Two men received stiff sentences on Tuesday for loading up tractor-trailers with meth and moving the drugs across the country.
Mario Alberto Ortiz, 43, of Edinburg, pleaded guilty on Oct. 3 of last year while Dorian Hazel Ruiz-Chavez, 36, who is a Mexican citizen unlawfully in the United States, pleaded guilty on Oct. 25, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of Texas.
Luis Ramos, 35, of Donna, had previously been sentenced to just under six years for his involvement.
“At the hearing, the court heard additional evidence that Ortiz owned a tractor trailer transport company and used his legitimate tractors to help transport narcotics,” the news release read. “In sentencing Ruiz, the court noted he had direct contact with the Mexican suppliers. Even though law enforcement had seized large narcotics loads, it did not deter him from again transporting large quantities of 100% pure meth.”
The investigation started into 2020 when law enforcement began looking into a drug trafficking organization they suspected of using tractor-trailers with hidden compartments to smuggle drugs from Mexico.
Ruiz-Chavez coordinated with a Mexican narcotics supplier who sent the loaded tractor-trailers into the United States, according to the news release. Then other people helped Ruiz-Chavez to store and transport the trailers further north.
After the trailers were in the U.S. loaded with the drugs and ready for transport, Longoria and Ortiz were tasked with finding willing drivers.
One of those trailers containing 262 pounds of methamphetamine in a hidden compartment was seized on Nov. 12, 2020, through the Laredo port of entry.
Despite that seizure, the shipments kept coming.
Six months later, another tractor-trailer that attempted to smuggle 198 pounds of methamphetamine in a hidden compartment was seized on April 26, 2021 — this time at the Pharr port of entry.
Ruiz-Chavez was suspected of directing both of those smuggling attempts.
Undeterred by the seizures, the organization switched tactics and started to send smaller drug loads into the U.S. by using passenger vehicles, the news release stated.
On May 12, 2021, Ramos, recruited as a driver by Ortiz, received about 93 pounds of methamphetamine to stash and smuggle in his personal vehicle, but authorities stopped him and took him into custody.
On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Micaela Alvarez ordered Ruiz-Chavez to serve just under 16 years in federal prison. Since he is not a U.S. citizen, he faces removal proceedings after serving his sentence.
Ortiz was sentenced to serve 14 years in federal prison and three years of supervised release following his prison term.
Ruiz-Chavez and Ortiz will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
