cocaine and 29 pounds of heroin.
Ornelas-Pio’s name is the only unredacted name in the indictment; however, discussions held during open court throughout the week shed some light on the specifics of some of the allegations.
In addition to Saldivar, whose role in the scheme was revealed Tuesday, so was another man’s.
Juan Alberto Padilla pleaded not guilty to the four counts he’s charged with when he appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Scott Hacker during a hearing Monday.
Prosecutors claim he helped smuggle more than 40 pounds of methamphetamine, more than 11 pounds of heroin and about 28 ounces of cocaine.
The redacted indictment indicates Padilla, Ornelas-Pio and at least one other person allegedly participated in carrying out those crimes.
Thus far, the following people have made appearances for bond and detention hearings in court this week:
>> Jessica Ann Rodriguez whose bond was set at $100,000 with a $3,000 cash deposit;
>> Juan Alberto Padilla;
>> Maria Horalia Montoya;
>> Jeremy Lee Garza;
>> Oscar Saldivar Jr.;
>> Carlos Ernesto Loza Villacana, who is being held without bond;
>> Ramon Ricardo Vargas.
Hacker, the magistrate judge, said he would issue orders regarding bonds for the other suspects at a later date.
Ornelas-Pio, who is charged in all 22 counts in the indictment, remained in custody in California as of Tuesday.
