Mexican Drug Trafficker Pleads Guilty in San Diego: Used Minors and Ultralight Aircraft to Smuggle Over 180 Kilograms of Methamphetamine
A Mexican drug trafficker has pleaded guilty in federal court in San Diego, San Diego County, California. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California announced that Marco Antonio Lopez-Guerrero, who was previously extradited from Mexico to the United States, pleaded guilty to conspiring to import methamphetamine, admitting his organization smuggled more than 180 kilograms of methamphetamine into the United States.
According to the plea agreement, Lopez-Guerrero led a Mexico-based drug trafficking organization that recruited juvenile girls and young adult women to smuggle methamphetamine into the United States. He also admitted that his organization flew methamphetamine and fentanyl over the border in ultralight aircraft, and that the organization smuggled more than 180 kilograms of methamphetamine, 19 kilograms of fentanyl and two kilograms of heroin into the United States.
Lopez-Guerrero also admitted to orchestrating the smuggling of money, guns and ammunition from the United States to Mexico. The case is numbered 20-cr-2054-JO, and the charge he pleaded guilty to, conspiracy to import methamphetamine, carries a mandatory minimum of 10 years to life in prison.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Benjamin, and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Lawrence Casper contributed significantly to the investigation and prosecution. The investigating agencies include the Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, the Imperial County Sheriff's Department and U.S. Border Patrol, El Centro Sector, and the investigation is part of the Homeland Security Task Force initiative.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：美国司法部总部大楼。联邦固定图库图。 / Photo: U.S. Department of Justice headquarters. Federal asset-pack photo.
